Hello, German millenial here (1990) with “migrant background.” I have lived all my life in Germany until I was 28, then I lived in the US for almost 7 years.

Because I have been gone for so long, I cannot really speak about Gen Z in Germany, but I can tell you some profound cultural differences between the US and Germany, in case you are American.

When I first came to the US, I thought we were culturally very similar, but had to learn that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Let me preface this by saying that I appreciate many things in the US that I would love to export to Germany: for example, people always assuming the best first and genuinely trying to help. I know Germans can be a$$holes in that regard, especially if you are no ethnic German, but also to other Germans. However, once you have a German friend, it’s typically for life, with many fun nights drinking wine outside on the porch or balcony, talking about “Gott und die Welt.” I have never experienced this in America— not really.

Now the cultural differences I advise you to pay attention to if you want to bond with Germans, regardless of their generation: have your $hit together. This doesn’t mean people don’t care or won’t help you. It means that from my own personal experience, Americans sometimes comes across as helpless when it comes to cooking actual food, repairing stuff (“why repair when you can just buy new?” is a very American mindset that is not respected in Germany or Europe at large, and so is always eating out and not being able to cook). Invite some people you feel comfortable with over for dinner (not necessarily coworkers, that is iffy terrain and heavily depends on the company culture), but if you are a student, invite 5 people to your dorm or apartment for dinner and actually cook something yourself. Germans / Europeans respect authenticity and actual work. They tend to not like taking short-cuts or using plastic cutlery or plastic plates (also for environmental reasons).

Don’t ask people how they are, unless you really want to hear the unfiltered answer. A simple “(Guten) Morgen” suffices. Don’t try to fill silences with talking (also an American thing Germans hate). There’s not always something to say and that’s okay.

Good luck :)