A Part of GERMAN CULTURE I have Fully Embraced
2023 ж. 8 Сәу.
80 020 Рет қаралды
Cultural differences can be in your face or subtly subdued. This part of German Culture is one thing I have learned to love.
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I am a Brit who lives Germany. After completing University in the UK I moved to China where I taught English for two years. I’ve learned a thing or two about cultural integration, language learning and everything else that goes with upping sticks and moving to a foreign country. I make videos about Germany, cultural differences and tend to pose a lot of questions. Join me on my exploration of life abroad.
#germanculture #cultureshocks #livingingermany
Here in Germany, the customer is not king or queen, but a guest. This means he or she is treated well, but it also means that the customer has to behave well.
Kind of how it should be really
"The customer is always right in matters of taste." Otherwise it is OK to tell a customer that they are wrong. That may be shocking to americans but they like to shorten the quote so they can feel like kings and queens, acting like they are doing businesses a favour when shopping there. It breeds bad feelings. Here in Germany we understand that a business transaction is a thing of two parties who should be equally happy when the transaction is done.
I love this statement, but sometimes I think company's need to educate there customers.
@@mrheisenberg83 While this longer rule is much sensible, sometimes it might still go too far (then again, such a cultural awareness won't be realised in this liberal state or at least not in the interest of the people).
@@xCorvus7x Could you repeat that so that I can understand you, please? What you wrote did not make much sense to me, tbh.
Ah, the short story of Wal-Mart in Germany is always one of my favorties. They thought they could pull off their practices in Germany, instead all they really managed was to piss everyone off. The German customer wants to shop in peace, not be -ambushed- greeted at the door. The German retail worker wants to stoically suffer in silence, not fakie enthusiasm in mandatory teambuilding exercises. The German unions and staff councils... exist, apparently someone should've told Wal-Mart in advance. The German laws clearly forbid retailers to sell products at cost or even less, for fair competition, but Wal-Mart didn't want to play fair. And so came the day, not a second too soon, that retail behemoth Wal-Mart got kicked out. Meanwhile, both Aldis (aka Aldi & Trader Joe's) are flourishing in the US, without changing a thing. Barely any pricey brands, no annoying store music, you even have to bring back your shopping cart yourself, can you believe it!
My Mom learned her craft selling Toys in one of Germany biggest Retailers Kaufhof. And when Walmart came to Germany, after a childbreak, she decided to work again and got a Job there. It was hell for her. Her classical training which contained beeing aware of costumers needing help, but also giving them space to look for themselves wasn't supposed to be used. A US trained german-american supervisor had them do motivational dances in the morning. They always had to wear buttons with motivational phrases. In Germany. The costumer knows, that retail worker just want to do their job. The Retail workers know, that the costumer justs wants to get their groceries after a long day and leave asap. Not that hard. That Us happidy hoppidy phantasyland attitude feels articifial for us germans. I know where the fuck the bread is. No need to ambush me with happiness, which is indeed fake lol.
@@brandonl.kingston635 IIRC, even Lidl is present in the US and UK.
Well, the range of products which WM offered wasn't bad. But their culture didn't work.
there are places where you dont have to bring back shopping carts yourself??
Also, German customers expect stores to treat their staff well and will punish them if they don't. So no wonder, for instance, that cashiers in German supermarkets get to sit down, not stand.
It wasn‘t until my German future brother-in-law pointed it out that I realised the benefit of quiet Sundays with shops closed. Nobody can tell you that you need to go shopping or put up a shelf. It‘s like a get-out-of-jail free card against all those pesky tasks that get in the way of properly enjoying some quality down-time. I hope it lasts for ever… It’s only inconvenient for the poorly organised; i.e. not for Germans.
I think most people learn to appreciate it after getting over the initial shock.
as someone who works as a bartender i still have to work on sundays, but really love having my 2 free days during the week. i can get all kinda stuff done without anything being overcrowded thanks to the fact that most people work during these hours. yet i´m personally not a huge fan of the quiet sundays, i see it as quite benefial for families and friendgroups, just knowing we all have time on these day(s since most people dont work on saturday either). only thing i really dislike about it is that most of my social circle now is filled with people from the industry, cause we are kinda left out of the normal free days or even hours.
@@tba-2147 yeahhh totally get. Difficult to spend time with people working a normal office job
Ha! I've been unorganized and had to make do with what I had in stock quite a lot of sundays, especially when I was younger. Which is totally ok, bakers are open on sunday mornings, and there's always something left to cook a meal from, even if it's pasta with oil and garlic or a simple tomato sauce or something.
Well well, we enjoy the benfit of being raised (actually, being born into the shop-free sundays). If it was an idea recent politics had come up with, I'd guess it would have met major opposition, not least from consumers. Then again, think Corona, two weeks of no shopping (with the few exeptions) - remember like days before Christmas even, seemed impossible, alyways were extended to several weeks more, and most didn't even really care - I'm not saying bring back the pandemic, but... ;)
As my grandfather used to say, "We're too poor to buy cheap stuff." We had some furniture made by a carpenter, certainly a bit more expensive than from a furniture store, but so they were exactly what we needed and last for decades.
When I was at uni I got half of my furniture from Sperrmüll. When an old person died the old furniture used to get sorted out by their children and the rest went to Sperrmüll. That’s how I found my first “wardrobe”. It was the long, lower part of a dining room cupboard with three doors. It was so heavy but I put it onto the saddle of my bike and took it home. All passers-by tried to give me space and smiled. That’s also how I found my dining table and shelves that I refurbished. Oh, and two rocking chairs. My father refurbished both and one is still at their house. I still got the shelves and am proud of the work I put into it. I think this is part of post war culture (treasure hunting/saving money) and of a self-made-man culture. Somehow it’s also identity establishing. Every time you refurbish sth or build sth out of nothing it shows your creativity, sense of beauty, endeavour and focus. It’s too easy and boring to just buy. I think we prefer culture. Culture means growing.
It’s definitely more personal but requires creativity and energy👍🏻
I think most people I know got their first furniture (or at least half of it) from the "Sperrmüll"
A lot of the older stuff also just looks much better than newer designs.
Hihi, reminds me of how I got my desk chair! It's amazing what you can transport on a bicycle. Especially once you figured out that old bicycle tubes make for unkaputtbare securing straps.
Never used vorwerk tiger vacuum and a dyson air multiplier are some of my best finds this year..... an acid gold test set just yesturday😊
A little addition, maybe correction rather, concerning the failure of Walmart in germany. There were two main, well documented, reasons for its failure. One was the work ethic expected from eomployees, which just blatantly clashed with workers rights in germany, starting with unionization (Walmart probably still tries to figure out what was happening to them on their despicable union-busting attempts) and ending with contracts and working hours (which just does not mix with a unionized work force). The second was the treatment of customers in stores. The average german person just felt creeped out by the whole Walmart philosophy that is exemplified by the position of "greeter" in a store. This is not what germans appreciate, don't make your employees belittle themselves as we see through the ruse (or just assume it is nothing but a ruse). Germans generally just felt taken for idiots by such a behavior. There is the saying "Ich bin zu arm um billig zu kaufen", which pretty much sums up the sentiment around buying quality instead of the cheapest option. There is simply this assumption that, in the long run, you will be replacing cheap stuff often enough to make it more expensive then buying the longer lasting quality stuff. This notion of course completely deteriorated over the last 3 decades as we witness more and more openly built-in obsolocence even by german manufacturers.
