Well, I agree that my statement is a generalization, but in the 70's and 80's I travelled for years all over Germany busking, playing in sessions and small festivals, etc., and that was what I was told by the majority of dozens of German musicians that I met, not to mention many others, when I asked them about German folk music. Many well known artists started with Irish or American folk before re-discovering German folk. I did find exceptions in villages and small towns in Swabia and Bavaria, because I was keen on learning German songs, and got the best response in the DDR--but that's a different kettle of fish.