Those orderly Germans

I had to chuckle at this brief note buried inside a story about Pope Benedict’s visit to his birthplace of Marktl Am Inn, Germany.  Just a bit of anecdotal evidence about the German compulsion for order and rules.

Hans Peter Kammerer, a police spokesman, said that at least 70,000 people attended the Mass. He said that 20,000 people drove there in private cars, following special parking rules and thus revealing more than a little of the nation’s character, as did the polite and respectful, but not effusive, reception for the pope.

“The rules we gave were followed so precisely that we had to tow only two cars – and those were because they weren’t between the lines,” he said.

Related posts:

1. Creative Brazil, Orderly U.K., Optimistic U.S. ...
2. Those rule-bending Italians ...
3. A suburb without cars. Can it work? ...