Thank you
Another very important reason was the laws in Germany prohibit one of Walmarts biggest, and scummiest, tactics: Selling below purchasing prices to bankrupt the competition. That is forbidden in Germany and so Walmart couldn't actually sell cheaper than some of the more minimalistic stores in Germany.
Oh yes, I hated the fake friendliness in the USA! I actually thanked a polite but obviously unhappy retail person I saw a few days after I got back for doing her job, even though she didn’t have a good day. I’m afraid I really confused the poor woman, but it was so refreshing after all that fake for a month. We didn’t have a Walmart nearby in Germany, but a friend had, so I tend to think of my experience in the USA.
@@merrydiscusser6793 im pretty sure they actually sold cheaper for a while to try and underbid the competition (even if it was illegal) the real problem was that both Aldi and Lidl were able to compete with Walmart as you know they kinda invented the whole super cheap grocery store thing. Again totally illegal but neither side cared as it's kinda hard to check if the product you sold is actually cheaper than what you bought it for considering that those prices can change at a day by day basis.
@@marvinvogtde I know that the German supreme court found Walmart guilty of predatory pricing. I have not checked if other stores also got caught, but it definitely happened to Walmart.
I think a big factor is the big influence Handwerk has in German culture and society. We can lead fulfilling lives doing something we are good at without chasing the highest possible paycheck.
If you can be happy without the chase then you're one step ahead of most.
Yes, but that sentiment is dying. The lack of apprentices shows that rather well.
@@Uli_Krosse the attitude towards apprenticeship is about to do a u-turn. unless in MINT subjects, academics are having a hard time achieving a life time income of a tradesman (by teh time a university graduate hits the job market, a tradesman has easily earned his first 100.000.- Euros!), and with tradesmen getting rarer, this gap will open further.
@@Uli_Krosse That doesn't necessarily only have to do with people going for higher career paths, though. In many manual labour jobs, even apprentices do hard manual labour every day, which they simply don't get paid enough for. And it's not a case of young people being picky, in many cases apprentices really just wouldn't earn enough to make an apprenticeship in that field attractive enough.
@@peterkoller3761 I agree, but I don't think we're there yet. It's going to get worse before it gets better. But generally I agree, craftsmanship is about to be built on gold again. Some day, but not today.
Thanks for more good observations. "I am too poor to buy cheap things." Is not a German quote but one that is actually followed a lot anyway. "Mehr Schein als Sein." (More appearance than substance) is a German quote that highlights this, fancy things are not valued as much as those that do their job well. "Form follows function", not the other way round. As you mentioned, this also or especially - depending on the region in which you are in Germany - applies to food. Why would people pay 10 € per litre for motor oil and then look for the cheapest possible for their salad or cooking oil? Is a car really more important than oneself? "Entschleunigung" (deceleration) sums up a movement that deals with these things for quite a while now. To decelerate the whole life, enjoy a good work / life balance and take time for the important things instead of rushing through life has become important to more and more people. Happy Easter to all, enjoy a decelerated life with less stress and be content with less material things, it makes such a difference!
Oil: cheap (eating) oil might taste worse, but in general won't kill you (there are high standards even for cheap food). But a bad motor oil is "advertized" to maybe kill your expensive "holy" car. I also have the problem with buying cheap too often. It's sometimes difficult to distinguish in which case cheap is good and when it is bad. And there is the stuff you only rarely need (tools). Why pay lots of money for something which does essentially the same ? With little usage it might last as long as expensive one. Yes expensive brand names can be sold easier and for more. But they also cost more. It that calculation positive in the end ?
Happy Easter to you too. Make the most of the holidays 😀
@@reinhard8053 you don't need to buy the best thing, you buy the thing which gets you the most for your money
@@shadowday24 But it doesn't need to get me more than I need.
"He, who buys cheap, buys twice"
If you're used to shops not always being open it's not really an issue. On the contrary, having a quiet Sunday is really nice, where you can have quiet day without having to "flee" somewhere else
Of course...if you're used to something it's never an issue...the issue occurs when something changes that you are not used to...
I really like the concept of "Tauschschränke" here in Leipzig, where people can donate working stuff (cloths, toys, ...) by putting it in publicly accessible closets on the sidewalk and let other people take it for free. It's similar to the "kostet nix"-Box where you put stuff you don't need in front of your doorstep for everyone to take what she needs.
Nice! I’ve seen the boxes before but sounds like it’s a bit more organised and official in Leipzig
We call them Fair-Teiler here in Karlsruhe
Ist im Ruhrgebiet auch eine Sache
@@britingermany Happening in Berlin, too, It's adorable, most people take care to have their box of sorted-out stuff tidy, clean and as protected from weather as can be. There's something polite to it, like "may I offer you this award-winning novel and four-part coffee service, I hope it's up to your standards"
Happens her in the UK as well. You often see things on the street with a sign saying please take, it’ll go.
The area in Düsseldorf you're referring to is literally just a small part of one street. You finde the same on Ku'Damm in Berlin or in any other fancy & posh area of any city. Düsseldorf also has a history of working class, punk music & art. :) The materialistic thing is such a cliché that just doesn't match reality. Plus, the rich people who flaunt along the Kö usually don't even live in the city. :))) (I grew up near Düsseldorf, lived in the city for a long time.)
Genau. Grüsse aus Ludenberg.
Düsseldorf had some amazing quirky shops in the alleys of the Altstadt until about twenty years ago. Not fancy at all but accommodating to all kind of subcultures. I really miss those.
It may be a bit cliche but I have heard this stereotype from many many people, also been there numerous times times and I do think there is some truth to it (although of course not everyone from Düsseldorf is like that).
I have to disagree there. Düsseldorf was always where the trade is, as opposed to the nearby ruhr area, where the working class is. Naturally there also is a working class in Düsseldorf, like in every city, but that's not what is most dominant about it. There is a distinctive corporate culture in Düsseldorf, which bleeds into how the city represents itself. And which is often adopted by people who move to Düsseldorf for work.
As a born Düsseldorfer living in Berlin for almost 40 years now I assure you that the Kudamm really has quite a different atmosphere than the Kö. Of course it's much longer and has its selection of Prada & company but it's still a people's street. Which the Kö certainly is not IMO.
My husband comes from a slightly different culture and we had to find compromises. Some things he does in daily life, drive me bonkers (and vice versa). With something like this you discover how influenced you are by the cultural values your parents teach you and whether you have the capacity for tolerance. One example is grocery shopping. I like to buy the absolute minimum, my husband likes to do exactly the opposite. We both do it, because we came from families that worked themselves out of poverty. I was taught that nothing must go to waste, he was taught that you better get things when they are available (even better when they are a bargain). He goes impatient in front of an almost empty fridge, I go impatient when I see a five-year supply of price-reduced dark chocolate no one really likes to eat. Our solution to this conundrum is to point out our flaws to each other with unrelenting humour. It also helps to have raised a wonderful offspring, who can mediate.
Hah that sounds lovely. Where are you from? I don’t know if it is a German thing but my partner also tends to go crazy when things are on special offer/reduced. I think we might save a little bit of money but I’m not sure how significant it really is.
@@britingermany I am German, he is Bosnian. I am not sure you can exactly delineate it along country lines...lol.
@@mowana1232 : Reading your first comment, I might have guessed that he might be from somewhere that experienced some kind of communism / socialism or shortages. I can vouch for this with personal experience.
