Don't drink german tap water. I distilled it and got a disgusting broth. This is due to the organic impurities and the medicinal substances such as contrast agents, hormones, Voltaren Rhema gel etc The sewage treatment plants cannot filter it all out Of course, the dogma of the oh-so-clean tap water is spread like a mantra. You shouldn't believe it!
And yes, we also buy water in bottles. E.g. for sparkling water, cooling it, better taste or for putting the bottle on the table for guests. In some cities the tap water doesn’t taste well. It’s very different. But at some places it is really very good. Soda stream machines are very popular: you take a bottle of tap water and push CO2 into it under high pressure. You get self made sparkling water. No need to carry bottles from the store.
Is it common? Sandwiches for dinner: very common ✅ Drinking tap water: relatively common ✅ Bringing your own bags to the supermarket: relatively common ✅ Using the bottle deposit system: very common ✅ Doors without handles on the outside: very common ✅ Following recycling rules: very common ✅
Drinking tap water depends on where you live actually. Where I live we have very hard water. While it's still absolutely fine to drink it tastes disgusting. Filtering helps but it's still not great. Just a few kilometers away the tap water is delicious 🤷♀️
It's like 99% of doors in Germany that only have a handle on one side if they are the entrance door to your house or apartment. Within your apartment you have doors with 2 handles.
True, and for me of course that is "how it is done": I locked myself out a number of times, as did my wife and since the locksmith emergency services (who open the door for you when this happened) are so extremely expensive (I think this is how they make their living - not from selling door locks) she got very professional at opening the door with her ID card. In our house I installed a fingerprint sensor to open the door, didn't forget my finger yet :)
Abendbrot _(evening bread):_ We still have this quite often, but it depends on the day's plan, like: how much time do we have to cook dinner. We mostly cook our food from scratch. Also, what did we have to eat during the day. Especially during summertime, the bread dinner is a very tasty alternative with fresh vegetables and cold cuts, sometimes suitable leftovers to eat cold from a previous meal. Actually, on a warm summer day, almost nothing beats a sandwich with butter (or your choice of spread) and tomato, cucumber, radishes and such accompanied by the drink of your choice.
As kids we had it, but when I became a teenager I was in an all-day-school (which was uncommon at the time) and my mother had to work shifts. So we changed it then. My grandparents, in fact all of them, did Abendbrot til they died, though.
When I was young, 30 to 40 years ago, we always had cold Abendbrot with the bread. We had warm cooked meals at noon, either at home or at school. Warm dinner at the evening was really unusual, even if going to a restaurant usually was at noon. Today, I only have the classical Abendbrot when I visit my mother. PS: Abendbrot in my understanding refers to all kinds of food that you cook eat in the evening (like tempo refers to all paper tissues), because it was the usual thing. Otherwise you would not ask "Was gibt es zum Abendbrot?"
Absolutely Abendbrot refers to all kinds of food in the evening, even cooked ones. Brotzeit on all meal times means bread sandwiches. @@steffenbendel6031
We do "Abendbrot" in Switzerland too (charcuterie, cheese, bread etc.). We just call it "Chalte Z'Nacht" (Kaltes Abendessen/cold dinner), or sometimes "Brot und Sache" (bread and stuff 😄). Whether we eat dinner like that or not depends on whether we feel like cooking or not. I think the tradition goes back to when we were a farmer society. They'd eat a good breakfast and a big, warm meal at noon, because they had to work until sundown. Then a small, cold dinner and go to sleep not long after. Sleep is better if you don't eat big, warm meals with hard-to-digest vegetables.
I grew up with our doors always also being locked from the inside, so you need a key to get out - alas, you won't forget that only got me in trouble, when I first moved into a living accomodation, bc they don't do that and I subsequently locked myself out 4-5 times in the first month, bc I didn't have to check for the keys 😅
Around 2 years ago I installed a system that opens the door if you stand in front of it with your phone in the pocket. First my wife was a bit skeptical, but now she loves it (if you carry stuff it’s great). For backup we have a hidden keypad with personal pins. Since the garage is phone controlled too, and modern cars don’t need a key, you basically just need a phone… but we still have spare keys at out family and even the neighbors. We have backup power if the lights go out, but a backup mechanical lock is a nice thing to have (if it’s a decent, secure lock)😁👍
Doors: Virtually all doors in Germany to the outside (public) area are self-locking. I remember, when I was child, that there were older houses where this was not the case. But every house built at least starting in the 1950s/1960s is that way. Some locks have a switch to enable to push to open if activated.
I grew up in an older house, which did not have the self locking handle. I first encountered those inside of houses containing flats, or generally in houses shared by several parties.
Being german, it's actually funny seeing what counts as culture shock to people from other countries. Abdendbrot is a nice thing from time to time and it serves two purposes: Eating nice foods with lots of varieties and spending time with your family, keeping each other up to date what's going on in your life. I feel like there are less and less family traditions, unfortunately, and this is getting kind of rare in modern families. Abendbrot requires all family members to come together, get off their phones and computers and enjoy themselves as a family. That can actually be quite difficult and such family traditions can easily die out. Once gone it's hard to restore things like that. I should probably appreciate the luxury of great tap water quality way more. The only water we are usually buying is sparkling water as you already guessed. Although there also are people who have systems like Air Up to make their own sparkling water from tap water. About the doors - aside from houses people built themselves, mostly small houses, you don't see doors that can be accessed without a key. Pretty much everyone had to call a "Schlüsseldienst" (locksmith service) in their lives because they locked themselves out of their homes. Those services can be quite costly, especially on weekends. I heard of people who had to pay about 200-300€ for someone to open their doors - although there are black sheep among those services who will charge unreasonable amounts. There are lots of well known regular festivals revolving around live music or certain mottos which are quite big and well organized. But there are also lots of smaller festivities from neighborhoods which are less professionally organized, but still nice. You often find people with their own specialties offering things, services or show acts there and they don't always have names, mottos or something like that. Germans like to come together and enjoy themselves - any reason will do :D I think the most enjoyable/memorable festival I've been to was the WGT ("Wave Gothic Treffen"). Lots of somewhat medieval/gothic/dark themed stuff gathered together in Leipzig all over the city at different locations. Hundereds of bands - somewhere between actual medieval bands singing in elven language up to hard electro and/or metal bands to see. With your ticked you could access transportation and go wherever you wanted - explore the progam, bands, people and/or the city itself. Lots of marketplaces everywhere where all sorts of unusual foods were offered. Most of it hand made and no large brands involved. Lots of people dressed in awesome and very detailed costumes ranging again from medieval times to cyberpunk... An awesome community of nice people invading the city, but in a respectful way, so everyone can have fun. That was awesome!
Regarding water: Yes, sparkling water is extremely popular in Germany. Funny side story: When I'm with my Hungarian relatives, we always have a bottle of still and sparkling water at the table, and they bottles are labeled "Hungarian water" and "German water", respectively xD Most households have a carbonizer, so we just grab the tap water, fill it into the carbonizer bottle, and make our own sparkling water. Some households do buy bottled water, usually bc they don't have a carbonizer or in smaller plastic bottles to e.g. take on a trip.
