English speakers pose no threat to Germany or its culture

Germany will elect a new parliament Sept. 24, and polls indicate that Chancellor Angela Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Union party, is likely to be reelected to a fourth term. With the outcome seemingly a foregone conclusion, the campaign hasn't been too exciting. Fierce discussions? Heated debates? Nowhere.

Into this vacuum stepped Jens Spahn, a 37-year-old conservative, whose recent newspaper commentary has sparked considerable attention in Germany. His concern is the use of English in Berlin — in particular, that German speakers are giving up their native language. This, in Spahn's view, relegates German to secondary status in the nation's capital.

The attack was triggered by Spahn's observations of customers and waiters in restaurants and bars speaking English instead of German. "It drives me up the wall," he has said, "the way waiters in Berlin restaurants only speak English."

Spahn compared contemporary Germans' use of the foreign language to the courtly elite's embrace of French in the 19th century, when the language was used as a tool to distance the upper class from the society's uneducated lower class. Spahn even came up with a catchy branding: "elitists hipsters," he calls them.

It is important to note that Spahn is not some backbench politician in need of attention. He serves as the junior finance minister in Merkel's government, and is seen by some as a potential chancellor. So people are paying attention to his broadside.

Using English, Spahn wrote, does not make a person appear cosmopolitan, but rather shows one's "provincial self-dwarfishness." He worries about Germans' feeling alienated from their homeland because they constantly hear English and also that a "a totally new type of parallel society has developed: young people from around the world who keep to themselves. "

The issue is more farce than serious problem. Some districts of Berlin have attracted large numbers of American expatriates in recent years. Restaurants and bars employ staff from across Europe, and sometimes, menus and daily specials are written in English. But the new English speakers are often just glad to find a job that does not require German language skills that they may be working on but have not yet mastered. As for young people sticking to themselves — that is hardly a surprise and not linked to language. And in some situations, it makes sense for Germans to switch to English if it is the common language. This is a courtesy, not a denial of cultural background or an election-year scandal worthy of debate.

Perhaps the real intent of Spahn's commentary was to address an issue that is of concern to Germans: refugees in the country, and their integration.

Using English, Spahn wrote, does a disservice to migrants who devote time and energy to learning German and contributes to "a new intensified form of elitist-global tourism" that excludes people who do not speak English. "Coexistence can only work in Germany if we all speak German," he wrote. But he labors to connect these two issues. When it comes to a necessary integration of refugees, Germany has several problems to solve — language is just one of many.

Germany has to keep up with neighboring countries in Europe, where English is more widespread and better taught. Fortunately, the country's schools recognize that we are living in a globalized world. They have begun to improve their language curriculum and are teaching foreign languages in earlier grades, sometimes even in kindergarten.

Speaking English is a benefit and no threat for the German or any other national culture. Even Spahn's ministry acknowledges this truth. On a recent tweet inviting young people to an event, the Finance Ministry wrote: "Btw we are fluent in English et en francais!"

Oliver Bilger is a writer for Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper who is working with the Inquirer as part of the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship Program. obilger@philly.com