According to a recent survey, German men list tax breaks as their
primary reason for getting married. Which leaves the rest of us to
ask the obvious question:
"Why don't *we* get those kinda tax breaks here in the U.S.?"
Anyway, for men in the U.S. it's usually some combination of
relationship-oriented motivations that provides the basis for
marriage. And since American men are [apparently] much more romantic
than their German counterparts, our motivations for marriage are
solidly rooted in amour; why, just look at the typical American
male's highly-romantic reasons for considering marriage:

1. The house needs cleaning. Sure, he can do it himself, but it's
a pretty big job when you only do it once a year (or so). Plus, the
house looks so much more romantic when it's clean.

2. The refrigerator needs to be refilled. Yes, he can go grocery
shopping, but it's a real hassle for the standard testosterone-laden,
attention-deficient male, who has trouble looking properly detached
standing in line at the grocery store -- without a beer or a cigarette
in his hand to complete the "look" -- and generally forgets what he's
doing there by the time he reaches the register. Moreover, beer isn't
sold in most U.S. grocery stores, so, accordingly, most U.S. men
don't know where those stores are. Plus, a full refrigerator is much
more romantic than an empty one.

3. The laundry needs to be done. Okay, he can attempt this himself,
but there are two significant problems with men doing laundry:
a. Testosterone poisoning makes men refuse to wear pink underwear
(regardless of the color it used to be).
b. Buying new underwear every time we do laundry can be prohibitively
expensive.
Plus -- clean, properly-colored clothing is very romantic.

4. The "significant other" is pressing for action on the "marriage"
front. Sure, he can try to put off a decision indefinitely, but some
enterprising women have started resorting to deadlines: "Either we
are engaged by [insert date], or I'm outta here." (Otherwise known
as the "love by simple coercion" maneuver.) Faced with the
horrifying prospect of a dirty house, an empty refrigerator, pink
underwear, and having to lift his sagging butt from the couch to
"get [his] *own* damn beer" during the game (or while watching the
Arts and Entertainment channel, depending upon how far he's
progressed along the evolutionary scale), he will usually give in
and decide to take the plunge. Plus, getting married is much more
romantic than wearing pink underwear. (Also, note that most women
will conveniently forget about the "ultimatum" within mere *minutes*
of the proposal.)

See? None of that unromantic "tax break" reasoning here -- just solid
amour. And the romance doesn't end there -- when it comes time to close
the deal, you can bet that the innovative American male will devise
something *totally* original, like hiding the ring somewhere in the
house and leaving a trail of notes directing her to the bounty. And
he'll pick an original day on which to do it, too -- like Christmas, or
Valentine's Day, or her birthday. (A thinly-veiled way to "combine
gifts," BTW.)

Of course, the girl will graciously fail to mention the gross lack
of originality in the presentation -- being preoccupied instead with
how she's going to explain to her new fiancee that *he* wants to
replace the very-thoughtful-but-not-very-romantic cubic zirconia
with a rock large enough to make the Queen Mary list to one side ...