Magnus Manske wrote:
de chooses Goethe (I didn't ask, but I'm sure they'll agree with me:-)
Is he immediately recognisable in the German speaking world?
Should be, but if we go for popularity, Schwarzenegger might be better ;-)
I'm only joking, of course, but I think that by far the most instantly recognizable German is Hitler, with that funny moustache and all. I think almost everyone on the planet would know Hitler instantly.
The point of my joke is just that I don't think the mapping from famous people into languages is a very easy thing to do correctly.
Even Magnus's joke helps to show this: Schwarzenegger is most commonly thought of as an American with a funny accent, not a German. If I saw icons with Shakespeare, Schwarzenegger and PePe LePew, I wouldn't automatically think "English, German, and French", I would think "Fine arts, action films, and cartoons".
Similarly, Shakespeare and Goethe represent 'literature' to me, not 'langugages'.
--Jimbo