Terry Pratchett formulated it as his "good vs cardboard soled boots" theory. It's in essence that poor people who can't afford to invest in one good product that will last them for many years will pay quite a lot more when they soon have to replace the barely affordable but cheaper version. That's ONE reason why affluent or rich people grow richer, and the poor stay poor.
It takes money to make money. Or the more you have the more you get...
There is a German proverb, saying 'the small (= poor) man lives expensively', that's exactly what this is about.
Yeah, being poor can be very expensive. Poor people might also not be able to take advantage of sales or other opportunities to get things cheaper. And they often can't afford to do good maintenance on things like cars, leading to higher repair costs thanks to the lack of maintenance.
Ah, yes, Sam Vimes' 'Boots' Theory. A British scientist actually used it as inspiration for the creation of an economic index, the Vimes Boots Index. Look it up if you'd like, it's an interesting story.
The Idea of making more Money when open on Sunday is just as stupid as beleaving that free refill is realy free, in an ( US) industrie that didn t even pay a fair wage. Did anyone beleave he will have more money to spend when sundays are open? No, but if shops open 7 Day they will have more costs so prices will rise. Or we have less shops and less compitaters witch in the lomg way result to higher prices (the Walmark Prinzip). So it s a fools idea in my Oppinion and a result of ppl not been abel planing 2 days ahead.
Around here shops tend to reduce their opening hours. Partly due to lack of employees, partly because some times of a day just don't see many customers. And if you have something which can't be bought at 10 shops near you, people will just adapt to the new opening hours.
I’m not sure it’s quite that simple…it’s no surprise that most retailers make significantly more revenue on a Saturday because most people have the day off to go shopping…given time this would be the same on Sunday. And as for costs they wouldn’t rise that much. You just have to switch the staff rota and so some rearranging so that people have different days of during the week. Having said that I am very glad that Sundays are closed here. It’s just one of those things were if the ships were open peoples behaviour would change very quickly to make it seem like an absolute necessity.
@@britingermany One day more would mean 1/6 more cost. And as in Germany work on Sundays is more expensive it is even higher. And people don't buy more because of that. If every shop would be open on Sunday the yield would be close to zero. It would just make other days less profitable.
@@reinhard8053 A fiat money economy is not a zero sum game. It may well be that shopping sundays would indeed increase the amount of money going around. Probably not by a lot, since opening already existing places for another day doesn't create a lot of additional investment, but it's technically possible. Apart from that, as the OP pointed out, it's a question of competition. Those nice inner city shops and malls are paying huge rents every month, and every Sunday the customers spend their money online. Adding a bit more staff cost to the already high cost of running a brick and mortar business would not be much of an expense if it is accompanied by bigger profits. So it's obvious why some interest groups are lobbying for giving up the shopping-free sunday. Their business would indeed improve.
@@Volkbrecht At least in Austria I just read an article, that shops in malls want to close earlier but need to be open until it closes because of their contracts. Several small shops reduced their opening times and most of them are closed even on saturday afternoon. In Germany and Austria the closed sunday is engrained in our society. Even if the shops were open I don't know how many people would use that. Would it really be a competition for online shopping ? You can buy Mo-Sa. Is there really a need to shop an a sunday ? I think there are other reasons to shop online than just one day of closed shops. The other problem is our laws. Opening times are severly restricted. It's not easy to go around that. Even opening on some hollidays before Christmas is always a big discussion. And the employes would get 100% added salary on sunday. You need to sell a lot of stuff to break even.
I fully agree with your notion. I'd rather have my "machinery" (electronics and household appliances) repaired than replaced. I don't buy new stuff unless the old one is beyond repair. My smartphone is so old that it can't be repaired anymore (no spare parts) and for the last three months, I've been pondering how best to replace it (while using my late father-in-law's conventional mobile phone). I buy clothes mainly at second-hand stores because you sometimes find excellent quality for cheaper even in discount stores, and for sustainability reasons - do you know how much water, artificial fertilizers, and state-induced slavery the production and transport of a single t-shirt costs? Just think about cotton production in the "Stans" and the horrible fate of Lake Aral. "Sperrmüll" is a very good place to find treasures. In the almost 60 years of my life, I found couches that were discarded because of a rip or traces of cat claws (I saw the delivery of the brand new couch set only two years prior), cupboards, benches (with a flap for children's toys), trunks, loads of books, children's toys, glass, and ceramics, though I have yet to find a piano. And when I want to get rid of stuff that's still perfectly functioning and good, I first ask family, friends, and neighbors before I donate to charities or simply put it on the sidewalk in front of my house with a sign "Zum Mitnehmen" (to take away). As I live on a main street with lots of traffic, nothing stays there for more than two days.
Repairs might be better but not necessarily cheaper. A repair often costs a good part of the price of a new device. And with the repair only parts are new. You can wait until the next part dies. Not to mention the problem getting parts and information at all. I'm strongly for repairs, but financially they are often not the best solution 😞if you need to pay somebody and need expensive parts.
I think it comes back to the initial philosophy of quality over quantity. It only really makes sense to repair things if they were good quality from the start. I myself am not a huge fan of Sperrmüll treasures but it’s great that some are. Thanks for sharing 😀
@@britingermany A problem with the higher price - higher quality thought is that it isn't always true. There are devices from a brand which are only more expensive because of the brand not because of quality. And some are so expensive that you could buy 10 cheaper parts. Can something really be 10x better ? (Real) Professional stuff and safety related parts are a different story.
@@reinhard8053 We repaired all our High Fidelity devices since we appreciate still using our vinyl records when listening to music. High end components can't be bought anymore in common electronic markets. Either they are super high class and super expensive or simply not there anymore. This is why we keep making repairs on them. Our worry is that near by repair shops are closing at an alarming rate.
As always very well observered and summarized. With regard to Hamburg vs Düsseldorf: I think it comes down to "old money" vs "new money" as new money often tends to show off. Consumerism is growing in Germany as well and also is the addiction to short-lived goods. Mostly imposed on us by big brands. Every year a new smartphone or you loose. Where are the little shops where your phone could be repaired gone? Same goes for other electronic devices, which are produdes to fail after a couple of years and cheaper to be replaced than repaired. Where is "Nachhaltigkeit" in this? It is a shame an sad.
Yes old vs. New could very well be accurate. 👍🏻
Düsseldorf, oh my! I grew up there and the Kö(nigsallee) can turn you off. Or on. Whatever. Still a great place with the Rheinuferpromenade, the Altstadt and avantgarde architecture. And yes, even the Kö. And it has the most Japanese living and working there of all German cities.
@@rainerm.8168 Q: could it be that Cologne´s nouveau riche goes to Düsseldorf to live there? 😅
booth are "old money"- cities I think it has more to do with the mentality of north and south
Keep searching for the phone repair shops. They still exist. Got one my nearest city.
"one man´s trash is another´s tresure" so true; my "new" mountainbike is a high quality 1990´s bike thrown out, because the shifters didn´t work. Opened them up and was able to "repair" them (just the springs popped out of position), new front tire and replaced the brick which was the sattle, done and I really love this bike, rides amazing. Half my pc setup are good parts which were given away, my porta filter maschine was a give away and lots more.
