The Germans benefit from quite a lot of time off, in addition to a working week of forty hours, or even less in some places.
On the whole people don’t work overtime and most offices close at 5:00 p.m., or 4:00 p.m. in the public sector. As we have seen, they have up to sixteen national and regional public holidays a year and, like other countries, if a holiday falls on a Thursday then people often make a bridge and do not return to work on the Friday.
German annual vacations are governed by the Federal Holiday With Pay Act, which allows workers doing a six-day week 24 days holiday, and workers on a five-day week 20 hours. However, most firms allow a 25 to 30 day holiday a year. Normally, any holiday days not taken in a given year are forfeited by March the next year. May and June are popular vacation times, as are July and August.
Sickness and maternity benefits are also generous. Mothers have up to six weeks’ paid leave before the birth of their child, and up to eight weeks’ afterward. Workers are entitled to up to six weeks’ fully paid sick leave, and can even claim a regular visit to a Kur or health spa on the basis of medical advice. “Going on Kur” is not uncommon in German firms. So how do the Germans fill all this free time?
The Germans shop as much for leisure as for sustenance, but shopping habits have changed. Germans today are home Internet shoppers, second only to the USA. Home shopping has bitten into the custom of local speciality stores, as has the increased reliance on supermarkets, such as Aldi and Lidl.
In most towns every week there is a market, usually advertised in the local newspaper, held in the city center. These sell fresh flowers, meat, fish, and vegetables. Unlike in France or Italy you are not encouraged to pick up and squeeze fruit before purchase.
The Germans, as you would expect, are orderly shoppers who wait in line and observe the order of service. What surprises many foreigners is that the Germans treat a shop, although not a supermarket or department store, as a communal space and will expect to greet everybody as they enter with a general “Guten Morgen” or “Guten Tag,” or in the south with “Grüss Gott.” As a foreigner you are not expected to follow suit, although as you feel more part of the community you will find it a friendly and neighborly thing to do.
The Germans like to get the products, prices, and change right, and will ask persistent questions to make sure they get precisely what they want, or are given exactly the right change. This may take a little time. The marked price includes tax.
During the week shops open at around 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. One thing that surprises many visitors is weekend shop closing. On Saturday, shops can stay open until 6:00 p.m., but may close earlier. On Sunday, not only shops but supermarkets in or near large cities are closed. Bakeries, however, may be open for a few hours, for those fresh rolls for breakfast that the Germans are so fond of. Otherwise, the only shops open on Sunday are twenty-four-hour gas stations. On the four days before Christmas shops remain open until 6:00 p.m.
Bakery (Bäckerei)
Fresh bread, rolls, pretzels, and pizzas.
Often open very early in the morning.
Butcher (Metzgerei or Fleischerei)
Fresh and cooked meat and sausages.
Grocery Store (Lebensmittelgeschäft)
A range of groceries.
Greengrocer (Obst-und Gemüseladen)
Fruit and vegetables.
Chemist or Pharmacy (Apotheke)
Pharmaceutical products are sold in two stores. The Drogerie sells cosmetics and hygiene products, whereas the Apotheke is a dispensing chemist, offering medicine. Pharmacists can recommend medicine, and there is a weekend rotation system to make sure a pharmacy is always open to fulfill urgent prescriptions.
Banks in Germany are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and some stay open till 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Some small banks may close for lunch between 1:00 and 2:30 p.m. Banks are not open on Saturdays.
Germany is part of the Eurozone and the old currency, the Deutsche Mark, was replaced by the Euro in 1999. Other traditions don’t change, however. This is still a cash-driven society, and not all restaurants and stores even accept credit cards as payment.
Most Germans have a Girokonto (current or checking account) and a Sparkonto (savings account). Bills are paid from the Girokonto. People who come to your house to provide cleaning, delivery, or repair services may simply give you the bill with their giro number and ask you to make a direct payment into their account. Standing orders (Daueraufträge) are used for regular payments such as rent; direct debits (Lastschriftverfahren) for utilities; and transfers (Überweisungen) for one-off payments. There is increasing use of online banking.
