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Informed by an integrated critical social semiotic approach, the present critical discourse study investigates the semiotic relations of image–text and the cultural meanings encapsulated in two German language textbooks: Studio d A1 and Netzwerk A1 widely used in Indonesia. Adopting Xiong and Peng's semiotic relation model, the findings demonstrate that Netzwerk A1 provides learners with opportunities to learn, think, and reflect critically on German culture through pedagogical questions regarding image–text‐pedagogy discussion. However, the image–text in Studio d A1 emphasizes the acquisition of linguistic knowledge and does not engage learners in exploring and negotiating their cultural repertoire. This empirical evidence suggests that language textbook writers should consider designing culturally responsive language learning tasks to engage learners in the active construction of cultural knowledge in practice. The Challenge: Any language textbook is always culturally laden, but does it? To which extent can language textbooks convey cultural messages? How do they teach learners cultural knowledge and values? This article presents a critical discourse analysis of cultural representation in German as a foreign language textbooks used in Indonesia from an integrated critical social semiotic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]