References to German(y)

[Schlauer Fuchs]

Hey,

 

having watched Shelrock up and down for the last few weeks, I couldn't help but notice there are many links to German(y): In S1E1 the thing about Rache(l), in S1E2 Sherlock takes the London A-Z from some German tourists (love their accents ), in S1E3 the plane crash happened in Düsseldorf, in "Many happy returns" there is the trial in Hamburg, of course the whole Richard Brook/Reichenbach-theme and some tiny references such as Moriarty referring to J.S. Bach (S2E3) and Sherlock thinking about Ingolstadt in his mind palace (S2E2). That's  what instantly comes into my mind, might be more.

 

Is it only me who thinks they're a lot compared to other language references (maybe I'm just predisposed to notice...)? Or is there an explanation - does one of the writers maybe have some affiliation with Germany? Or is it just chance? Any theories (or certainty) there?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, I must say, there's been only one reference to Indiana so far!  So yes, the writers seem to be well aware of Germany, but I can't say whether it's personal with any of them, or simply recognition that Germany is a fairly large country fairly nearby.  Some of the references come from the Conan Doyle stories, of course -- "Reichenbach" in particular.

 

For comparison, can you (or anyone here) think how many references there have been to other countries, for example France?

 

[Schlauer Fuchs]

Well, I never learned French, so the only references to France that stroke me were those of is this short sentence in the long S2E2 deduction (at least I guess it's French, I'll ask a friend about it) and him thinking about "liberté, égalité, fraternité" (S2E2). And there is him faking the accent in The Empty Hearse, but I'm not sure whether that's supposed to be French or Italian. Other than that there is naturally Chinese in S1E2, Serbian in S3E1 and American in S2E2, but as far as I can remember that's about it. Don't know, somehow I feel that's a lot German in comparison, but then as I said, I may be predisposed to notice...

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Maybe it's because Sherlock seems to be fluent in German. He did talk with those German tourists for a bit after taking their A-to-Z, and was with the German jurors at Hamburg.

[Schlauer Fuchs]

Yeah, he may well be, considering his brother teaches himself Serbian in 30 minutes he'll probably need 20 for German (lucky devil). Though what he says to the tourists actually doesn't sound fluent at all (he shouts "bitte" = "please" after them and then says "Minute" = "minute"). Well, maybe he doesn't make unnecessary words because he is in stress. But anyway, it again makes me wonder why on earth the writers (or whoever) would choose German of all languages (there are more important ones after all, be it French, Chinese or Russian, and more beautiful ones too ).

 

Ah, I asked my friend about that sentence in "Hound": It's actually French and means "Look for the dog".

[Janie]

And then there's the reference to the Czech republic in TGG. But sadly nothing about our language. Though it would be fun if any of the characters tried to speak Czech 

[Schlauer Fuchs]

You're right, I completely forgot about that reference! Oh, and there is his fleeting visit to Belarus, too, tough he doesn't speak Russian at that point. And there a bound to be more, after all my mindpalace is more like an old shack...

 

Though it would be fun if any of the characters tried to speak Czech 

I can easily belief that! I think it's the most hilarious thing on TV when English people speak German, it's so sweet - which is why I'm happy they repetedly do in Sherlock

 

[T.o.b.y]

It'd be funny if they were intentionally bringing up Germany and German themes a lot on purpose, because in Doyle's time, the Germans were the "bad guys". I mean, he was WWI era. "His Last Bow" actually has a German villain. (Or is von Bork Austrian? I can't remember). Germans in the original stories are generally evil. And Moran has a German-made gun.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Ah, I asked my friend about that sentence in "Hound": It's actually French and means "Look for the dog".

 

Right.  It's presumably a twist on the old saying "Cherche la femme" or "Look for the woman" -- which was kind of a cliche in old detective stories (implying that there's always a woman at the root of any problem), used somewhat the same way that you might hear "Follow the money" nowadays.