The average German doesn’t use personal checks. Where plastic is used it will be a debit rather than a credit card owing to the German aversion to credit. Germans much prefer to pay out of their income, and if they don’t have the money, to hold off the purchase until they do. ATMs, called Geldautomaten, are available in all cities and Cirrus, Visa, and Plus systems are usually accepted.
Where will you find some of the best Italian cooking outside Italy? Try Frankfurt/Main. Major German cities have become centers of multicultural cuisine, thanks largely to Germans traveling worldwide and acquiring a taste for foreign cooking. Where, however, do you go for German cooking?
The first thing to say is that the standard of cooking generally is good, tasty, reasonably healthy, and clean. The Germans pride themselves on fresh, high-quality food. Pork is the most commonly eaten meat, and vegetarian food is easy to find. Like most nationalities, the Germans are subject to food stereotypes: if the British eat fish and chips, and the Americans hamburgers, then the Germans eat nothing but sauerkraut and sausage. It’s true that they consume an astonishing variety of sausages, but there is also venison, boar, quail, and duck, as well as a wide variety of seafood in the north and east.
It is unusual to get a bad meal or snack in Germany, although not impossible. For food on the run, the Germans go to a Stehimbiss or Schnellimbiss (snack bar). These are places where you eat standing up or buy food to take away, and they serve Fritten or Pommes (French fries) or Kartoffelsalat (potato salad), Bratwurst (sausage), and maybe kebabs. These snack bars are frequently owned by chains such as Nordsee (specializing in fish), Wienerwald (specializing in chicken), or McDonalds.
To try regional cooking, go to a typical German Gasthaus or Gasthof (inn). These will serve regional and local dishes, maybe fish in the north and dumplings (Knödel) in the south.
Most of the restaurants that you are likely to go into will have menus in both German and English, or the waiters will usually be able to explain in English what the dishes are. Many restaurants, especially family-owned ones, close one day a week, usually on Monday.
Beer is by far the best-known German drink. Although lager is often thought of as the classic German beer, there is actually a wide variety of different types. There are more than 1,500 breweries in Germany. In Cologne you can try a Kölsch, in Düsseldorf an Alt. In the south you can find Weizenbier, and in the east different kinds of Pils.
Germany makes wine, too, of course, especially the fine white wines traditionally known as Hocks and Moselles. You can find crisp, elegant Riesling wines from the Mosel valley, and distinctive flinty Franconian wines from northern Bavaria. The major wine-producing region is the Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, or Pfalz, in German), just north of Alsace, that produces full-bodied grapey wines. In choosing a wine remember the words süss and lieblich (sweet), and trocken (dry). German wines come in different categories of quality. You have the everyday, perfectly acceptable Tafelwein (table wine), the officially tested Qualitätswein (quality wine), or the Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (particularly fine wine).
Alt or Altbier “Old,” top-fermented red-brown beer fairly close to an English ale.
Dunkel Dark beer (from roasting the malt). The Dunkel category includes “dark lagers” and dark wheat beers.
Hefeweizen, Weissbier, or Weisse Wheat beer, bottle-conditioned (hefe = yeast) so that it’s slightly cloudy with sediment. Weissbier has a characteristic fruity “bubble-gum” flavor.
Kristal or Kristallweizen Wheat beer filtered to remove the sediment.
Lager German for “store.” Lager is slowly fermented by bottom-fermenting yeast. Originally a dark Munich style. Pale Pilsener lagers predominate now.
Pils or Pilsener A classic pale lager style developed in the nineteenth century at Pilsen to give a very clear, clean-tasting beer.
Kölsch A style from Köln (Cologne), not a lager, but a pale golden top-fermented ale. Other useful beer terminology is: hell or helles = light-colored; Roggen = rye; Kloster = cloister (beer originally brewed in a convent or monastery).
Berliner Weisse A top-fermented, bottle-conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and lactobacillus culture. It has a rapidly vanishing head and a clear, pale golden straw-colored appearance. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour, and acidic, with a lemony citric fruit sharpness and almost no hop bitterness. Berliners often add woodruff or raspberry syrup to reduce the sharpness and acidity of the beer—in fact you are almost certain to be asked “red or green” when ordering one—but they are well worth trying without additions. Berliners also tend to drink it through a straw, which is certainly not the way to get the most from a beer. With food, Berliner Weisse would make a good aperitif and it might go well with cheeses and salads.
