I cannot say for Germans, as I did not get to learn yet their language.

We do have a very "romantic" relations with things in French as each thing is given a gender. Like the planets are feminine and the sun masculine, yet the stars are feminine...

Around 3000 BC there was a big split in humanity, in the mythology, between hunting tribes and the ones planting seeds to survive. Maybe the work of Joseph Campbell on the evolution of mythology may interest you.

It is definitely a start.

Regards,