Very good. Sounds like you made a steal 😉
When I moved out from home, I bought a pack of knifes, really cheap, and I knew I will hate them, but I had not much money left. After a year or so, the knifes weren't sharp anymore, and I couldn't sharp it, because the steel was too cheap. And because they were so blunt, I accidentally cut my self a few times by cutting onions. At least I got enough money and imported a set of Damask knifes (Damastmesser) from Japan. These knifes are still extreme sharp, and I wouldn't give them away. Since I have them no cuts in my finger, and it makes much more fun to cook :) As I always say, Quality > Quantity.
Perfect! 😀👍🏻
Yes! I made that experience too! I got gifted a cheap knife when I moved out. I am able to sharpen knifes, so I did. Needed to sharpen it every 3-4 weeks compleatly to cut onions. Bought a good knife and it stays sharp like a razor with just the honing steel!
When living in the UK I observed that house buyers frequently bought the largest house they can afford. They then seemed to have very little left for renovation. In Germany but also much of mainland Europe people get financing for the property with a significant proportion of the financing reserved for renovation and improvements. That's considered essential to long term investment and well being.
Yeah a lot of people get caught off guard with renovation costs
I had planned 10% extra for renovation - it raised the value by 30% - :D
Hello and Happy Easter Days to you! That's a nice video and you're describing a quite typical attitude of many people in Germany quite well - mine too.
Thank you! You too!🐣😀
"not quick fixes" - I guess you are right about that, I'm from Berlin and we don't even try to fix the mess we've created by totally ignoring long term planning 🤣
Haha. No comment
Reasonable non-consumerism isn't limited to Germany. Please have a closer look at other countries on the continent. No matter how long the supermarkets are opened, you can't eat and drink more as you do. Why should I pay for staff because you are unable to do your shopping in more than enough time ? Anyone can go to a petrol or train station and pay for the personal convenience. It is also unnecessary to buy any non-food product 24/7. If one wants that, there is the internet. Keeping (almost) everything open all the time does rarely create one single new job. But prices will rise probably or staff might be underpaid. I'm certain many do not want any of that.
Of course. I’m just comparing Germany to the U.K. (and lesser extent US). Opening hours are also somewhat cultural. I remember being on holiday in the Italy. The towns are dead during the day but come alive in the evening. Shops are open often until 10 or even 10.30pm.
@@britingermany Because they are closed for three hours at the hottest times around midday 😊 Same goes for the lunch break =three hours, therefor they have to work up to nine o'clock in the evening.
ich kann mich daran erinnern, als die läden samstags nur bis mittags auf hatten, wochentags ab 18.00 uhr zu war und kleine läden auf dem dorf hatten eine mittagspause von 13.00 bis 15.00.... ist auch alles gegangen. man hat halt geplant und wenn was fehlte, ging man zu den nachbarn. 🙂
Da muß ich mal fragen ... Ist das heute anders? Ich meine, außer daß die Geschäfte in der Mittagszeit von 12 bis 15 Uhr geschlossen sein müssen (Weil ja auch die Kindergärten von 12 bis 14 Uhr schließen und die Kinder in dieser Zeit ja auch versorgt sein wollen)? Überhaupt, wer würde denn auch von 12 bis 13 Uhr einkaufen können, schließlich wird um Punkt 12 Uhr zu Mittag gegessen.
That was very interesting. Thank you for posting
Thanks for your feedback Manfred 🙏
Ever got told by a German: I am to poor to buy cheap shoes every 6 month? That sums the attitude of many to buy rather quality for higher price that lasts years than to buy cheap shoes that fall apart (or out of fashion) after 6 month…
That ties well into Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness.
I am German and I never even heard that phrase before. And I'm in my fourties... What is really commonplace though is the "he who buys cheaply has to buy twice".
@@Kuchenwurst Very good reference. Probably not all that well known, so you should elaborate ;)
@@Volkbrecht I am German as well and just to turn 60 :-). That phrase was used by my parents and my mom told me it was used by her grandfather. :-) . However, the phrase you mentioned is also one I know got used often back then and still now.
@@Volkbrecht you are, of course, right. Allow me to quote Sir Terry, The Endlessly Quotable. From the novel 'Men at Arms': "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness."
Ahhh, I really enjoy this outside view of my fatherland from the inside... It's always interesting to learn what the bubble you live in looks like from the outside. Greetings from the Taunus.💯
Thank you. Greeting from FFM😀
Very well analyzed!
Thanks🙏
This sounds amazing. Something i hate is certain disposable items. The amount of things my friends throw away with lithium batteries is crazy. I live in the us and ive tried living exactly like this there are certain items i understand are ware items but a huge thing as well is i dont just buy something i spend hours/days of research first.
Yeah I think it’s much harder to live this way in the US. You e got to be very disciplined
This is my first video i am watchi g from you and i love the calm way your are talking and your voice.
Glad to hear it and glad to have you 😀
Spot on observations, everything said rings true.
Thank you. Glad to hear it🙏
I find outside perspectives on my home country so much more on point than what I hear from natives. Also I'm highly impressed by your pronounciation of Düsseldorf 👍😁
Thanks for sharing!🙏
I am a professional buyer, working in the chemical industry in Germany and there is a phrase, that is a basic rule for a buyer like me. "Um billig einzukaufen, bin ich nicht reich genug".
That’s a good one 😉
Another fascinating video, well delivered and a calm, measured voice that invites attention of the viewer. A German colleague once ran through all of the different sub cultures in Germany, based on location, you mention Dusseldorf, he mentioned the curiosities relating to the behaviours and attitudes of Bavarians, the Swabians, Hessians, Saxons, Berliners and each other primary region. We were all laughing along with his incredibly funny, irony-laden examination of "what it was like to be German". Thank you.
Thanks so much for commenting 😀
If you buy cheap, you buy twice!
Happy Easter Arno
@@britingermany I wish you well 🐰
I would agree with you for the main points however not with the food. We love rubbish and cheap food. We love our cheap "Kantine" and cheap fruits and vegetables. If you compare Germany to for example France, Spain or Italy we don't focus at all on quality of food at all.
Well I don’t know. I think there are two extremes in Germany. There are also the organic and vegan fanatics, who think long and hard about food and base their life around it.
@@britingermany I think you are not allowed to post any links in this comments. If you however Google how much of our income Germans use to buy groceries: it's the least amount in whole Europe only beaten by the British. Literally every other European country uses more of their income for groceries.
it's mostly the historical influence of the church that the stores are closed on Sunday here. We are not known for our customer service or friendly salespersons. But the smaller the store, the friendlier the people get (in general, not in every case) since they are way more interested in what they do and sell than in the big stores.
Yeah the church does seem to have quite a strong influence here
It does in the sense of public services and organizations (like the Diakonie) at least, and in my experience those have been very helpful. The streams of church based horror stories from the US never seem to stop, but church here seems super chill and helpful comparatively speaking.
Prima Beitrag .👌👍
Danke schön
This is a really interesting video. However having grown up away from the major cities in the UK, I found everything to be closed on Sundays and most people very rarely bought new or shiny stuff. Although I do agree that the UK definitely does buy things more. With this being said Germany does produce some really expensive luxury goods like cars.
Things were closed on Sunday when I was growing up as well but that’s not the case any more. And yes Germany does produce luxury cars but the focus is still on utility rather than pure status (unlike a Lamborghini or Ferrari)
@@britingermany Porsche, Mercedes, Audi and Bugatti are mostly for status. Especially Porsche. There are still many people buying things for status in Germany. Maybe less than in the UK, I can't compare as I never lived there.
