Are Austrians Germans or is saying so racist and anti-semitic?

[Oliver109]

LMAO. Southern and Central England don't have the monopoly on what it means to be English. And in answer to the OP's question, Austrians are Germanic, but not German, though I would still say they look closer to Scandinavians (except maybe Finns) than to (Southern) Italians.

Well it's a different kind of Englishness here, i just feel that things are quite different almost foreign up in Newcastle etc even the way that cities and towns are laid out, it's a different feel up in the very north especially.

[Smeagol]

Austrians are Germanic, but not German

They are German. The only separation is political. Nobody ever talked about an "Austrian ethnicity" before 1945.

[Tooting Carmen]

Well it's a different kind of Englishness here, i just feel that things are quite different almost foreign up in Newcastle etc even the way that cities and towns are laid out, it's a different feel up in the very north especially.

Regional accents notwithstanding, differences within England are actually quite minor in the grand scheme of things - whether in terms of phenotype, cuisine, weather or customs. (True, the North tends to be somewhat poorer than the South, but even that is far more nuanced than a lot of people think - compare Chester and Harrogate to Clacton and Hastings, for example).

[Oliver109]

They are German. The only separation is political. Nobody ever talked about an "Austrian ethnicity" before 1945.

Would you say the same about Swiss Germans?

[Smeagol]

Would you say the same about Swiss Germans?

Of course.

[Oliver109]

Regional accents notwithstanding, differences within England are actually quite minor in the grand scheme of things - whether in terms of phenotype, cuisine, weather or customs. (True, the North tends to be somewhat poorer than the South, but even that is far more nuanced than a lot of people think - compare Chester and Harrogate to Clacton and Hastings, for example).

Well they are minor but i would still say they are as significant as differences between the northern French and Walloons or perhaps even the Swedes and Norwegians, it certainly isn't to do with income but rather the personality differences, outlook or even food tastes which differ to an extent in the north, for example Northerners have more of a collectivist rather than a individualist outlook, tend to be more outgoing and have a more direct manner than the south, here people don't wear their emotions on their sleeves which often gives northerners a sense that we are on the hostile or unwelcoming side when really it is more of a character maybe related to the Saxon settlers and Normans.

[Oliver109]

Of course.

Even though Switzerland seems to have a very different attitude on things, they are not even keen on the idea of the EU and profess neutrality.

[Blondie]

'Are Austrians Germans?' is a debated question, including in this thread from a person in Austria

This thread is comming from a gypsy and if austrians are not germans then germans does not exist. Austria along with Prussia have been competing with each other to unify germans, these both were the strongest german states, they identified themself germans as well. Since Prussia is no more, Wien has historical rights to be capital of Germany and germans.
I did not see any visible difference between austrians and bavarians, i have been these places several times. The difference between germans is rather North vs South or Ossi vs Wessi, austrians are quintessential south germans in every way.

[Smeagol]

Even though Switzerland seems to have a very different attitude on things, they are not even keen on the idea of the EU and profess neutrality.

Once again: political differences, not ethnic.

[Tooting Carmen]

Yorkshiremen don't even identify with the southern English that much and many see themselves more like the Scottish.

LOL what? Ironically, it is Scotland and Southern England that are in some ways strikingly alike - it was Scotland and London that voted to Remain in the EU, and while the rest of Southeast England marginally voted to leave, it was still much lower than in most of the North, big cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle notwithstanding. (Also, in the Southeast there is a divide between the London commuter belt, which is very Remainer, and the coastal towns which are more Leave, with the crucial exception of middle-class hippyish Brighton). Related to that is that both Scotland and Southern England have a notably higher percentage of university-educated people than the North. (Even Glasgow has a somewhat higher percentage of university-educated people than most Northern English cities nowadays).