Herman and his last girlfriend?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Heimat: A Chronicle of Germany
Cobram — 13 years ago(March 13, 2013 02:33 PM)
At the end of the series, when we see Herman trying out the acoustics of the cave while the spirits of Maria and Otto watch, Herman is kissing the woman passionately, and then he says "Did you know my mother is your grand mother" and everyone starts laughing. Who is she and how are they related? For the statement to be true, he'd be making out with his own niece?
Man without relatives is man without troubles. Charlie Chan -
Cobram — 13 years ago(March 30, 2013 01:52 AM)
Even though Anton is his half brother, such a relationship or even tryst is disturbing because of it's incestuous nature. Unless of course it's normal in Germany for relatives to tongue kiss each other passionately on the mouth.
Man without relatives is man without troubles. Charlie Chan -
Kokapetl — 11 years ago(February 03, 2015 05:05 PM)
Yes, she's his half-niece; traditionally that kind of relationship was considered less strange in Europe than in the USA (it's started to be considered more strange in the last 20 years or so). I assume there was more stigma in Germany about that kind of thing than in, say, Britain, because Maria was shocked when Otto told her he'd been dating his cousin in the 1940s (which a British person wouldn't have batted an eyelid at); but generally speaking it would be acceptable for an uncle and his half-niece to have a relationship in 1982 in Europe, believe it or not.
If you're interested, as a British viewer, I wasn't bothered by their kiss from an incest perspective, though I did think Hermann was pretty sleazy as I'm pretty sure Gisela was a fair bit younger than him I didn't get a great look at all the dates on the family tree in the intro of that episode because I was reading the subtitles as well, but as I recall she was Anton's youngest daughter. Typical Hermann.
"I only ask that you respect my jumper!"