As a German, I have been missing a video like this for a long time, it is spot on! Thanks.
Thanks Thorsten. Glad to hear it 👍🏻
Against I had trouble sleeping last night, so I watched your video & guess what, within 5 minutes I was soundo !!!!! Worked a treat!!! Know what I mean????
As an Australian/Brit formerly living in Germany a few times, many of your themes make sense. M&S were running (and closed) in the Zeil last time I lived there. It wasn't a bad shop - it kept the riff-raff out. It was just frustrating when I was working on a long-hour contract Mon-Sat, and I couldn't find a bloody shoelace on a Sunday. Not everyone works government hours.
True. It was probably even stricter back then. I think shops used to close early on a Saturday
@@britingermany The first time - when I was a student - our local Ahlen (?) and other shops closed for an hour or so on weekday afternoons (which confused me at first), and there was definitely early closing on Saturdays. Though the shops here in the UK are open on Sundays for a few hours, it's different to Sydney, where I'd do the heavy lifting at 0600 on a Sunday and the burden of non-perishable shopping would be over. My brother continues this tradition, by shopping at 1900 on Sundays, as it's quiet.
Life is not only about MAKING MONEY and EXPLOITING others. It is about life. And anyone who is not capable of surviving one day of leizure time should leave the country. Simple.
Surviving a day of leisure 🤣 sounds like a stark contradiction
@@britingermany For some it... Unbearable a day without CONSUMPTION.... 😁 Not for me though. I really do not like shopping.
@@britingermany Fitting quote from Goethe: "Alles in der Welt lässt sich ertragen, nur nicht eine Reihe von schönen Tagen" - One can endure anything in the world, except a couple of good days.
moin benikon, frohes ostern erstmal und vielen dank für das nette video! als du das mit der werbung angesprochen hast, ist mir spontan eingefallen, wieviel fläche meine heimatstadt frei gibt, um sie von grafiti-künstlern besprühen zu lassen. schau mal nach den stichworten "stromkästen" und "verteilerkästen". aber auch garagenfronten oder hauswände können auf diese art und weise schön gestaltet werden und erfreuen das auge und das herz. in lüneburg macht das die firma "dosenfutter" aus hamburg. wenn ich mich recht erinnere, zeichnet sie auch verantwortlich für die farbliche gestaltung der parkpalette am graalwall. ist doch viel netter, als alles mit werbung zu zu kleistern.... 🙂
Moin Susanne. Vielen dank. ich mag auch street art und Graffiti (wenn es gut gemacht ist). Das hört sich super an. Vielen dank. Frohe Ostern noch und ein schöne Auszeit wünsche ich Dir 😀
Nun ja, meist handelt es sich schlicht um Schmiererei, weit entfernt von jeder künstlerischen Ausdrucksform. Man könnte den gleichen Eindruck hinterlassen, indem man "an die Wand scheißt".
Yet another thing that makes me feel nostalgic about Germany even though I've never been there. The whole anti-consumerism reuse/repurpose concept was a big part of my late Soviet upbringing.
You’ll have to visit some time then 😉
@@britingermany Well, I'm currently aggressively applying for jobs, so hopefully I'll move in the foreseeable future 😁
@@kaworunagisa4009 Well soviet ist like east germany. And there, recycling was a need, there was no way to buy new things. Today this is raising environmental awareness. But it's still in the German soul, cause all the ideas of throwing things away instead of repairing them, just started with globalization in the 90ies, the raise of china. A product made in Germany was always worth repairing, cause it's so expensive. But one made in China, is not.
@@holger_p Yup, exactly. But, unfortunately, the other side of it is hoarding. I semi-recently had to clear out my late grandma's flat which was full of crap she picked up from trash because "it can be repaired and someone might need it some day". I very much like my "Frankenjeans" and "Frankenheadphones" but have to remind myself that if something is broken and isn't readily serviceable, it belongs in the trash.
@@kaworunagisa4009 Yes, but solution for this today is flea markets as mentioned, or more digital "ebay". It turns "someone might need it one day" into "someone might need it today".
"Wer billig kauft, kauft zweimal". Mein Favorit zu dem Thema lautet: "Ich kann es mir nicht leisten, billig zu kaufen." [I can't afford buying cheap.]
Quite sunday was the shock we had in our first week in Germany. But, yes, when you get used to it, it is a god given gift!
It really is!
Funny you'd call it that, it's a religious thing. (One may wonder why the USA don't have that, given how Christian they like to present themselves.)
@@xCorvus7x indeed. But considering many "more religious societies" this is kept by everyone.
@@SalihGoncu Pardon, what do you mean we would realise by „considering „more religious societies““? Do you mean that many Christian countries don't have Quiet Sundays? What, then, is it that everyone keeps?
@@xCorvus7x not just Christian countries. - I've been to many different countries, including Poland, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Montenegro, UAE, China. - Even though Poland for example presents itself a very religious country, they don't follow the Quite Sundays as strict as Germany does. I did not see it observed at all in Austria. (Maybe Vienna is more secular than rest, I can't say for sure) Anyway, having a "forced day off" is a good thing. Keeps me much more planned & in order. I'm able to achieve more or less same amount of work and I'm able to have a day's rest too!
In Hamburg, the public recycling yards have a "shop". So if you bring back nice stuff for recycling, either you or the workers suggest, giving it away instead of thrashing it. Workers are not taking stuff that is in bad conditions, those go into the recycling containers. Called "Stilbruch", there is one shop in Altona, one in Wandsbek.
Well why not. Sounds very reasonable
thanks
Thank you
Take a stroll around the Alster in Hamburg on a Saturday and you will see that it is the same here. Authorities even created a „SoKo Autoposer“ to tackle these car show offs in public. But in general you are right. In northern Germany Rich people generally don’t show that they are wealthy. Often there is one or more Porsches in the garage but the car for everyday is a VW Golf or even a Lada (very famous in Hamburg).
The discussion about shops opening on Sundays wages for four decades now. And whenever they say that the shops could sell more when they are open even on Sundays I use to say that when the shops are open as twice they time they are open now I do not have twice as much money to spend and I do not buy twice as much bread (when shall I eat it) and I will not wear twice as much shoe (as my feet will not become twice as much). And the changes they made so far showed that the customers do not come all at once but there are not more customers who come.
I live in the US, the world's most consumer society. I remember certain sales pitches common in the US that I didn't see in Germany. Such as buying certain products one can also enter their contests to win cash, cars, or trips to exotic beaches. Also, the word FREE in any ad immediately arouses interest. Common usage marketing: Buy Two, Get One Free! At grocery stores: Five of X product for 4 dollars. Many businesses (even gas stations) issue 'rewards cards" to customers. With each purchase the customers get points, and when enough points are accumulated the customer can get products such as baseball caps or coffee mugs with the product name on the item. During my years in Frankfurt I worked as Reinzeichner in ad agencies, including four years at Lowe Group, our main client was Opel.
You must have some great insights from those years. Especially working in advertising. I’m sure there are many differences
I always enjoy buying second hand over brand new, even thought, I have the money, I rather bid on something used on ebay than running through all these fast fashion stuff. I know people thinking different but at least in the area I live (near Ulm) there are for example a lot of book shelves in grocery stores where you can put in the books you don't like anymore and take some with you that others left there. This way, they are not thrown away and going grocery shopping becomes more exciting.
