It's arguable that most of the modern lay perspective of the German Empire comes from it's role as the "adversary" in WWI - it's not seen as either being "good" or "bad," but rather was just the powerful Imperial nation that happened to clash swords with the liberal democracies of Western Europe. Sure, it was ruled by an Imperial government and people had less say in how their country was run, but it was also highly productive and produced many influential people in the realm of science and technology.
So going deeper than this basic understanding, what was the nitty-gritty real-world experience of German citizens? Did they enjoy the fruits of industrialisation, perhaps to a larger degree than the French and British? Was there some resentment at the lack of political representation, compared to other industrialised nations? Ignoring the obvious behemoth of the inevitable conflict of WWI, was there any plans for the future of country? How well appreciated were the arts?
Danke for your responses!
I'm not going to answer your question fully but I have to take issue with your saying that "the people had no say in how their country was run". Although it would be a mistake to call the German Empire a constitutional monarchy in the way that the UK was, it's also wrong to call it an autocracy on par with contemporary Czarist Russia. Rather, the German Empire was something of an ad hoc state with elements of absolutism, elements of constitutional monarchy, and elements of federation.
The Imperial Reichstag was elected through universal and open elections, and contained many strong critics of the regime. The German Social Democratic party was actually the strongest in Europe, and unsurprisingly often opposed the Imperial government quite strongly. The second largest party was the Centre Party, a Catholic group which, while not anti-monarchist, was suspicious of the Prussian monarchy due to its history of anti-Catholicism. While the Reichstag was not as powerful as the British Parliament - it had no power to appoint governments, for example - it did wield the extremely significant power to control the budget. In the late 19th century there was ongoing wrangling between the government and the Reichstag over increasing the size of the military - the Kaiser in his role as commander-in-chief could order the creation of new divisions, but they were meaningless without the funds to recruit, house, equip and train them, which the Reichstag could (and did) refuse to commit to.
So in summary, while it would be wrong to describe Imperial Germany as a democracy, it's also wrong to say the people had "no say in how their country was run". Their say was meaningful, if limited, but the Imperial experience of parliamentary politics and universal male suffrage (which the UK, for example, didn't have until after WW1) provided an important template for later German democracy.
I've just realised that I can chip in re: the arts, too. The Wilhelmine era was generally seen as a very fertile and successful time for the German arts, with lavish patronage both from aristocrats and capitalists. Adolph Menzel, an engraver and painter, was so celebrated that the Kaiser walked alongside his coffin at his funeral. The Art Nouveau movement also got its start in Imperial Germany.
Source: Volker Bergahn, Imperial Germany 1871-1918.