That was a pretty well done video. When it comes to the Autobahn, I must repeat, what I already said in other comments: If there's a jam, mind the rescue gap! Leftmost lane goes all the way to the left, all others go to the right in order to create a gap for the rescue vehicles. Ignore lane lines if you have to. Don't wait until you hear sirens. Open the gap before you come to a complete stop for the first time. Lifes may depend on it.
The type of dinner usually depends on the other meals of the day. If there was already a hot meal at lunch, there is a cold dinner. Many people only eat a small snack like a sandwich or salad at lunch, then they have something cooked for dinner, either homemade or from a delivery service. At weekends or on public holidays, lunch is usually the hot meal. The German Sunday roast is always at lunch.
A friend of mine works for an American Water supply company and stands in contact with German water management. He explained (and probably with a broad brush approach since I am a layperson in the matter) that in the US we put all kind of chemicals into the water to make it safe, in Germany they filter all the dangerous stuff out. So do I drink (unfiltered) water in Germany? Yes. Do I drink unfiltered water in the US? Hell No.!
Rule #1: dont forget your key. It's easy to make you not forget it. Just learn always to double-lock the door when you leave your home. That makes sure you take the key before you leave.
I go one step further and only close the door when I have the key in my hand and have actively looked to see that it is the right one. (I once ruled myself out because I had a key in my hand but it was the wrong one :D).
@@schattigerKeks Den Spleen hab ich auch. :-D Blicke: Schlüssel....Tür..Schlüssel...Ja, is der richtige....Das zuziehen (wenn man nur kurz zum Müll, den Keller oder rüber in den Supermarkt will für ein paar Minuten) kostet mich dann trotzdem noch so ein klein bissl Überwindung, obwohl ich das ja doppelt gecheckt hab. :D
2:30 Not only is German tap water comparable to bottled water. It is even more strictly tested and regulated, thus safer, than bottled water! (To be fair this is only guarenteed until it enters your house's plumbing system. On rare occasions there are old lead-containing pipes but your landlord by law has to replace them if you find any)
Indeed, tap water (the correct term is "drinking water") is the most strictly controlled foodstuff in Germany! It does not cost much (related to its quality). It is covered by German technical standard DIN 2000. Guidelines DIN 2000: "Drinking water should be appetising and stimulate consumption. It should be colourless, clear, cool, odourless and tasteless. It should be of such a quality that its consumption or use is not likely to cause illness in humans." The German public water supply system is neither privatised nor liberalised. 😉
Migrants from Turkey and the Middle East buy the bulk of cheap non-"mineral" bottled water here. They habitually regard tap water as undrinkable since they never knew otherwise.
A nice side effect of the highly regulated drinking water system in Germany is that the water works use chlorine very sparingly. If you open the tap in Germany it is very rare that you are greeted by a cloud of chlorine. When I am travelling abroad that smell reminds me that I am not at home.
when my roommate moved out and I suddenly lived in a single-flat, I became so paranoid with my frontdoor keeping at least one foot inside until my key was in the lock. once I realized the draft pushes the door open I relaxed a little, but locking yourself out is a thing.
We used to have Abendbrot 9 out of 10 times when I grew up. I think the overall livestyle has changed, maybe due to many mothers being in the workforce and not being at home around lunch time, unlike my mother in the 70s and 80s. The doorknob on the Entrance door is the standard for both, houses and apartments nowadays. Some older buildings might still have normal handles on the entrance door. And yes, it can happen that you lock yourself out, that is why we have deposited a spare key in a save place. 😉
Our tap water in Germany is mostly of better quality than some of the mineral water you can buy in supermarkets abroad. I almost exclusively drink tap water and coffee lol.
In the summer , Germans like to spend their free time outside in the countryside, it`s so true. Cycling, swimming , go to festivals , etc. We live in the countryside in northern Germany and there is a lot to do here such as: fire brigade summer festival, swimming festival, lake festival, village festival, etc.
Someting that goes missing with Abendbrot is that not only the selection of break is incredible, but they usually just show a supermarket with packed cold cuts. Butcher shops have a countless variety of cuts. Then there is the same variety on unpacked cheeses - real cheese, not that processed stuff.. And you dont have to go to well know beer gardens like the Hirschgarten in Munich, they are everywhere, bycicling on the Altmühl, stop in just any small town; mabye even sit right by a river or stream under a 150 year old "Kastanien" tree; its not disneyland. I take long hikes from my place and stop in Beergardens i have never seen before, lost somewhere in the countryside - no tourist rush, friendly people - driving by you would not even notice them.. Maybe stop at some small lake, take a swim and go on.
We eat bread for dinner all the time, only exception is weekend, where we will eat something warm, as we did not have anything for lunch at school or at home
As a Bochumer of course my favorite festival is Bochum Total. It's a 4 day open air music festival in the city center with approx. 1 million visitors every year.
Hello, my name is Michael and because of issues between my parents as I was a child, as I was 9 I had to move over from England zu Germany which was completly new and actually pretty difficult and that for a couple of years actually. Befor that I was never here befor and had to leave all my friends,family and a great school behind in England. In Germany I had to start everything from complete scratch which obviously includes one of the hardest languages to learn,which I never had spoken befor. The life here is actually not bad but dont think its easy. Its pretty pricy and the prices are still rising in basicly all economic parts. Now I am 36 years old and can say I like Germany. I have a house in my previous place in England where someone lives and I can visit it any time I want. Take care people
About the tap water: Yes, our tap water is really great. When I was a kid, I always thought it was weird that when we went on holiday to Spain, we had to buy big bottles of water to cook with. And when I first came to the States, I was really shocked at how heavily chlorinated the water was. At our company we have got a Quooker. This is special water tap that provides carbonated water as well as boiling water.
For the doors ... its really usual. With 3 boys who sometimes forget to take their key, we have a locked key deposit hidden in the garage, so that everyone can get home in that case. Another thing is, that if you have a good neighborhood, you give someone a key for security or vacation reasons. In our case, the neighbor knows the access to the deposit and used it a few times. On the other hand, if you know how, you can nearly easy open a closed, unlocked door. So you get in trouble if someone broke in and you are going to the insurance to pay for the loss ... first question: "was the door locked?" (twice - you can turn around the key 2 times, and usually, you only then get some cash).
Abendbrot is common among those that have the ability to eat warm lunch. Those that dont usually have warm dinner. I used to buy bottled sparkling water. Now I have a sodastream tho. Yes, getting locked out is quite common. Thats why I always leave my key in the door, so that I remember taking it with me when leaving.
Yes it's very common to have the entrance door with only a knob outside. And you only lock yourself out once! after that you will always double check to be sure to have your keys with you 😅😅
There are always events in my small city of about 77.000. An open air free of charge jazz and blues festival is coming up or they turn the market place into a beer garden or have an event where there are street performers and magicans all around the city center or other themed festivals. It's really nice. As long as the city you live in has enough money, there will always be events like that all over Germany. The town I grew up in had an annual event where they built a really big stage next to the cathedral and showed musicals, theater plays and plays for children. Really loved that time of year 😄
Technically the front door is only locked when you have turned the key to the left in the cylinder lock (pin tumbler lock). Without using a key, someone who is a bit handy with a piece of plastic can open the front door within 2 minutes.