Again a high quality video from yours. Very well done. I have never seen a video about the German passion for clubbing: Vereinsmeierei. Expressions like "Tagesordnungspunkt" and "Jahreshauptversammlung" und "Entlastung des Kassenwarts" might wet your appetite and I wonder if you manage to dive into this typical German rabbit hole. Best wishes from Berlin, uz
Thanks a lot. I’m not sure there would be much interest in those topics but thanks for the idea 😀
@@britingermany German Schlager Musik? Or the Heimatfilm movies compared to western movies? The survival of German dialects in remote places : Texas-German,Pennsylvania- Dutch or Plaudietsch? I recently discovered a KZhead film about deciphering short German texts by replacing letters the Germans changed in their sound shifts: k, z -> c, ch->gh, ß->t, the ending -Lich to -ly and so forth. Enough "aus dem Nähkästchen geplaudert". Ich werde den "lieben Gott einen guten Mann sein lassen" und "mich etwas auf's Ohr hauen". LG uz
I wanted to add to your video that we had a time in Germany where trade unions were quite powerful and were opposing for their members shopping hours on Sunday. This campaign was obviously backed by the Churches, Catholic and Protestant. It was a huuuuuuge societal discussion back in the 90ies if bakeries should be open on Sundays. The Church opposed it very much because opening hours would collide with church services. As everyone knows eventually bakeries were allowed to open for a couple of hours. Retail workers aren't paid very well in Germany, this is a known fact, even if their hourly wages get usually a surcharge working Sundays. Since retail workers are overwhelmingly women the trade unions and the Church were concerned if they would manage to take care of their families while working Saturdays and Sundays. Back then being younger and always sleeping in on weekends I wasn't very understanding and wanted more flexible retail hours. Now having a family myself I changed my views on this completely and I appreciate that we have a 'quite day' once a week to plan other family activities which don't include to shop. I'm also glad that the government didn't bent to attempts to open Sunday shopping in general. There are some exceptions by the way. The 4 weekends before Christmas the shops are partly open on Sundays. Big chains take advantage of this.
Thanks a lot for the context. It is difficult to imagine Sundays without bakeries but we would also survive if they were closed
Hallo Kai, das stimmt mit dem Frühstück. In Polen gibt's keine "Frühstückskultur". Ende 90er gab es nicht Mal offenes Restaurant an den Feiertagen. Heute hat sich das ein wenig verändert. Auch in meiner Heimatstadt Łódź muss man gut suchen um frühstücken gehen zu können. In der Innenstadt ist das eher möglich als in den anderen Stadtteilen. Wenn ich in Polen zur Besuch bin vermisse ich auch das deutsche Brot und Brötchen. Viele Grüße Teresa
Consumerism IS problematic. Take a look around. By now, it affects literally everything on this planet... and not in a good way.
Yeah I think many people would agree with that.
It's the EU making huge leaps in regards to sustainability. Just take a look at EU legislature regarding the Green Deal. Germany is even quite slow in transferring it into german law.
@@miskatonic6210funny enough: a lot of those changed were put in place by an ex-Minister of Angela Merkel namely Ursula von der Leyen
And it affects other stuff in a good way, yournot really doing anything then airing low effort grievances that have no substance to even discuss 🤷♂️
The funny thing is, you are complaining about something because of the lack of alternatives to compare. You only know "consumerism", thus, you blame it for everything wrong. After reunification East Germany had to get completely sanitised because of how utterly dirty and poisoned everything was. This went for several decades. And the DDR didnt have consumerism. Your assumptions are wrong.
Frohe Ostern
Danke dir. Gleichfalls 🐣🥚
Experience Over Product Sums it up pretty well. I have some rich friends and they dont use there money on Brand Products so often. Dont get me Wrong they have expansive stuff but its moste functional and you get the feeling they buy stufff when they need it. Moste of there money they use for travelling Ski Resorts, Flying Abroad, going out for dinner more then you should.(Restaurant food is very expansive in germany)
Oh Yeah you can spend a lot on food and drink
Going by the topic of the video, I'm looking for a clockmaker/grandfather clock repairman in the region of UN/DO. Thanks for suggestions. 😉
haha well you got the old/vintage thing right😉
a good example is cheap kitchenware, I get upset when my pan starts to "warp" (center higher than edge) after a couple years, recently I learned that a friend I know in the US buys new pans pretty much every year
Wow that is crazy. I got my Zwilling kitchen ware at a massive discount 10 years ago. They look exactly the same as they did when I bought them and I use them multiple times a week.
Since you point out the lack of money in your youth, As a northern German, growing up without much money and some days I went without eating a full meal or having cold showers since gas even then was expensive. I had to rely on small Jobs, good manners, building meaningful connections with people I now call friends and to learn how to repair rather than buy things, once you get good at this, you can get what you need, even in good quality. And Quality is a keyword for the Germans that I know, sadly it is getting harder and harder to find good quality items new, so I'll continue to repair or build my own.
Sounds like you’ve gained some mad skills.
Cars are an example for consumerism and status symbols in Germany (especially because of ridiculous tax advantages of Dienstwagen). Although things like brands for outdoor wear or even which Discounter vs, Bio Supermarket to chose.
An example for me is, that afaik there is still no place in Germany that looks like Piccadilly Circus in London or even Times Square in NYC with all those neon or led screen advertising boards.
True. They’ve got some pretty huge ones on Madrid as well
Why is it like that? Because there are restrictions if a building is under protection/historical or other, and the advertising must not overdoe the "Stadtbild", as it looks ugly when advertising is taking over the streets 😊
@@saba1030 Yeah. Good ole German regulation. 😉 We once had a hairdresser in the old town of our city who wanted a vertical sign with his shops name over the entrance door, but there were only horizontal signs allowed. This was so absurd, that it was a topic in our local news paper.
The Sam Vimes Boots Theory is actual, lived reality here in Germany. I love it!
Where I live in Germany, we have a twice a year event. Everyone puts their still good, but no longer needed/wanted items out and whoever wants/needs the item can simply take it. My son, who will soon move out for Uni, got great name brand, stainless steel pans.
Nice! Sounds like a great initiative
Thanks for your channel and the great information you supply on Germany. I am considering retiring in Germany which was my fathers homeland. I know a little German. Do you know how I might seek finding out about how to go about relocating and I am thinking of Southwestern Germany area. For instance finding a place to live, how to get medical or anything you might be able to share I would be very grateful for.
Hello there. For finding a place to live from outside of Germany your best bet would be immoscout. You can Google it online and search by town/city. Geri ao health insurance costs a little over 200€ a month if you are not working…although it might be a little different if you are retired. If at all possible I would reccommend coming for a holiday first to check things out in the area that you are considering. I wish you the best of luck
@@britingermany ❤
Thank you so very much for your quick response! I have been to Munich, Germany surrounding areas and loved it!! I am very much like my father and he was truly German and I resonate with the people and culture there. Thank you for your kind wishes! I would like to compliment you on what a wonderful voice you have if no one has told you before although I am sure they must have. Kind wishes sent to you across the many miles (US).
Actually 30 years ago the situation was even worse. The shops used to close at 12 noon on Saturday, so there was an awful rush on Saturday morning to get your weekend shopping done. Germans tend to shop for food every second day, whereas the Yanks or Brits would do a weekly shop in one take!!!
