My great-grandma Carrie was very German - in both nationality and attitude. When my mom was in high school she took a trip with grandma Carrie to Germany. They were on a train to Munich and Carrie was chatting with some of the passengers in German (which my mom did not speak). But there was one thing my mom took away from Carrie's babbling: shön aber groß. My mom was mortified that 1. her grandmother would call her "pretty but fat" and 2. that she would do so to complete strangers. But 'tis the German way! My family still jokes about Grandma Carrie's brutal honesty that bordered on mean. My dad is still offended that she would often greet him with "Dickie, you look fat."
The differences in social graces between Americans and Germans is not surprising. Germans are efficient and precise - why waste your time beating around the bush when you could just get to the point? Americans have a way for congratulating you for just being. For example, when you tell someone you go to the University of Michigan, they respond with "oh, good for you! What a great school." Last month I told a German couple that I went to Michigan and their response was "for what purpose?"
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