On my STILL rudimentary homepage I plan to write about places to go, things to do, and about German peculiarities and clichés. But it's so hard to see your own nation and its problems with the eyes of foreigners, and this is where you come into play.
The stuff below the separation line is what I actually want to post on my homepage. Please give me your honest opinion and feedback about it, for example, any experience (good or bad) that you've had with Germans and that have either confirmed or destroyed any prejudice you had/have.
Don't worry, I won't be offended, I'll just take it as a learning experience so that I won't make those mistakes myself, if at all possible and then I'll delete you from my friends list 
-------------------------
First thing I've learned through my contacts with foreigners: take away nationality, and you'll find human nature is the same all over the world. Our needs, greeds and wants are the same, and so are our dark sides. Still, national "traditions" and upbringing makes understanding each other quite difficult sometimes, and here's my attempt to explain and improve things
Some Clichés about Germans ...
... and my personal take on them (in no particular order).
Cliché 1. Germans are rude and impolite.
In general, it's true. You will find quite a lot of polite Germans, but you will also find a lot of "gruff" folks (especially men - what can I say *cough* 
). Or at least they appear more gruff:
A waitress in Scotland to where I had been on a bus tour with other Germans, had immense problems with one elderly guy because she perceived him as "so impolite". The thing is, he wasn't - if he had been at home. He was a typical (obese) Bavarian who behaved in his typical Bavarian (male) way. No-one at his hometown would have been surprised or offended or put off. But to foreigners it's a whole different story, they aren't used to this gruff behaviour.
As a matter of fact, even Germans perceive other Germans as impolite. Most notorious for its impoliteness is the larger Berlin - Brandenburg area. I think it's because of the way they talk, their "speech melody". I always compare their way of speaking to words shot from a gun at you. Or slapping your face with words. But that's just how they speak, even to each other.
Hard for a foreigner to tell whether someone's just "their normal self" or being impolite. Best thing you can do is not take it personally and just get on with your life.
Cliché 2. Germans are hard-working and efficient.
Er - not anymore. Many still are, they have a good work attitude and try to give it their best at their jobs. But it's deteriorated, there are far too many lazy Germans about.
Cliché 3. Germans are always punctual.
Er - same answer as above. The majority probably are, but far too many are not.
Cliché 4. All Germans are Nazis.
Definitely not. To my deepest regrets there is a core of Nazi fanatics around, and they're working hard on enlarging their crowd (and our fucking Government is too lax to tighten any laws that would prohibit such behaviour, but that's a different story). Neo-Nazis are immensely UNpopular with the general public. Wherever they appear, there's going to be a counter-demonstration that far outnumbers those idiots.
I believe it was in the year 2007. There was an incident in Nürnberg where a group of Neo-Nazis wanted to stage a "demo walk" along a certain street, with the goal of attracting lots of attention. The locals found out about it and simply blocked the street, the Nazis couldn't get through. And had to go to a completely different area where hardly anyone noticed them.
The former East Germany, though, has a really serious problem with Neo-Nazis. It's a complex situation of some people averting their eyes to the problem, others simply living with it ("doesn't affect ME"), and some are even sympathizing with some of those twisted ideas. As always, there's no easy solution to the problem, and it most definitely needs more efforts from the authorities to be brought under control. And better education at school, starting with the very young kids already.
Cliché 5. Germans have no sense of humour.
Absolutely not true. We laugh a lot, and the most popular shows on German television are those with funny, joke-cracking hosts.
But our sense of humour is different to that of the Brits or Americans. It's not as crass as the British humour can be (e.g. "Little Britain"), nor is it as homophobic as the American humour (e.g. "Saturday Night Live"). It's - well, German. 
Cliché 6. Germans think it's their god-given right to reserve deckchairs with a towel.
What can I say? If it's any consolation: they don't only quarrel with the Brits over deckchairs, they do the same with other Germans. And not only over deckchairs either ... *sigh*
Cliché 7. Germans are well-educated.
Especially Germans like to think so. But it's not true, not anymore. Our education system sucks, and our education standards are not what you would expect from a relatively rich nation.
Cliché 8. Germans are loud.
Hm. Yes and no. For some reason you do seem to hear them louder than others, but it can't only be due to decibel-loudness.
In Edinburgh I passed by some Italian teenagers who couldn't be described as "quiet". And on the ferry back to the continent, there was a hen party on board, and they were outside (as were most passengers) when the ferry left the port. The girls were louder than the boat.
So what is it? Why are Germans perceived louder than others? Is it the language? I just don't know.
More facts that are not cliché yet (I believe), but true nevertheless:
Germans like to behave like bad teachers, by which I mean they always try to correct and lecture others. And that can be soooo annoying.
They also have a very inflexible attitude, especially at work. It's like: "But we've always done it this way, why should we change??" True, some work-related changes are for the worse, but many are for the better.
And this attitude also shines through in other situations. "But we've always reserved deckchairs with a towel! So what's the problem now?" Answer: Inflexible thinking.