Showing what one has depends very much on regional habits. Like in the north of Germany/Bremen, Hamburg etc it's more like the "Hanseatic understatement", only when you look closer into it you might see the money 😊 Go to Rome or Milan, never ever you would see a Roman woman walk around with a fur coat, but going to the beach with full make up, hair styling and juwelry 😊 while in Milan, hot summer time, some woman still wear a mink coat (apart from wearing mink/fur coats is 🤨), it looks rediculess, but there you go 😊 Happy Easter to everybody here, we'll celebrate our big Easterfire with our neighbours tonight 😊
Happy Easter!🥚🐣enjoy the celebrations 😀
Yeah, but Hamburg's "understatement" is only another way of showing off. Compare, for instance, Leipzig. Showing off with your clothing is unheard of, a thing only people with small egos would do. Wear whatever you want, literally nobody gives a shit. ;) Hope you had a nice little bonfire and Happy Easter!
Thank you for sharing your observations! Being a child of the Eighties, I have noticed that this general attitude applies a lot more to younger generations than to my own. I find many of my fellow 50(ish) generation to be very materialistic and happily consuming away, regardless of profession and educational background. Here in northern Germany they may not brag about it, but being able to spend vacations on Sylt and wearing the "right" brands is still highly valued. Luckily I see younger people with a different attitude. My younger brother and his family of 5 live in a 3 bedroom apartment and own a Lastenfahrrad instead of a car. My own children are students and all of them furnished their first apartment or shared place with Sperrmüll or second hand stuff. More than once I had offered to help, they usually replied, Thank you, Mama, but no, I'm good.
Interesting I wouldn’t have made that age distinction myself. Thanks for sharing
I feel the same. With my dad. Now in his early 60s, and i´m a chilf of the 80s too, millenial. His attitude is almost always, to throw stuff away when not needed right now, and buy new when you need anything one day. I on the other hand am the exact oppiste (like my grandpa), and horde everything in the basement and carport, in case i need it one day. And i kind of hate it to spend all the money all the time for bullshit, when i can have stuff for free instead when i pick up something from the Sperrmüll and keep it :D
Both here in Croatia and previously in Hungary I have felt kind of excluded from flea markets because most items are not marked with a price. As soon as the seller realises he or she is dealing with a foreigner, the price goes up. It was OK when I was first in Hungary as there was a friend who would go with me and speak on my behalf. Without that help I now just don't bother going.
Why don’t you learn the language? Croatian is far more easy to learn than Hungarian….
Yeah that’s part of the “fun” for some people. The whole hacking process. Remember that well from China…I’m sure I was ripped off all the time but I thought I was pretty good at it.
@@klausfischer3079 to be accent free isn't easy and as soon as you sound like a non local...
A Polish friend of mine said when traveling to Poland and buying from flea markets, I should shut my mouth and let her talk. 🤣
Love your insights and agree with them. I really miss the German supermarket and hoped the brits would have adopted some of it for their own benefit. Also can you explain the concept of Sauna to the British? I am struggling!
The concept of Sauna?! What do you mean exactly? Why people do it or what it’s all about? Well there has been a lot of research and apparently there are a lot of health benefits to it. If you are meaning the idea of going naked in the sauna that’s pretty complicated but basically Germany has a history of nudism which also started because of perceived health benefits…
On the Königsallee in Düsseldorf you don't see many Düsseldorfers. Most people come from outside and represent a special kind of consumer who likes consumerism and the opposite of understatement.
I loved it in Germany on a Sunday…Quiet and no shopping … one day in the week were most people can enjoy things without noise😂… Totally different to where I live on Merseyside.. Sunday is like a rat race here ..People doing as much as possible between the hours of 10am and 4pm…shopping,visiting relatives ,going for Sunday lunch..watching football at 4pm ..7 days a week it’s the same everyday 😂
In The Netherlands its almost a sport to cheaply buy quality stuff and sell things you dont need and still get a decent price for. It is very much a culture thing. While in other countries you perhaps would be embarrased about buying and using second hand stuff, over here is actually something to brag about : "Look what I found, only paid that much for it!" Same with supermarket coupons, things like that. We love to fill out these cards with little stickers to get discounts on stuff. Its seems like the richer people get, the more in to this they are funny enough. Almost like they want to show how good they are at getting stuff cheaply. This seems a pretty big contrast with mainly American culture where overpaying, like giving big tips, is the way to show off.
not everything is closed .. only regular stores. most cofé's, bakeries, restaurants, etc. are open on weekends and when talking about every day products .. i highly doubt there would be sold much more by being open on sundays .. they're just bought on one of the other 6 days of the week
Yeah it’s about the convenience of the consumer
You hit the nail on the head about what I miss about living in Germany, but I have seen documentaries about the rise of fast fashion in Germany. When I lived there it was just flea markets, which became car boot sales in the UK, but now Germany has followed the English trend of charity and second hand shops, which never used to be the case.
Well yea the usual H&M and Zara are also popular here but you do have a lot of other options if want.
I was building a wooden enclosure with two doors. Could not get myself over it building the second door other than the first door, so need to go to the Hardware store again. Could have build it with scrapes, but i know myself that i would not be happy with it. It is all about inner peace of mind, i think
Well yeah. Not everyone likes building or renovating stuff…it’s certainly not my favourite past time.
I still, with almost 40, have a table that i got from Sperrmüll at age of 16 - and still have a few pieces of furniture that i have since i was 12
Wow that is cool 👍🏻
A lot of time people just put stuff on the street and put a sign "zu Verschenken" and you can just take it. I always say the City will provide, gota lot off stuff for the kids this way.
Nice
Yes, and Düsseldorf is frowned upon by every city surrounding it for its snobbiness and extravagant clothing and cars :D
But they love it 🤪
It wasn't always like this, though. After 1933, the Nazis put restrictions on opening times and advertisements; after the war, the strong, politically cemented position of both the church and the unions meant that opening times were firmly restricted and open commercialism was viewed with disdain. Look at any German city pre-1933 and you will find advertisement everywhere.
Interesting point. Thanks for mentioning it 👍🏻
this is a very well made video thanks for that. I would just like to add that I grew up in Germany in the 80s and 90s and people would've been ashamed to buy used stuff and you would never buy used clothing even for children. if you did, so, you must have been extremely poor. Used cars were for students. But the wealth of broad strata of society has declined very much in Germany, and people can simply not afford. as you probably also know, taxes are extremely high also for medium incomes, the median income is 1600 euros which is pitying. Rents are high and prices on goods are soaring. people with children simply wouldn't survive without ebay kleinanzeigen.
Ok I guess things have changed quite a bit!
But the "Quality over Quantity" rules supreme in the field of consumer discretionary (I.e. long-term usuable comodities) than in consumer stables.
Yes you might be right there
8:00 a similar saying: We don't have enough money to buy cheap
Also good 😉
That's the first time I hear a brit call German culture subtle and less extraverted compared to British. The standard view of British vs. German in my mind is flatly opposite to that - considering Britain stands for understatement. But then, they may be in your face, but they do it involving irony.
He may be using irony to understate the subtleness of British culture
Well Joachim. There's a first time for everything 😉
I think that's a class thing, maybe? In that the British upper class has really shaped our perception of british culture, whereas most people's reality is quite different from that.