I have fond memories of my childhood when we the family sat together have "Abendbrot". The only time when we were all together on the table. At least during weekdays. It was so normal back then that it was nothing special. Now I wish this days would come back. Afterwards a bit TV, then brush teeth and bedtime :P
The most fun are the small, local festivals. In my hometown we have a small festival with about 15 rock bands. It's open air and has only room for about 200 people. But the atmosphere is so great, funny, intimate, open and dense, I enjoy it every time. So when you have the opportunity to visit a small german festival, do it.
Tap water is even more regulated than bottled water. I never locked myself out, its just a habbit of taking a key with you. And there is most of the time a small switch in the lock that disables the self locking, so you can push the door open.
About the festivals: I just visited the mps in Bückeburg again, its a big medieval market that happens every year for like 30 years now i think and it has a couple of locations. So many people come in medieval clothing and you can buy so much cool things there. They have some music groups and also different acts like a knights battle where they play different games on horses. You could also try shooting with bows or take pictures with birds like falcons. I love it each time and all the people are so chill and caring, if someone needed help i think there would be no one just passing by.
The best festivals for me are in my hometown or near to it. Because you run into friends, can send your kids or spend your lunch hours there without any hassle.
I'm working as a locksmith, which means that I help people get back in when they forgot their keys inside... 😅 I remember to have had a customer moving into my town who asked me to montage handles for the outside, because he was used to that from Canada, but the thing is that he had to discuss this with his insurance company first because indeed the doorknobs outside are also a means of burglary protection. That's why insurance always encourages, even demands it from their clients to actively lock the door with the key, even when you're at home. The deeper sense is that you can prove then that there was a burglary because your lock was destroyed. If it's not, depending on the door, you can be inside in 30 seconds and steal whatever you may find and leave again without a trace... 😉
5:39 In my eyes, the best „small“ festival is the Taubertal Festival - it‘s in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which is like THE one city tourists always visit because it has a Disney/medieval wonderland vibe, so the location is magnificent. And it is a Punk/Rock/Indie-Festival and has usually a great line up, also with international bands.
3:52 I have never seen any house door in Germany, that could be opened from the outside without a key. Last Thing I Do, before going to bed, I put my Keys on the Desk next to my bed. First Thing in the morning is putting my Keys in the bags of my trousers.
In english (not german) for the group here: The key service told me a good tip for not forgetting the key inside. It only works if you live single in your appartment: Lock it with the key from the inside and let the key inside the door lock. So first you have to take the key between your fingers and turn it around to open the door --- so the chances to forget the key in your appartment gets nearly zero! 😀
Our family uses a lot of tab water. We put it in the fridge and drink it with a little bit of lemon or mint. Sparkling water is for putting it on the table for guests.
You can get doorknobs that may be turned to open the frontdoor or handles if you like. If you go to the hardware department in a home-improvement-store be aware that you get the right size for frontdoors. The square shaft for those is bigger than the 8mm ones for doors that are used inside houses. It is just a precaution against burglars that most houseowners prefer the knobs that are fixed to the metal shield that covers the doors at the outside.
When I was I Munich two years ago, there was a water warning for the area my hotel was in. I had to limit my showers and learn to like mineralwasser for a day, until the hotel restocked spring water. It was weird, but after living in Florida, it's not that much of a concern. But I'm glad it's posted EVERYWHERE.
Hi Mert, thank you for this reaction. In germany it is common to give a friend or a good neighbor a duplicate of your key. So if you forget your key and lock the door, you have a "backup".
Abendbrot (Also known as Vesper here) is very common for us, especially in the hot summer times. It can be eaten with pickles, or cheese (sliced or soft brie) together with berries/grapes. Perfect.
I actually don´t buy bottled water anymore as I have a sparkling water maker. Most of the time I just use the bottles to carry around tap water and the one time I need it sparkling I press the button. I think everyone around the world should be able to do this.
-We often eat bread in the evening. -Bottled water is sometimes bought if you go outside or if you have guests coming over. If you prefere sparkling water, you can buy bottles or use the Soda Streamer. -I only know outside doors that lock if you close them. Only on the inside is a doorhandle. In Stores of course it's not like that
for me, it depends. As I usually do not eat during the day, I often really like a warm meal at night. Eating a hot meal during the day also makes me very tired during the day, so I prefer a light lunch. The Abendbrot tradition goes back to agricultural times, when field workers and industrial workers often ate the biggest (and often warm) meal during the day to have extra energy to continue their hard work day. Today, when many work lighter office jobs, lighter lunches are often called for and thus, having a bigger warm meal with the entire family at night as a social get-together to share what each one’s day has been, is often called for. As a schoolchild, my school did not have a cafeteria/refectory, so we would eat bread during the day and instead have a warm meal at home at night…
I live in an attic appartment without an elevator and drink looooaaads of water. If I'd had to buy water bottles and carry them all upstairs I'd be so frustrated lol tap water is goated
Yeah, I've locked myself out before... My cat let me in again (he knows how to open unlocked doors from inside by jumping on the door handle). I showered him with treats afterwards. 😺💕
In apartment buildings, it is normal to have such door handles. In individual houses, the front doors regularly have a small "switch" in the door frame with which you can override the door lock and thus simply push the door open. However, you have to "activate" this switch before you leave the house, otherwise you will still be standing in front of a locked door. And you also have to deactivate it again, otherwise the door is open. However, if the door is locked with a key, this switch is also disabled as long as the door is locked, but usually not deactivated. As soon as the door is unlocked again with a key, the switch is active again and the door is practically always open.
In fact, German tap water has higher standards than bottled water. AFAIK it's the food item with the highest regulatory standards in Germany. Maybe just second to minced raw pork (or "Mett"). Like with any food related stuff in Germany: if you can legally buy it, you're save to consume it. Yes, bottled water - or mineral water - is a big thing in Germany, but not because of food safety. It's because supposedly it has more minerals in it than common tap water. And some great marketing experts made that into some sales benefit. And they put bubbles on top for free.
most, if not all german towns, no matter how small, have at least one summer festival called kirmes, ours is usually more towards the end of summer or when school starts again. then there's a bunch of wine festivals in the later spring/early summer in the southwest as well, like the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt. and of course we love our christmas markets in the winter! i feel like we can always find an excuse to go out and have fun lmao
Yes, a lot of people still buy the bottled water, juices, beer and so on. All the glass bottles are returned, cleaned and reused (glass and plastic). But we do have machines to make our own sparkling water at home with tap water. Also, if you visit a restaurant, water is not free, so look out for that, when planning your trip
So my take on the 10 things: 1: Me and my family never did that. We ate like this in the morning and at 16:30 we had dinner. After that everyone ate whatever one liked. I don't have a specific eating plan. I just eat a sandwich in the morning and a warm meal around 14:00. 2: I never had a dog and my parents had a cat, but i like dogs more. 3: I always use a backpack and a tote bag for shopping. 4: I never buy bottled water. I only drink tapwater. 5: Pfand is cool. Old people have to live from it by searching trashbins for Pfand bottles though. 6: Every door has no handle when it leads to an apparrtment. And it is easy to get locked out. The feeling you get when you realize you forgot the key is terrifying. 7: Vegan is funny as it tries to replicate meat. 8: I don't have a car or a driver's license. 9: The best type i have been to was the Königshofer Messe. Which had a lot of stores and attractions. 10: Garbage seperation is not that difficult. I wonder if the recycling is actually done.
