Clearly you didn't get the memo about PEAK OIL.
I personally do not prefer the German style of knives. I much prefer the Japanese style. They tend to be slightly shorter and the blades are considerably thinner. There are drawbacks, of course, but the Japanese are meticulous and have done some incredible things with laminating (I think that is the right word) different types of steels together so the spine of the knife is incredibly rigid while the actual blade is softer and thus does not chip and takes an edge easily.
I find that Japanese knives cut much better.
To each their own, but you can get incredible deals on Japanese knives on ebay.
I converted my wustof set to the Japanese angle and like them much better. I'm looking into something like this for sharpening.