The thing is: every customer is also a worker/employee. Things that are inconvenient for one are rather beneficial for the other and all together we've to form a society that tries to do the best for everyone. Yeah, sure we could open stores on sunday but that would hurt more the quality of life of their employees than benefit their pockets. The one who'd benefit the most would be the big companies profiting of it... and in my onest opinion: they don't need more of what they already got. Also: if you need to be greeted at entrances, need someone to package your goods and find it a hassle to return shopping-carts, then... grow up!
We got that special luxury sales strip here in Düsseldorf, but aside from that, we are pretty normal. Maybe you have been misled by our marketing?
It could be. Although I have come across the stereotype a lot. I think it is perhaps more a personality trait in that people tend to be a little more outgoing and extroverted…so not necessarily solely connected to materialism
agreed. not all of it is luxury.
„Frowndable“? Great expression.
Aber es ist gar nicht mehr so leicht, gute Qualität zu bekommen. Die meisten Dinge gehen gleich nach Ablauf der Garantiezeit kaputt. Die berühmte Sollbruchstelle... Preis und Marke sagen nicht unbedingt etwas über die Qualität aus. Da lobe ich mir die alten DDR-Geräte, die sind nicht totzukriegen. Habe immer noch ein Rührgerät von 1976 in Betrieb. (RG 28s - die Ossis kennen es sicher alle noch). Das nenne ich nachhaltig!
Excellent take. Remains to be seen however whether the concern for quality will not eventually be eroded with an increasingly precarious middle class in Germany
Yes indeed. It remains to be seen how things will develop
Solange die Mittelschicht oder sagen wir, ein Durchschnittsverdiener wie Herr Friedrich Merz, die Millionen nur so scheffelt, ist nichts in dieser Richtung zu befürchten.
I live in Germany - I don't visit Düsseldorf that often - but when I do, I make photos of luxury cars.
Plenty of opportunity I think
it's so nice to hear you praise germany like that. I tend to only see the nasty bits. and even though I'm not the biggest fan of the churche (the katholic church in particioular but the "evangelische kirche" can be just as nasty as an institution") I do love the quiet sundays. I really can't imagine what it would be like without them. it's just an official day to not do much. to visit family or friends, to sleep in, read, go for a walk. just an official day off. I end up doing laundry or other household stuff on sunday way too often though... and the food thing is definetly strong in my family. I'm used to spending my money on good food (also "Genussmittel" so foods you really just enjoy like chocolate, coffee, tea... opposed to "Lebensmittel" foods you really need to survive) than on multiple holidays per year.
Yes there are a lot of great things. I try to focus on them as much as possible
I like the way you think. (non-mainstream"ish")
Happy Easter Daniel 🙏. Enjoy the break 🐇
The main difference between Germany and the UK, is that Germany focuses on MAKING things well (to a high standard): whereas the UK focuses on MARKETING things well (in a very effective way). Everyone knows that German cars have a reputation for being well made.....as do their household appliances. But the UK prefers the Marketing side of things. It does this mostly through story telling, but also in creating 'characters' in adverts and developing these characters, sometimes over many years (eg. Both the 'Go Compare', and 'Compare the Market' comparison websites); or thirdly by making a high quality advert into a 'mini film' (John Lewis Christmas Ads, and most Retail Bank ads, such as Lloyds). Germany sees the (physical) making of things as being the most important thing, while the marketing of them is definitely less of a concern. The UK puts much of its energy into marketing goods, services etc.....even if some of these goods aren't that well made; or the (online) services not that user friendly or flexible (particularly some Banks, and Parcel Delivery companies - no specific names mentioned!). This is the main difference between the two countries. I think it reveals alot about each country's culture, and what each values more, or prioritises.
Repair, Reuse, Recycle, in exact that order, is in our culture.
The issue of "who buys cheap, buys twice" has a lot to do with wealth, even moderate wealth. If you are poor, you have no option, but to buy cheap, especially with things like washing machines and dish washers. So over time poor people spend more money on these items. I think more wealthy people in Britain also buy more quality products. I think it depends on the wealth of the people around you.
Sure that plays a role as well. But in more consumerist societies there is the attitude of upgrading or buying new…not because the newest version is a whole lot better but just because it is new.
There is some crazyness if you are jobless and receiving wellfare. See, if you are on wellfare then the Government will pay for a new washing machine if your old one breaks down. However!!! They will only pay for a cheap one, which is around 200 to 300 € and will maybe last two or three years, probably less if you use it often enough. A good washing machine will last you 10+ years and costs around 600 to 700€. Yes. It doesn't make sense. No, you can't convince the people that make those laws to change it.
On the one hand there is something grounded regarding Germans … lets call it the pleasure of quietness, at the expense of being perceived as boring but not caring about this. Eg this explains why many Germans don’t care about their fashion. They rather enjoy a walk in nature than a bustling shopping center. Germans will reject appeals to their vanity (though they of course have their pride too). The best thing in Germany to do is to be reliable… that’s all you are expected to fulfill… Britons are all about their networks, friends they know at significant places, how interesting you are as a person etc. German do not boast about their network. So with modest expectations in social terms (be reliable) Germans have the freedom to be boring and not necessarily see negative consequences from this… maybe unlike in the US or UK…
Possibly. Although I do think networks are important here. Maybe just not so obvious or overstated
My local (German) Aldi has recently implemented a horrible thing where one cashier can scan two customers at the same time. Their sales have dropped IMMEDIATELY. FFS, the cashiers are already at an olympic level, let us shop in relative peace.
Wow that sounds like a recipe for disaster!
Talk about stores being closed, I'm an American, native-English speaker, who learned how to speak nearly fluent German. In Ulm the stores were closed on an atypical day and I asked why, in German, and the answer was Schwörtag so I didn't know what that was initially, but mentally I translated it into English and I had thought of 'Swear Day' so I immediately envisioned Germans running around cursing to each other which seemed to be n.i.o. to me so I inquired further and yes, it was 'Swearing In Day' or inauguration day for the mayor of Ulm.
🤣🤣classic translation issue👍🏻
Jetzt muß ich mal fragen, was ein Eid mit sich beschimpfen zu Tun hat? Beschimpft zum Beispiel ein US-Präsident bei seiner Amtseinführung öffentlich seine Wähler, oder wie soll man das verstehen?
@@jrgptr935 Es gibt zwei Bedeutungen des Wortes.
Darüber muß ich meditieren; ich kenne nur eine Bedeutung von "schwören", die Eidesleistung. Mag aber auch sein, daß der elende KZhead - Übersetzer den Text verzerrt hat (manchmal, das merke sogar ich, bringt er das Gegenteil dessen, was geschrieben wurde).
@@jrgptr935 Es ist lustig für die Englischsprachigen, die auch Deutsch sprechen. Obwohl ich Deutsch spreche, lebe ich nicht in Deutschland und bin daher mit vielen Konstruktionen nicht vertraut. "Schwoer Tag“ war einer. Da ich also Englisch spreche und es nicht wusste, konzentrierte ich mich auf das Wort "Schwoer“ und im Geiste ging das kurz auf "swear" / "curse" und nicht auf "swear" / "pledge or take an oath" über, und ich hatte kurzzeitig eine mentale Vorstellung davon Deutsche fluchen am "Cursing Day“ [but only briefly!]
Ist das auf dem Bild nicht das etwas besondere Möbel: ein Beichtstuhl?
the customer service might be a complicated topic in germany but at the baseline the people just don't want to get lied to..
That’s seem reasonable to me 😀