5. A few old people have to live from it by searching trashbins for Pfand bottles though. --> Definitely not all, my grandparents for example never needed to 10. Depends, in some Counties more in others less
Brotzeit ( bread time, aka bread sandwiches, or Semmel, Brötchen) .... Yeah this is very common.... we can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We usually have one warm meal and one Brotzeit in our family.
Germany actually has some huge open air festivals! Wacken Open Air comes to mind but there are also huge medieval fun fares with multiple stages for live music. Of course there are tons of small ones as well.
The classic locking yourself out thing... if you live in an old flat, you can break in quite easily, because without a key the door is just closed, not locked. But if you aren't that handy or haven't anyone nearby who stores a spare key for you, you have to call the locksmith. Some rip you off, but up to 150€ are a normal price on workdays. At night or at the weekend, you may have to pay up to 250€. Therefore you learn quite fast to always have your key with you. Bevor closing the door I always check for the three things "Schlüssel, Geldbeutel und Handy" aka "Keys, wallet and mobile" xD
A special sort of festival, i'm enjoying outdoors is LARP. Live Action Role Play. I know it's not a german -only thing, but there are some differences between american larpmand european larp. In this time of the year (summervacation) there are three big summer- larps with more then 5000 people per festival.
Key issue is funny. Most German households have either hidden a key under the doormat or in a flowerpot outside the house or they have deposit a key at closely living friends in case they lock themselves out. Having the emergency door opener come is incredibly expensive. They charge you half a month's net salary.
The thing with eating bread for dinner is that we already eat a big hot meal during lunch. While in most cultures where you eat the big hot meal for dinner you have a small quick launch. So this is just different timing for when to eat the big hot meal of the day.
Dinner depends on lunch for me. If i have a small or no lunch at all i make a bigger dinner. If i had a propper lunch it's a Abendbrot for me. But sometimes during the summer we eat a "Kalteplatte"/cold plate. Which is a really tasty mix of all kind off stuff you could eat on bread. In my flat i only drink tap water as i have a view cold teas and a machine to make sparkeling water. At my parents house we do buy strong sparkeling water and mix it with tap water because we are a Sparfuchs. ^^ Yeah doors is true. Most houses can only be opened with a key. But if you live in a village it's still quite common to keep the doors open during the day. Sadly you can't do that as much anymore. While the unlimited sign on the Autobahn means you can drive as fast as you want it also means 100 km/h on a "Landstraße" or "Schnellstraße". But they are easy Autobahn signs are blue and named with an A. The other signs are yellow/orange and start with a B. You also need to drive responsible. If you crash into someone driving slower it's your fault and your ensurance can get more expensive after a crash. What also might be a shock. While we do love our cars, quite a lot of people use the bike to get to school or work. Well and some poor souls need to use the trains. Which got better over the years, but it's still nowhere near what you could expect from germany. And we don't use them if we need to be on time.
Did you know how to dispose of a tea bag in Germany? The small piece of paper ends up in the trash like the bag itself. The clip to hold the thread ends up in scrap metal and the thread ends up in the trash. However, the tea has to go into the organic waste.
These videos are a pretty cool reality check. Makes one realize how spoiled we are with all these „surprising“ things we often take for granted! Btw: We drink tap water exclusively.
All entrance doors have no door handles. My parents excluded themselves and my brother even twice. ixh too, but I had my second key from my friend and was able to pick it up from her
About the lunch tradition: my grandparents generation typically had 1 warm meal per day and that would be lunch. I also grew up like this. But personally, I'm a 2-warm-meals person, lunch and dinner. Warm lunch is definitely thr norm here, but I also know families where they eat a warm dinner together rather than each on their own for lunch (so when everyone is home from work and school) and there have been kids back then) 20-30ish years ago) that always ate a warm dinner but not a warm lunch, usually because the dad was at work until late and the mom was at home, cooking for the one united family meal of the day: dinner
we used to eat abendbrot when my sister and i were still in school and were at home during lunch time to have a hot meal right after school. now that my sis and i are both working adults, we'll usually eat a hot meal in the evening instead
Sandwiches are good. With bread it much depends on the quality of the ingridients. Fresh good bread or self made with one of the expensive cheese comes directly from heaven.
2:55 A lot of us have a SodaStream or similar carbonation machine at home, where you can carbonate tap water. It saves on money, plastic and a lot of schlepping. Also in some places (the Alps for example) the tap water will taste better than 90% of bottled water, as stupid as it sounds. Many people prefer a specific amount of minerals in the water.
The door handle thing: I almost only know houses with out a handle on the front door. When I used to live alone I always locked my door from the inside so I literally had the key in my very hands when I left again. Can only recommend that, I never forgot my key. (29, SW-Germany)
As a German who also likes Scotland, my Abendbrot get enrichted with a nice glass of Talisker. Not the new fancy crap, just the good old regular Talisker.
German doors are not only safer because they keep intruders outside your house. You also don't have to lock your door when you are inside your house, so it's easier to leave/escape your home in case of a fire/emergency.
When I was young my family had bread even twice a day. In the morning there where also sweet spreads in addition to sausages and cheeses and on the weekends we had rolls instead of bread. Since I am grown up I have bread usually once a day. And I do not eat that much sausages anymore. Mostly different cheeses and vegetable spreads. And there is always a salad or different fresh vegetables as well.
The tap water is so good that it is often better in the maximum allowed contaminant levels than bottled water. Mind you, in most cases even the bottled water surpasses the insanely strict water control ordinances, but tap water is on another level of control. Yet the bottled water has exceeded these minimal allowed contaminant levels in some very rare cases resulting in immediate recalls of whole production runs, plus fines. While drinking that bottled water that won't be harmful for most adults in the short term, infants might, possibly, suffer diarrhea. The contamination levels are set so low that unless a company has no regard at all for food safety that it will almost be impossible to find any water in Germany that is actually harmful. Looking at you, Flint, Michigan, USA.
4:45 sign means Speed Limits are lifted, but it does Not means you can Drive as fast AS you want. That apply only on the Autobahn and ON some Bundesstraße. Usually IT means 50 within City Limits and 100 outside City Limits.
Never locked myself out; It hink, but I am also very paranoid about it, usually taking my keys even if I leave the door wide open. But when I was looking for my current apartment, the estate agent managed to lock himself out and had to call a (expensive) service for opening the door, apparently the door had a very secure lock that needed to be replaced afterwards.
Festivals: The best ones are those which are small and regional. I habe been moving around Germany for over 20 yrs and stumbling upon these individual events in small and bigger towns is just great. But I could imagine that its the same with other countries.
Abendbrot: In the old times, the men went to the factory and had a warm meal in the canteen there. Mum was at home and cooked hot lunch for them. So no need for a second hot meal at dinner. Tap water. The regulations for tap water are more stict than the regulations for botteled water. Doors/ Handles. Yes. we have them. And the quality is usually much higher than in e.g. the US. I've seen flimsy doors at houses there that wouldn't be used even at a door for a room inside of a flat here...
