You have a point there; Germans I've met here and in Germany seem to regard folk music as something exclusively foreign, or even exclusively Anglo-American. Another thing that surprises me a bit about Mudcat is that almost no one seems to know any foreign languages (except Irish, which is decidedly the in thing.

On the other hand, I have the impression that folk music traditions in France and Germany died out, to a large extent, drowned by classical and popular music to a much larger extent than elsewhere, so that to hear French folk music it is almost necessary to go to Canada. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that is definitedly my impression.

Most of the German "folk music" I personally have heard is either in the nature of old standards like "Muss i denn," "Die Gedanken sind frei," or "Horch was kommt von draussen rein" - roughly equivalent to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" - or dreary Peasant War stuff. Still, I like those old standards, and wish they were sung more here. Now, the Austrians have a lively folk-song tradition, but I've never been able to interest any Germans in it. It is interesting to note that under the Nazis, Heinrich Heine became a non-person, and all his more popular songs - like "Die Lorelei" - turned into "folk songs."