In North American universities, pop culture increasingly appears in the German Studies classroom to "spice up" the curriculum. But what is conveyed and taught and how is it inserted into the curriculum and into the US cultural context? This article explores three examples of popular culture in the German Studies classroom: representations of the Berlin Republic in "Good Bye Lenin!" and "Das Leben der Anderen", Fatih Akin's "Gegen die Wand", and songs of the band Rammstein. We argue for an approach that encourages students to explore the politics of national culture in a global context and emphasizes the tensions and contingencies in the materials presented.