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Tab water here is even stronger regulated than bottled water.
True.
And has often more minerals than the bottled. :D
Don't drink german tap water. I distilled it and got a disgusting broth.
This is due to the organic impurities and the medicinal substances such
as contrast agents, hormones, Voltaren Rhema gel etc
The sewage treatment plants cannot filter it all out
Of course, the dogma of the oh-so-clean tap water is spread like a mantra.
You shouldn't believe it!
I was about to make the same comment. :)
And yes, we also buy water in bottles. E.g. for sparkling water, cooling it, better taste or for putting the bottle on the table for guests. In some cities the tap water doesn’t taste well. It’s very different. But at some places it is really very good. Soda stream machines are very popular: you take a bottle of tap water and push CO2 into it under high pressure. You get self made sparkling water. No need to carry bottles from the store.
Is it common?
Sandwiches for dinner: very common ✅
Drinking tap water: relatively common ✅
Bringing your own bags to the supermarket: relatively common ✅
Using the bottle deposit system: very common ✅
Doors without handles on the outside: very common ✅
Following recycling rules: very common ✅
Tap water lacks the spark. All the bubbles.
@@AdamMPickSodastream
They're all very common in my world.
I sign!
Drinking tap water depends on where you live actually. Where I live we have very hard water. While it's still absolutely fine to drink it tastes disgusting. Filtering helps but it's still not great. Just a few kilometers away the tap water is delicious 🤷♀️
I did not expect to see my hometown on a channel from a Scotsman living in Malaysia lol
The internet is wild
You from Hannover too? Or which city did you see?
@@jakejo7440 She was in Ludwigsburg!
@@BiancaMetz-h1k For me one of the most beautiful cities in germany:)
It's like 99% of doors in Germany that only have a handle on one side if they are the entrance door to your house or apartment. Within your apartment you have doors with 2 handles.
True, and for me of course that is "how it is done": I locked myself out a number of times, as did my wife and since the locksmith emergency services (who open the door for you when this happened) are so extremely expensive (I think this is how they make their living - not from selling door locks) she got very professional at opening the door with her ID card. In our house I installed a fingerprint sensor to open the door, didn't forget my finger yet :)
@@radlrambo4994😀
That's normal, isn't it?
Abendbrot _(evening bread):_ We still have this quite often, but it depends on the day's plan, like: how much time do we have to cook dinner. We mostly cook our food from scratch. Also, what did we have to eat during the day. Especially during summertime, the bread dinner is a very tasty alternative with fresh vegetables and cold cuts, sometimes suitable leftovers to eat cold from a previous meal. Actually, on a warm summer day, almost nothing beats a sandwich with butter (or your choice of spread) and tomato, cucumber, radishes and such accompanied by the drink of your choice.
As kids we had it, but when I became a teenager I was in an all-day-school (which was uncommon at the time) and my mother had to work shifts. So we changed it then. My grandparents, in fact all of them, did Abendbrot til they died, though.
When I was young, 30 to 40 years ago, we always had cold Abendbrot with the bread. We had warm cooked meals at noon, either at home or at school. Warm dinner at the evening was really unusual, even if going to a restaurant usually was at noon. Today, I only have the classical Abendbrot when I visit my mother.
PS:
Abendbrot in my understanding refers to all kinds of food that you cook eat in the evening (like tempo refers to all paper tissues), because it was the usual thing. Otherwise you would not ask "Was gibt es zum Abendbrot?"
Absolutely Abendbrot refers to all kinds of food in the evening, even cooked ones. Brotzeit on all meal times means bread sandwiches. @@steffenbendel6031
We do "Abendbrot" in Switzerland too (charcuterie, cheese, bread etc.). We just call it "Chalte Z'Nacht" (Kaltes Abendessen/cold dinner), or sometimes "Brot und Sache" (bread and stuff 😄). Whether we eat dinner like that or not depends on whether we feel like cooking or not. I think the tradition goes back to when we were a farmer society. They'd eat a good breakfast and a big, warm meal at noon, because they had to work until sundown. Then a small, cold dinner and go to sleep not long after. Sleep is better if you don't eat big, warm meals with hard-to-digest vegetables.
Precisely 👍
I often forget Keys and get locked out. Thats why i spreaded a few keys to friends and families around so i can get back in again.
I grew up with our doors always also being locked from the inside, so you need a key to get out - alas, you won't forget
that only got me in trouble, when I first moved into a living accomodation, bc they don't do that and I subsequently locked myself out 4-5 times in the first month, bc I didn't have to check for the keys 😅
🎶 This is how we do it...🎶
Ich habe meinen Wohnungsschlüssel am Bund mit dem Autoschlüssel. Kann ihn also nie vergessen.
Around 2 years ago I installed a system that opens the door if you stand in front of it with your phone in the pocket. First my wife was a bit skeptical, but now she loves it (if you carry stuff it’s great). For backup we have a hidden keypad with personal pins. Since the garage is phone controlled too, and modern cars don’t need a key, you basically just need a phone… but we still have spare keys at out family and even the neighbors. We have backup power if the lights go out, but a backup mechanical lock is a nice thing to have (if it’s a decent, secure lock)😁👍
I trained myself to always close the outside door with a key. That helps a lot.
Abendbrot is a social event in our family and you have to have a good reason if you wanna miss it. Friends are always welcome!
Doors: Virtually all doors in Germany to the outside (public) area are self-locking. I remember, when I was child, that there were older houses where this was not the case. But every house built at least starting in the 1950s/1960s is that way. Some locks have a switch to enable to push to open if activated.
Right. And I live in a 90 year old house with the original door. I haven’t gotten used to the handle in 20 years 😊
I grew up in an older house, which did not have the self locking handle. I first encountered those inside of houses containing flats, or generally in houses shared by several parties.
So it is in the Netherlands
@@eugenieC50 We are so close togheter in mind, dear Frisian brothers...
@@Bezayne I don't remember having that at any house I lived in. My flat didn't have that either.
Being german, it's actually funny seeing what counts as culture shock to people from other countries. Abdendbrot is a nice thing from time to time and it serves two purposes: Eating nice foods with lots of varieties and spending time with your family, keeping each other up to date what's going on in your life. I feel like there are less and less family traditions, unfortunately, and this is getting kind of rare in modern families. Abendbrot requires all family members to come together, get off their phones and computers and enjoy themselves as a family. That can actually be quite difficult and such family traditions can easily die out. Once gone it's hard to restore things like that.
I should probably appreciate the luxury of great tap water quality way more. The only water we are usually buying is sparkling water as you already guessed. Although there also are people who have systems like Air Up to make their own sparkling water from tap water.
About the doors - aside from houses people built themselves, mostly small houses, you don't see doors that can be accessed without a key. Pretty much everyone had to call a "Schlüsseldienst" (locksmith service) in their lives because they locked themselves out of their homes. Those services can be quite costly, especially on weekends. I heard of people who had to pay about 200-300€ for someone to open their doors - although there are black sheep among those services who will charge unreasonable amounts.
There are lots of well known regular festivals revolving around live music or certain mottos which are quite big and well organized. But there are also lots of smaller festivities from neighborhoods which are less professionally organized, but still nice. You often find people with their own specialties offering things, services or show acts there and they don't always have names, mottos or something like that. Germans like to come together and enjoy themselves - any reason will do :D I think the most enjoyable/memorable festival I've been to was the WGT ("Wave Gothic Treffen"). Lots of somewhat medieval/gothic/dark themed stuff gathered together in Leipzig all over the city at different locations. Hundereds of bands - somewhere between actual medieval bands singing in elven language up to hard electro and/or metal bands to see. With your ticked you could access transportation and go wherever you wanted - explore the progam, bands, people and/or the city itself. Lots of marketplaces everywhere where all sorts of unusual foods were offered. Most of it hand made and no large brands involved. Lots of people dressed in awesome and very detailed costumes ranging again from medieval times to cyberpunk... An awesome community of nice people invading the city, but in a respectful way, so everyone can have fun. That was awesome!
In the door knob scene I loved how the dog is standing there: "Wth have you been doing outside? You've been standing in front of the door for hours!"
Regarding water: Yes, sparkling water is extremely popular in Germany. Funny side story: When I'm with my Hungarian relatives, we always have a bottle of still and sparkling water at the table, and they bottles are labeled "Hungarian water" and "German water", respectively xD
Most households have a carbonizer, so we just grab the tap water, fill it into the carbonizer bottle, and make our own sparkling water. Some households do buy bottled water, usually bc they don't have a carbonizer or in smaller plastic bottles to e.g. take on a trip.
That was a pretty well done video.
When it comes to the Autobahn, I must repeat, what I already said in other comments:
If there's a jam, mind the rescue gap! Leftmost lane goes all the way to the left, all others go to the right in order to create a gap for the rescue vehicles.
Ignore lane lines if you have to.
Don't wait until you hear sirens.
Open the gap before you come to a complete stop for the first time.
Lifes may depend on it.
The type of dinner usually depends on the other meals of the day. If there was already a hot meal at lunch, there is a cold dinner. Many people only eat a small snack like a sandwich or salad at lunch, then they have something cooked for dinner, either homemade or from a delivery service. At weekends or on public holidays, lunch is usually the hot meal. The German Sunday roast is always at lunch.
A friend of mine works for an American Water supply company and stands in contact with German water management. He explained (and probably with a broad brush approach since I am a layperson in the matter) that in the US we put all kind of chemicals into the water to make it safe, in Germany they filter all the dangerous stuff out. So do I drink (unfiltered) water in Germany? Yes. Do I drink unfiltered water in the US? Hell No.!
They add a certain amount of chlorine in most places in the US. At least in the hotels.
Rule #1: dont forget your key.
It's easy to make you not forget it.
Just learn always to double-lock the door when you leave your home. That makes sure you take the key before you leave.
I go one step further and only close the door when I have the key in my hand and have actively looked to see that it is the right one. (I once ruled myself out because I had a key in my hand but it was the wrong one :D).
@@schattigerKeks Den Spleen hab ich auch. :-D Blicke: Schlüssel....Tür..Schlüssel...Ja, is der richtige....Das zuziehen (wenn man nur kurz zum Müll, den Keller oder rüber in den Supermarkt will für ein paar Minuten) kostet mich dann trotzdem noch so ein klein bissl Überwindung, obwohl ich das ja doppelt gecheckt hab. :D
When it's cold outside, I love me a simple little hot soup with a good cheese bread on the side! Super easy and warms my soul.
2:30 Not only is German tap water comparable to bottled water. It is even more strictly tested and regulated, thus safer, than bottled water!
(To be fair this is only guarenteed until it enters your house's plumbing system. On rare occasions there are old lead-containing pipes but your landlord by law has to replace them if you find any)
I am drinking Tap water every day...😅
It's true! German tap water regulations are so strict, most bottled mineral waters wouldn't even pass!
Indeed, tap water (the correct term is "drinking water") is the most strictly controlled foodstuff in Germany! It does not cost much (related to its quality). It is covered by German technical standard DIN 2000. Guidelines DIN 2000:
"Drinking water should be appetising and stimulate consumption. It should be colourless, clear, cool, odourless and tasteless. It should be of such a quality that its consumption or use is not likely to cause illness in humans." The German public water supply system is neither privatised nor liberalised. 😉
Migrants from Turkey and the Middle East buy the bulk of cheap non-"mineral" bottled water here. They habitually regard tap water as undrinkable since they never knew otherwise.
A nice side effect of the highly regulated drinking water system in Germany is that the water works use chlorine very sparingly.
If you open the tap in Germany it is very rare that you are greeted by a cloud of chlorine. When I am travelling abroad that smell reminds me that I am not at home.
when my roommate moved out and I suddenly lived in a single-flat, I became so paranoid with my frontdoor keeping at least one foot inside until my key was in the lock.
once I realized the draft pushes the door open I relaxed a little, but locking yourself out is a thing.
We used to have Abendbrot 9 out of 10 times when I grew up. I think the overall livestyle has changed, maybe due to many mothers being in the workforce and not being at home around lunch time, unlike my mother in the 70s and 80s.
The doorknob on the Entrance door is the standard for both, houses and apartments nowadays. Some older buildings might still have normal handles on the entrance door. And yes, it can happen that you lock yourself out, that is why we have deposited a spare key in a save place. 😉
Our tap water in Germany is mostly of better quality than some of the mineral water you can buy in supermarkets abroad. I almost exclusively drink tap water and coffee lol.
In the summer , Germans like to spend their free time outside in the countryside, it`s so true. Cycling, swimming , go to festivals , etc. We live in the countryside in northern Germany and there is a lot to do here such as: fire brigade summer festival, swimming festival, lake festival, village festival, etc.
In my town we also have outside theatre, cinema, concerts and such on a regular basis.
👍🍹🍺@@fabigrossi2976
Someting that goes missing with Abendbrot is that not only the selection of break is incredible, but they usually just show a supermarket with packed cold cuts. Butcher shops have a countless variety of cuts. Then there is the same variety on unpacked cheeses - real cheese, not that processed stuff.. And you dont have to go to well know beer gardens like the Hirschgarten in Munich, they are everywhere, bycicling on the Altmühl, stop in just any small town; mabye even sit right by a river or stream under a 150 year old "Kastanien" tree; its not disneyland. I take long hikes from my place and stop in Beergardens i have never seen before, lost somewhere in the countryside - no tourist rush, friendly people - driving by you would not even notice them.. Maybe stop at some small lake, take a swim and go on.
We eat bread for dinner all the time, only exception is weekend, where we will eat something warm, as we did not have anything for lunch at school or at home
As a Bochumer of course my favorite festival is Bochum Total.
It's a 4 day open air music festival in the city center with approx. 1 million visitors every year.
