Not just about cars: Volkswagen scandal pierces German identity
| Cologne, Germany
It鈥檚 the first day of class at the University of Applied Sciences, or TH K枚ln. Students line up at information desks and scour bulletin boards to find out where their lectures in mechanical and civil engineering will be held.
But even amid the excitement, a cloud hangs over them.
The headquarters of Volkswagen might sit 230 miles away from this campus, along the Rhine in the heart of Germany鈥檚 industrial belt, but the news that the iconic company knowingly installed software in at least 11 million cars to cheat on emissions testing has hit close to home, coloring moods here as it has in every classroom, office, and dinner table in Germany.
The scandal cuts deeper than just run-of-the-mill corporate fraud. Volkswagen, the closest thing Germany has to a national icon, lied. It cheated. It polluted 鈥� breaking the standards of reliability and environment implicit in a German label. And now it has shaken German conceptions of who is trustworthy 鈥� and what Germany stands for, at a time when its leadership of Europe amid immigration and financial crises has put it under enormous pressure.
鈥淲hat is the reputation of a German engineer? He is honest, precise, and straightforward. A yes is a yes, and a no is a no,鈥� says Michael Silverberg, a professor of engineering at the university. 鈥淚 feel that I myself am reflecting this [scandal], even though I鈥檓 not guilty.鈥�
Holger Geissler, a board member of the polling firm YouGov Germany in Cologne and editor of the new book 鈥淲hat Makes Germans Tick,鈥� notes that Volkswagen is part of the German identity, giving the scandal an almost existential nature. 鈥淲e see ourselves as very reliable people, very trustworthy, and hardworking," he says. "It does not fit our image to be dishonest.鈥�
'Such a shock'
In a YouGov poll released this summer, Germans chose Volkswagen as the national icon they most identify with, with 63 percent voting for it 鈥� far ahead of Bach, Goethe, and even Chancellor Angela Merkel. The company is so woven into the fabric of society that it鈥檚 incorporated into the lexicon, with 鈥淕eneration Golf鈥� (as in Volkswagen's Golf model) used to describe the generation born in the 1970s, in the same way that Generation X is employed in the United States.
The Volkswagen, with its motto 鈥淒as Auto,鈥� or 鈥淭he Car,鈥� is not just omnipresent on German roadways, but is a metaphor for modern Germany, says Clemens Bomsdorf, a German journalist who covers business and culture for German and English language publications. The first model was conceived by Adolf Hitler as a car for the masses. But the production of the Beetle after World War II soon became a symbol of Germany鈥檚 postwar boom. 鈥淰olkswagen does not have this shiny history," he says. "But it faced its history, just as Germany did, and overcame it.鈥�
The company and Germany rose in tandem with unparalleled reputations for propriety and precision. Germany ranked No. 1, for example, in the 2014 Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index, which measures the image of 50 countries.
鈥淚t is regarded as the quintessentially civilized nation. That is why this is such a shock,鈥� says Simon Anholt, the publisher of the 鈥�Good Country Index.鈥� In another country, such a scandal may have led to a collective shrug, 鈥渃onfirming everything they always thought,鈥� he says.
The German response is more 鈥渂rittle,鈥� he says. They can鈥檛 as easily 鈥渁bsorb the shock.鈥�
Indeed, many fear that Germany鈥檚 moral leadership, from the Greek crisis, where it has insisted on following the rules, to the environment, could be undermined, says Mathis Herzke, a business student at TH K枚ln. 鈥淰olkswagen showed no respect for the political impact,鈥� he says. 鈥淒uring the Greek crisis, everyone saw Germany as only wanting to make money. Now this scandal confirms that picture of us.鈥�
In an April poll by Pew Research Center on TTIP,聽 a US-European Union trade deal currently under negotiation, only 2 percent of Germans said they trust American environmental standards. A whopping 96 percent, however, said they trust EU standards. But Volkswagen has turned that data point on its head. Or as Mr. Herzke puts it: 鈥淲e are just as bad as the Americans.鈥�
For some, the damage is even worse. German engineers played to their strength, says Mr. Bomsdorf, 鈥渦sing good things to do bad things,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is a perversion of the art of German engineering.鈥�
Rebuilding trust
For all of those who feel shaken by the Volkswagen scandal, however, there are many others who feel optimistic, that German strengths will be used not for bad intent but to overcome the damage done 鈥� and that Germany might come out even stronger.
