a funny joke

[Banquo's Ghost]

I always heard that joke as:

In heaven
Germans are the mechanics
Italians are the designers
French are the cooks
British are the police

In hell
Italians are the mechanics
French are the designers
British are the cooks
Germans are the police

I think ajaxfetish's version works better as a joke. For example:

Italian mechanics are pretty good - witness the Ferrari F1 team, and they created the old Alfa Romeos, Bugattis, Lamborghinis and so on.

French designers are among the best in the world - Givenchy, Chanel, etc.

Germans have a very professional police force, unless one is going with old WW2 caricatures.

And the British are the same as cooks.