Germany has excellent fruit juices (Orangesaft, Apfelsaft), but most Germans drink bottled water, even at home. Drinks are usually served without ice, or, if with ice, just a cube or two. You can ask for plain water (ohne Kohlensäure), but it isn’t always available.
On the whole you are served at a table, even in a pub. The ubiquitous beer mat is used to keep track of the number of drinks you’ve had. In some parts of Germany a glass of water accompanying coffee, tea, or alcoholic drinks performs the same function.
It is interesting to note that while table manners in Germany are much the same as in America and Britain, the Germans tend to be more punctilious about table settings and don’t on the whole like “finger food.”
Roughly half of the country’s breweries are in Bavaria, and Munich is its beer capital. Locally made beer is drunk in the brewery’s beer garden (Biergarten) at wooden tables without tablecloths where, by tradition, you can bring your own food and eat under the chestnut trees, as long as you buy the beer. Traditionally the beer garden is situated above the cellars, with the trees planted to keep the beer cool. The winter equivalent is the Bierkeller (beer cellar, below ground) or Bierhalle (beer hall, above ground) where people sit at long tables and drink beer. A tradition of drinking songs has grown up from this communal activity. The other popular German drinking place is the Bierstube, or pub.
The word for “cheers” in German is Prost, pronounced “proast.” A beer drinker will raise his or her glass, say “Prost,” and then clink glasses with you. The equivalent for wine, remember, is “Zum Wohl.” Drinking takes place over a period of time and is accompanied by substantial snacks, so people get “merry” and “tipsy” rather than violently drunk. Of course, the very tight drunk driving laws ensure that fewer people take the risk of drinking and driving.
Before eating people will normally say “Guten Appetit” (literally, “Good appetite”) and you can reply “Guten Appetit” or “Danke, ebenfalls” (“Thanks. You too.”). It’s worth remembering if you are American that, like the British, the Germans tend to keep both utensils in their hands when eating, and do not first cut their food up and then eat it with a fork in the right hand. The Germans also use special fish knives when eating fish. Don’t cut dumplings and vegetables with your knife as this suggests they are underdone. Chewing with the mouth open and speaking while you are eating is considered bad manners—as, by the way, is chewing gum.
In some popular establishments where there is no booking people sometimes share tables. You may find yourself seated on a long bench sharing with others at the equally long table. This is especially typical of beer halls. If you hear a sudden yelp or bark coming from under a table, don’t worry. Owners’ pet dogs are welcome in most of the restaurants. You will find that people smoke more than in America or Britain.
Smoking is banned by federal law in public places and on public transportation, but implementation is controlled by the Länder or states. In bars under 75 square meters with only one public room, smoking may be permitted, but Bavaria, for example, has imposed a unilateral ban on smoking in public, and other Länder are following its lead.
To attract the attention of the waiter or waitress raise your hand. When getting the bill (die Rechnung), if you need a receipt, ask for a Quittung. It is quite common to ask for separate bills if you are in a group, but let the waiter or waitress know beforehand.
Service is included in restaurant bills by law, so the leaving of tips is a personal gift for good service. Most Germans simply round up the bill to the nearest Euro and ask for their change less the tip. This extra tip is known as Trinkgeld (drink money). German waiters do not depend on tips to augment their salary so, if you are tipping more formally in an expensive restaurant, 10 percent is normal.
No it’s not just Lederhosen, Dirndl, Steins brimming with beer, and “oompah oompah” bands. There is a huge variety of activities that Germans get involved in, both indoor and outdoor.
Most German cities have a tourist office and actively recommend and promote places to go and things to see and do. There is a wide variety of accommodation in Germany, all of it clean and functioning, from five-star hotels to caravans (see pages 151–3).
We have already mentioned the great German festivals, but every town or village has its annual festival and it’s worth seeking them out. You’ll also find a number of theme parks that provide wonderful days out for children, such as Phantasialand, near Cologne, or Warner Brothers’ Movie World, near Essen.
Germany is richer in museums than most other countries. It is said that any town with a population of more than 10,000 has at least two museums, and Berlin alone has over a hundred. This plethora points up the intelligent interest that the Germans take in their own culture. There is a general awareness of and an active interest in high culture that is hard to find elsewhere.