Here in Cologne, engineering feats are part of the city鈥檚 storied history. The Cologne region has long been an important center for the motor industry, with 23 companies and more than 27,000 employees, according to city figures. Ford Werke GmbH is located here, along with the German headquarters of vehicle manufacturers including Volvo, Mazda, and Citroen.
Many consider the city the birthplace of the automobile industry. It was here that Nicolaus August Otto, a 19th century salesman and visionary, created the world鈥檚 first engine works, today called Deutz, and crucially the first high-compression, four-stroke engine in 1876. Today the 鈥淥tto cycle鈥� is the principle behind every motorized engine in the world. Today, a walk through the聽Deutz museum, located next to its engine factory, presents an homage to German engineering geniuses including Gottlieb Daimler, Robert Bosch, and Karl Benz.
Karl Heinz Breuer, the museum guide and former engineer who worked at Deutz from 1966 until he retired last year, expresses the optimism in the staying power of German engineering.
鈥淕ermans care about durability and reliability,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his comes from our mentality or philosophy.鈥� That mentality has grown only stronger upon years of know-how, Mr. Breuer says, and the VW scandal will not undermine that.
鈥淚 fully believe this is not typical for Germany or for German products,鈥� he says.
Outside the Deutz complex, Jan Derckum echoes that view. He owns a Volkswagen, like roughly half the people interviewed for this story. 鈥淕ermany is probably the [foremost] nation in the world that cares about the environment,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is just a drop in bucket.鈥�
He also, like many others interviewed, believes attempts to cheat environmental regulations are far from exclusive to Volkswagen and Germany, and that if any country is poised to regroup, it is Germany. 鈥淲e have the best car engineers in the world, and they will solve this problem.鈥�
Rebecca Harms, a deputy for the Greens in the European Parliament from Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen is headquartered, says that the scandal has had a dramatic impact on her state. But it hasn鈥檛 cost Germany its leadership, especially on the environment. If anything, she argues, it shows how much people care about being green and could lead to better enforcement at the European level.
鈥淗opefully this huge manipulation scandal, which I see really as criminal, gives us the chance to improve European regulation,鈥� she says.
'Why should I be ashamed?'
This is not the only incident that is currently sparking introspection in German society.
Last spring, when a Germanwings pilot intentionally crashed his plane into the Alps, it led some to question flaws in airline screening processes. As the refugee crisis exploded, Germans, who at the outset were optimistic about their ability to absorb up to a million refugees, had to back down from their unconditional embrace. On a more quotidian front, a certain failure of German precision 鈥� the country's outdated infrastructure that causes mind-numbing traffic jams and delays 鈥� has rankled the public for years.
But this scandal is different because of the importance of the Volkswagen. Mr. Anholt calls cars 鈥渁mbassadors鈥� around the world, and in the case of German brands, they reflect the traits that Germans most prize, like trustworthiness.
Still, reaction may reflect something of a generational divide.
Mr. Silverberg, the engineering professor, is 57, and grew up in the postwar era along with Volkswagen. That might explain why he takes this scandal so personally. Jenny Michalski, on the other hand, a 19-year-old student of social work who drives a 艩koda, a Czech auto brand bought by VW in 2000, doesn鈥檛 feel as burdened.
鈥淲hy should I be ashamed?鈥� she asks. 鈥淚t is Volkswagen that should be ashamed.鈥�
While traditionally owning a car used to be the ultimate status symbol, German youths care far less about cars today, says Stefan Bratzel, founder of the Center of Automotive Management, a think tank near Cologne. In one recent study, young people said they cared more about mobility generally 鈥� public transport, shared cars, traveling 鈥� than owning a vehicle. 鈥淔or them it is more important what Apple is doing than what VW is doing,鈥� Mr. Bratzel says.
Regardless, all Germans can unite in one basic sentiment, put simply by Ferdinand Dudenh枚ffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be a country that is cheating against the laws.鈥�
And Germany today finds itself in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar position: No one knows how far the scandal will go or how it will end. 鈥淭he real problem,鈥� says Silverberg, is that 鈥渢he consequences are not clear.鈥�
