Why are Germans Called ‘Germans’?

If the Germans refer to themselves as Deutsche, then from where did the word ‘German’ come? Why does the English-speaking world call them by that name?

In the same way, the French refer to them as Allenmands, and the Russians call them Nyemtsi.

Roman government records preserve the first known use of word. A listing of officials, from 222 B.C., carved in stone, uses the Latin form Germani to refer to the Germans.

The word comes from the Celtic language, as historian Jan von Flocken writes, and probably indicates the sylvan nature of the Germanic homelands, i.e., that the German tribes, in the perception of the Gauls, often lived in, near, or around forests:

Der Name «Germani» wird erstmals in den Fasti capitolini, einem römischen Beamtenregister aus dem Jahre 222 v. Chr. erwähnt. Er stammt aus der keltischen Sprache und kann am wahrscheinlichsten als «Bewohner eines Waldlandes» gedeutet werden. So nannten die Gallier ihre Nachbarn rechts des Rheins, weil diese nicht in Städten, sondern in waldumstandenen Einzelgehöften wohnten.

So it was the a Celtic term was adopted by the Romans to refer to the Germanic tribes.

The French word for ‘German’ derives from the name of one particular Germanic tribe, and was generalized to refer to all the tribes. The Russian word derives from a Slavic term for ‘those who can’t speak our language,’ which, from the Russian point of view, the Germans would have been.

The Starting Points of German History: Hermann and the Germanic Tribes

The country of Germany is at the same time very old and very new. Archeologists have evidence of Germanic tribes as early as 1200 B.C., and possibly earlier. So the German nation is well over 3,000 years old.

A ‘nation’ is an ethnic group. A ‘state’ is, however, a sovereign territory with its own government. A ‘nation’ is a group of people who share a common language and culture. A ‘state’ is a country as we usually understand the word ‘country.’

Germany as a sovereign state dates back to 1871, which is relatively new in the history of the world.

So when we speak of German history, the first three millennia or so are the history of the people, not the history of an organized state.

One of the earliest figures in German history is Hermann, who was called Arminius by the Romans, and is sometimes jokingly called ‘Hermann the German’ by history students. In the year 9 A.D., he led a coalition of various Germanic tribes to a military victory over the Roman forces at the Teutoburg Forest, a location in modern Niedersachsen (lower Saxony).

Hermann was apparently a member of a Germanic tribe called the Cherusker (or Cherusci), but his allies in the battle included other tribes.

As historian Jan von Flocken argues, Hermann and the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, despite their popularity, are not the starting points for German history. Although they share a location and language with modern Germans, the Germanic tribes of long ago are not the same as ‘Germans.’ Among the Germanic tribes were also the founders of the Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Gothic, and other nations.

Ancient texts by authors like Tacitus and Strabo give us a data, but not enough data, to definitively characterize the German tribes, as von Flocken writes:

Deutschlands Geschichte mit Hermann dem Cherusker und der Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald einzuleiten, besitzt durchaus Reiz. Es wäre aber genauso unsinnig, wie Italiens Historie mit den Zwillingen Romulus und Remus zu beginnen. Zwischen Germanen und Deutschen sowie Römern und Italienern gibt es ein ungefähres territoriales Bindeglied, eine rudimentäre sprachliche Verwandtschaft, aber mehr nicht. Auch wissen wir wenig Genaues über unsere angeblich so trinkfesten und streitlustigen Vorfahren. Was etwa der römische Historiker Cornelius Tacitus in seiner Germania vor 2000 Jahren niederschrieb, beruhte großenteils auf Hörensagen. Ebenso diffus bleiben Autoren wie der Reiseschriftsteller Strabon, der zu eben jener Zeit notierte, die Germanen würden sich «durch den höheren Grad an Wildheit, Körpergröße und Blondheit» von anderen Völkerstämmen unterscheiden!

One on hand, the history of the Germanic tribes would properly begin a thousand years before Hermann and his battle. On the other hand, a history of Germany as a modern nation-state doesn’t start until 1871.

In the 3,000 years between these two points is complex history of culture: art, music, poetry, architecture, and patterns of daily life. There is also three millennia worth of political and military history, but not of Germany: the area in which the Germans lived didn't become Germany until 1871.

This area was organized into numerous different kingdoms over the centuries. Thus we have the histories of Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg, Hesse, Brandenburg, Austria, Prussia, and other in monarchies which were not Germany, but were German.

Compared to the histories of, e.g., England or France, the history of the Germanic kingdoms is in some ways more complex. A name like ‘Wilhelm I’ can refer to Wilhelm I of Württemberg, Wilhelm I of Bavaria, Wilhelm I of Hesse, Wilhelm I of Meissen, etc.

The heroism of Hermann at the Teutoburg Forest will continue to be a popular piece of history, but it is not the starting-point of German history, and it should not be overemphasized.