This is particularly evident in Germany’s theater and opera tradition. This is a legacy of the time when the country was divided into independent principalities and each principality vied for the best court composers and orchestras. German-speaking composers such as Mozart, J. S. Bach, Beethoven, and Haydn, whether German or Austrian, all benefited from this patronage of the arts, which continues to this day in the form of generous Federal Government subsidies. The result is some of the best orchestras in the world, of which perhaps the most famous is the Berlin Philharmonic—raised to eminence under the magisterial postwar baton of Herbert von Karajan, and before him by Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini, and latterly by Sir Simon Rattle, now director of the London Symphony Orchestra. And let’s not forget Kurt Masur, former director of the Leipziger Gewandhaus, who worked for many years in the USA.
Head of an Apostle by Albrecht Dürer, Gemäldegalerie.
Adam and Eve in Paradise by Lucas Cranach the Elder, in the Gemäldegalerie.
Terrace of the Country House in St. Germain by August Macke.
As well as classical opera, orchestral concerts, and ballet, there is a thriving German Rock, jazz, and blues scene that gets little publicity outside Germany itself.
The heavy local subsidies for German opera and theater mean that prices are reasonable and everybody can go. There is a very wide audience from all strata of society, although maybe not so much the young. Dress for opera and theater can vary from tuxedo and evening dress to smart casual. It seems that in Germany the gap between “high” and popular culture is less pronounced than in other parts of Europe. This is due largely to the strong support given by the state to the performing arts and the drive to make them accessible to more people. But it may also be due to the German education system, which inculcates a serious approach to art and culture.
Most people have heard of the Reeperbahn and of the clubs and bars of St. Pauli in Hamburg, where the Beatles began to make their name in the late 1950s before exploding on to the international scene in Britain and America between 1962 and 1964. They probably haven’t heard of the bars and discos and Germany’s own “techno” music in the larger towns.
The Germans are among the most tolerant of European nations toward the public expression of sexual activity, both gay and heterosexual. Berlin has a flourishing gay scene, and its famous Love Parade is one big techno party. One of the more startling social amenities are the “love hotels,” sometimes with neon-lit hearts above them, offering meeting places for lovers.
We have already seen that one of the first things to strike visitors flying into German cities, even Berlin and Frankfurt-am-Main, is the large area of green surrounding them. These forest areas allow the city and its people to breathe, and local councils rent out forest huts to families wishing to hold barbecues or parties in the countryside. Hiking and walking, especially in groups, are popular weekend activities, as is cycling.
Organized sport and fitness has a long history in Germany. It was introduced into German education during the wars against Napoleon between 1797 and 1815 as a way of ensuring fitness prior to military training. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Turn-und Sportsverstände (gym and sports) movement sprang up in Germany, and became very popular. Many of Germany’s sports clubs and associations date from this time, and in the United States the Turnverein, or gymnastics club, is part of the German-American tradition. In the 1920s the Wandervögel (literally, “birds of passage”) youth movement swept the country, promoting closeness to nature, outdoor activities, especially hiking, and folk culture. Unfortunately these wholesome and idealistic movements were superseded by enforced membership of the Hitler Youth in the 1930s. Leni Riefenstahl’s famous propaganda documentary about the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 is a paean to physical perfection. After the Second World War, Communist East Germany, too, made a fetish of physical fitness, using its sporting achievements to bolster the regime.
The Germans are active and enthusiastic joiners-in.
German soccer fans showing solidarity.
Sailboats on Lake Starnberg in southern Bavaria.
Today the Germans continue to be sports enthusiasts. Nobody needs reminding of the achievement of German soccer teams, both in Europe and in the World Cup, and German stars have become world celebrities. But the Germans are equally crazy about tennis, handball, basketball, shooting, riding, hockey, cycling, Formula One motor racing, and many other sports.
The Germans follow their teams avidly, but they are also individually and actively sporty. They are great joiners, and tennis, soccer, hockey, riding, cycling, jogging, walking, and climbing clubs abound. In summer friends go off on sporting weekends and the autobahns are full of large cars carrying touring and racing bikes, kayaks and canoes, skis, and boats.
