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Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States of America, Klaus Scharioth.

(© German Embassy, Washington DC)

What does Main Street think about Germany? The German Information Center USA, the German Embassy's public diplomacy department, released a public opinion poll today on Americans' attitudes towards Germany.

"The study shows that Americans continue to have a positive image of Germany as a modern society, home of high-tech innovations and a major international partner of the United States," says German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth. "The results of our survey reflect common ground and close relations between Americans and Germans. Americans show a genuine and growing interest in modern life in Germany. They also send a clear message to the political leaders of the US and Germany: 'Let us work together ever more closely to tackle challenges like climate change to preserve the planet for future generations!'"

Germany's image with Americans continues to be on the rise: 43 percent have an excellent or very good overall impression of the country, and 47 percent consider it a modern and forward-looking society. Even more feel that Germany is a high-tech country (51 percent) with a thriving culture and performing arts scene (45 percent). Modern life in Germany, German scientific research and German history are key areas of interest to Americans interested in Germany.

Many Americans have a very positive view of bilateral US-German relations: a 34 percent overall plurality describes them as "excellent" or "very good". One point Ambassador Scharioth emphasizes is that many Americans view successful economic cooperation as the most positive aspect of bilateral relations (36 percent). They also feel that good diplomatic relations, mutual trust and agreement on foreign policies, as well as defense cooperation (13 percent - an increase of 5 percentage points, compared to February 2007), are factors contributing to good bilateral relations.

Those Americans who know that Angela Merkel is the current German Chancellor have an increasingly positive view of her: 57 percent have an excellent or good impression of the German head of government (up by 10 percentage points, compared to February 2007).

The number of Americans who consider that a perceived lack of German support for the Iraq war is souring German-American relations has gone down by more than half since last year and at 7 percent is no longer an issue. Asked about what they think is not good about US-German relations, more than 40 percent of respondents simply answer: 'Don’t know'. Ambassador Scharioth explains: "That is a good 'Don’t know', because it means that most Americans simply do not feel there is an issue or an area where the United States and Germany do not stand united."

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Melting Arctic ice affects the survival of species such as the polar bear.

(© picture-alliance/dpa)

That is true especially when it comes to meeting global environmental challenges together: 56 percent of Americans agree that the US and Germany should work together even more closely to combat climate change. And a striking 69 percent of Americans are in favor of regulatory measures to be taken at an international level to fight climate change. "Americans and Germans have come to realize that time is running out. We have to act together now. Germany is working with its partners to forge a new international climate protection agreement by 2009. By the middle of this century, we have to bring down the worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by half compared to 1990 levels. That is why on September 30, 2008, Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier launched the US-German Transatlantic Climate Bridge in Berlin," said Ambassador Scharioth.

When asked about the most important international partners of the US, Americans continue to rank Germany among the top four. Only the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan rank higher in the survey. Germany is moreover considered the most important European partner of the US, after the United Kingdom and before France.

Americans are also increasingly aware of Germany’s contribution to the fight against international terrorism in Afghanistan. One fifth of all Americans (21 percent) say that Germany plays an important role in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. Another 35 percent see Germany as an important ally of the US in the fight against terrorism, while the percentage of those who would encourage Germany to become more active in the fight against terrorism has dropped by 8 percent from 2007 (now at 49 percent).

And a majority of Americans (51 percent, up by 5 percentage points compared to the February 2007 survey) think that the US media does not provide enough news about Germany.

"We see that Americans have a growing demand for information on Germany. I would like to invite Americans to visit the German Embassy’s new website Germany.info as a first stop on their journey of our country," says Ambassador Scharioth.

"The survey shows: Americans and Germans share fundamental values and beliefs. We share a common vision of the future. We are called upon to seek solutions as partners and friends."

The German Information Center’s annual representative survey “Facets of Germany“ is conducted online by the research and consulting company Frank N. Magid Associates. The 2008 survey was fielded September 15-23, 2008 and surveyed 1,019 Americans aged 18 and older. The margin of error is +/- 3.2 %.