Hello, my name is Michael and because of issues between my parents as I was a child, as I was 9 I had to move over from England zu Germany which was completly new and actually pretty difficult and that for a couple of years actually. Befor that I was never here befor and had to leave all my friends,family and a great school behind in England. In Germany I had to start everything from complete scratch which obviously includes one of the hardest languages to learn,which I never had spoken befor. The life here is actually not bad but dont think its easy. Its pretty pricy and the prices are still rising in basicly all economic parts. Now I am 36 years old and can say I like Germany. I have a house in my previous place in England where someone lives and I can visit it any time I want. Take care people
About the tap water: Yes, our tap water is really great. When I was a kid, I always thought it was weird that when we went on holiday to Spain, we had to buy big bottles of water to cook with. And when I first came to the States, I was really shocked at how heavily chlorinated the water was. At our company we have got a Quooker. This is special water tap that provides carbonated water as well as boiling water.
I am from Germany and was in Malaysia once before covid. Drank the tap water out of habit and got the runs for 3 days, will never do that again.
usually we deposit a spare key at parents or friends house in case we forget the key keep up the good work
For the doors ... its really usual. With 3 boys who sometimes forget to take their key, we have a locked key deposit hidden in the garage, so that everyone can get home in that case. Another thing is, that if you have a good neighborhood, you give someone a key for security or vacation reasons. In our case, the neighbor knows the access to the deposit and used it a few times. On the other hand, if you know how, you can nearly easy open a closed, unlocked door. So you get in trouble if someone broke in and you are going to the insurance to pay for the loss ... first question: "was the door locked?" (twice - you can turn around the key 2 times, and usually, you only then get some cash).
Abendbrot is common among those that have the ability to eat warm lunch. Those that dont usually have warm dinner.
I used to buy bottled sparkling water. Now I have a sodastream tho.
Yes, getting locked out is quite common. Thats why I always leave my key in the door, so that I remember taking it with me when leaving.
Requirements für tap water are higher than for bottled water in Germany.
Yes, but what most people never think about is the fact that it might have to pass some really old and rusty pipes.
Yes it's very common to have the entrance door with only a knob outside.
And you only lock yourself out once! after that you will always double check to be sure to have your keys with you 😅😅
There are always events in my small city of about 77.000. An open air free of charge jazz and blues festival is coming up or they turn the market place into a beer garden or have an event where there are street performers and magicans all around the city center or other themed festivals. It's really nice. As long as the city you live in has enough money, there will always be events like that all over Germany. The town I grew up in had an annual event where they built a really big stage next to the cathedral and showed musicals, theater plays and plays for children. Really loved that time of year 😄
It´s a very accurate video about Germany!
Technically the front door is only locked when you have turned the key to the left in the cylinder lock (pin tumbler lock). Without using a key, someone who is a bit handy with a piece of plastic can open the front door within 2 minutes.
I have fond memories of my childhood when we the family sat together have "Abendbrot". The only time when we were all together on the table. At least during weekdays. It was so normal back then that it was nothing special. Now I wish this days would come back. Afterwards a bit TV, then brush teeth and bedtime :P
Tap water regulations are higher than bottled water so its not only comparable, its mostly even better
I locked myself out so many times 😅 thank god I had a neighbour with a good screwdriver. 😂 After several times we had it figured out pretty well 😂
i really appreciate your videos. Very informative and interesting. Thanks for sharing. watcufrlm Hessen Germany
The most fun are the small, local festivals. In my hometown we have a small festival with about 15 rock bands. It's open air and has only room for about 200 people. But the atmosphere is so great, funny, intimate, open and dense, I enjoy it every time.
So when you have the opportunity to visit a small german festival, do it.
Tap water is even more regulated than bottled water.
I never locked myself out, its just a habbit of taking a key with you. And there is most of the time a small switch in the lock that disables the self locking, so you can push the door open.
About the festivals: I just visited the mps in Bückeburg again, its a big medieval market that happens every year for like 30 years now i think and it has a couple of locations. So many people come in medieval clothing and you can buy so much cool things there. They have some music groups and also different acts like a knights battle where they play different games on horses. You could also try shooting with bows or take pictures with birds like falcons. I love it each time and all the people are so chill and caring, if someone needed help i think there would be no one just passing by.
The best festivals for me are in my hometown or near to it. Because you run into friends, can send your kids or spend your lunch hours there without any hassle.
I can highly recommend the Open Flair Festival in Eschwege. It has been taking place since 1985 and is very popular in the region!
Abendbrot was something I grew up with, but it has become rarer overall. But yesterday I had bread for supper. :)
I'm working as a locksmith, which means that I help people get back in when they forgot their keys inside... 😅 I remember to have had a customer moving into my town who asked me to montage handles for the outside, because he was used to that from Canada, but the thing is that he had to discuss this with his insurance company first because indeed the doorknobs outside are also a means of burglary protection. That's why insurance always encourages, even demands it from their clients to actively lock the door with the key, even when you're at home. The deeper sense is that you can prove then that there was a burglary because your lock was destroyed. If it's not, depending on the door, you can be inside in 30 seconds and steal whatever you may find and leave again without a trace... 😉
5:39 In my eyes, the best „small“ festival is the Taubertal Festival - it‘s in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which is like THE one city tourists always visit because it has a Disney/medieval wonderland vibe, so the location is magnificent. And it is a Punk/Rock/Indie-Festival and has usually a great line up, also with international bands.
This summer (2024) there are 1260 or 1276 Baustellen on the Autobahn.
3:52 I have never seen any house door in Germany, that could be opened from the outside without a key. Last Thing I Do, before going to bed, I put my Keys on the Desk next to my bed. First Thing in the morning is putting my Keys in the bags of my trousers.
In english (not german) for the group here:
The key service told me a good tip for not forgetting the key inside. It only works if you live single in your appartment: Lock it with the key from the inside and let the key inside the door lock.
So first you have to take the key between your fingers and turn it around to open the door --- so the chances to forget the key in your appartment gets nearly zero! 😀
I love the strict rules about tap water. I haven't bought bottled water for years!
Our family uses a lot of tab water. We put it in the fridge and drink it with a little bit of lemon or mint. Sparkling water is for putting it on the table for guests.
You can get doorknobs that may be turned to open the frontdoor or handles if you like. If you go to the hardware department in a home-improvement-store be aware that you get the right size for frontdoors. The square shaft for those is bigger than the 8mm ones for doors that are used inside houses. It is just a precaution against burglars that most houseowners prefer the knobs that are fixed to the metal shield that covers the doors at the outside.
When I was I Munich two years ago, there was a water warning for the area my hotel was in. I had to limit my showers and learn to like mineralwasser for a day, until the hotel restocked spring water.
It was weird, but after living in Florida, it's not that much of a concern. But I'm glad it's posted EVERYWHERE.
Exept Autobahn and Abendbrot things mentioned in this video are the same in The Netherlands.
Hi Mert, thank you for this reaction. In germany it is common to give a friend or a good neighbor a duplicate of your key. So if you forget your key and lock the door, you have a "backup".
Abendbrot (Also known as Vesper here) is very common for us, especially in the hot summer times. It can be eaten with pickles, or cheese (sliced or soft brie) together with berries/grapes. Perfect.
I actually don´t buy bottled water anymore as I have a sparkling water maker. Most of the time I just use the bottles to carry around tap water and the one time I need it sparkling I press the button. I think everyone around the world should be able to do this.
