A few years ago I was somehow watching a
television program that involved an interview with a
fashion designer who I believe was
British back stage at a show in
Paris. She was being asked why her production facilities were in
Germany.
She looked straight into the camera and said, "Say what you want about the Germans. But they know how to pack boxes."
For some reason this has stuck with me as a bit of wisdom and is the second or third association that comes up whenever someone mentions Germany. The first is Braun coffee makers and the design ethos that they had from 1955 to the mid 1990's: "There are two colours. White. And black. Everything else...is mud." There is no other nationality for which the issue of design style comes up for me at all.
Does this make any sense?