on the other hand, US has been a democracy for by far the longest. Other European countries pale in comparision, with the possible exception of the UK.
I would argue that the US has not been a full democracy until Civil Rights.
Jim Crow laws were in effect until 1965. Also, black people could not exercise their vote, were not allowed to attend university, eat in the same restaurants, or even sit on the same section of the bus. As far as black people were concerned, the US was not a democracy.
Thus, America is still not an actual Democracy.
You don't have freedom of speech in Germany because there are hate language laws. Thus, it's not a democracy.
See how silly that is?
I don't understand the point you're trying to make? The German people can always vote to overturn the laws they've imposed on themselves.
For a large part of American history, black people were literally unable to vote (or were considered 3/5th of a person). That is by definition the opposite of a democracy.