-We often eat bread in the evening. -Bottled water is sometimes bought if you go outside or if you have guests coming over. If you prefere sparkling water, you can buy bottles or use the Soda Streamer.
-I only know outside doors that lock if you close them. Only on the inside is a doorhandle. In Stores of course it's not like that
for me, it depends. As I usually do not eat during the day, I often really like a warm meal at night. Eating a hot meal during the day also makes me very tired during the day, so I prefer a light lunch. The Abendbrot tradition goes back to agricultural times, when field workers and industrial workers often ate the biggest (and often warm) meal during the day to have extra energy to continue their hard work day. Today, when many work lighter office jobs, lighter lunches are often called for and thus, having a bigger warm meal with the entire family at night as a social get-together to share what each one’s day has been, is often called for. As a schoolchild, my school did not have a cafeteria/refectory, so we would eat bread during the day and instead have a warm meal at home at night…
I drink tap water since 35 years and love it!
I live in an attic appartment without an elevator and drink looooaaads of water. If I'd had to buy water bottles and carry them all upstairs I'd be so frustrated lol tap water is goated
Yeah, I've locked myself out before... My cat let me in again (he knows how to open unlocked doors from inside by jumping on the door handle). I showered him with treats afterwards. 😺💕
Aaawwww! This dog is such a Feini 🥰
The Bardentreffen Festival in Nuremberg is very attractive. You can find free music through out the city. It takes place in july every year.
In apartment buildings, it is normal to have such door handles. In individual houses, the front doors regularly have a small "switch" in the door frame with which you can override the door lock and thus simply push the door open.
However, you have to "activate" this switch before you leave the house, otherwise you will still be standing in front of a locked door. And you also have to deactivate it again, otherwise the door is open.
However, if the door is locked with a key, this switch is also disabled as long as the door is locked, but usually not deactivated. As soon as the door is unlocked again with a key, the switch is active again and the door is practically always open.
In fact, German tap water has higher standards than bottled water. AFAIK it's the food item with the highest regulatory standards in Germany. Maybe just second to minced raw pork (or "Mett"). Like with any food related stuff in Germany: if you can legally buy it, you're save to consume it.
Yes, bottled water - or mineral water - is a big thing in Germany, but not because of food safety. It's because supposedly it has more minerals in it than common tap water. And some great marketing experts made that into some sales benefit. And they put bubbles on top for free.
2:23 I usually drink tap water but sparkle it myself
most, if not all german towns, no matter how small, have at least one summer festival called kirmes, ours is usually more towards the end of summer or when school starts again. then there's a bunch of wine festivals in the later spring/early summer in the southwest as well, like the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt. and of course we love our christmas markets in the winter! i feel like we can always find an excuse to go out and have fun lmao
Yes, a lot of people still buy the bottled water, juices, beer and so on. All the glass bottles are returned, cleaned and reused (glass and plastic).
But we do have machines to make our own sparkling water at home with tap water. Also, if you visit a restaurant, water is not free, so look out for that, when planning your trip
So my take on the 10 things:
1: Me and my family never did that. We ate like this in the morning and at 16:30 we had dinner. After that everyone ate whatever one liked. I don't have a specific eating plan. I just eat a sandwich in the morning and a warm meal around 14:00.
2: I never had a dog and my parents had a cat, but i like dogs more.
3: I always use a backpack and a tote bag for shopping.
4: I never buy bottled water. I only drink tapwater.
5: Pfand is cool. Old people have to live from it by searching trashbins for Pfand bottles though.
6: Every door has no handle when it leads to an apparrtment. And it is easy to get locked out. The feeling you get when you realize you forgot the key is terrifying.
7: Vegan is funny as it tries to replicate meat.
8: I don't have a car or a driver's license.
9: The best type i have been to was the Königshofer Messe. Which had a lot of stores and attractions.
10: Garbage seperation is not that difficult. I wonder if the recycling is actually done.
5. A few old people have to live from it by searching trashbins for Pfand bottles though. --> Definitely not all, my grandparents for example never needed to
10. Depends, in some Counties more in others less
Brotzeit ( bread time, aka bread sandwiches, or Semmel, Brötchen) ....
Yeah this is very common.... we can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We usually have one warm meal and one Brotzeit in our family.
Germany actually has some huge open air festivals!
Wacken Open Air comes to mind but there are also huge medieval fun fares with multiple stages for live music.
Of course there are tons of small ones as well.
The classic locking yourself out thing... if you live in an old flat, you can break in quite easily, because without a key the door is just closed, not locked. But if you aren't that handy or haven't anyone nearby who stores a spare key for you, you have to call the locksmith. Some rip you off, but up to 150€ are a normal price on workdays. At night or at the weekend, you may have to pay up to 250€.
Therefore you learn quite fast to always have your key with you. Bevor closing the door I always check for the three things "Schlüssel, Geldbeutel und Handy" aka "Keys, wallet and mobile" xD
A special sort of festival, i'm enjoying outdoors is LARP. Live Action Role Play. I know it's not a german -only thing, but there are some differences between american larpmand european larp.
In this time of the year (summervacation) there are three big summer- larps with more then 5000 people per festival.
Key issue is funny. Most German households have either hidden a key under the doormat or in a flowerpot outside the house or they have deposit a key at closely living friends in case they lock themselves out. Having the emergency door opener come is incredibly expensive. They charge you half a month's net salary.
As a kid, I was very experienced in pick locking with my phone card ( yeah I'm a 90s kid), because I forgot my keys soooo often...
The thing with eating bread for dinner is that we already eat a big hot meal during lunch. While in most cultures where you eat the big hot meal for dinner you have a small quick launch. So this is just different timing for when to eat the big hot meal of the day.
Dinner depends on lunch for me. If i have a small or no lunch at all i make a bigger dinner. If i had a propper lunch it's a Abendbrot for me. But sometimes during the summer we eat a "Kalteplatte"/cold plate. Which is a really tasty mix of all kind off stuff you could eat on bread.
In my flat i only drink tap water as i have a view cold teas and a machine to make sparkeling water. At my parents house we do buy strong sparkeling water and mix it with tap water because we are a Sparfuchs. ^^
Yeah doors is true. Most houses can only be opened with a key. But if you live in a village it's still quite common to keep the doors open during the day. Sadly you can't do that as much anymore.
While the unlimited sign on the Autobahn means you can drive as fast as you want it also means 100 km/h on a "Landstraße" or "Schnellstraße". But they are easy Autobahn signs are blue and named with an A. The other signs are yellow/orange and start with a B. You also need to drive responsible. If you crash into someone driving slower it's your fault and your ensurance can get more expensive after a crash.
What also might be a shock. While we do love our cars, quite a lot of people use the bike to get to school or work. Well and some poor souls need to use the trains. Which got better over the years, but it's still nowhere near what you could expect from germany. And we don't use them if we need to be on time.
Now she needs to talk about how horrible public train transportation is.
Or how bad internet and signal is in 33% of Germany
These must be the real culture shocks.
Did you know how to dispose of a tea bag in Germany?
The small piece of paper ends up in the trash like the bag itself. The clip to hold the thread ends up in scrap metal and the thread ends up in the trash. However, the tea has to go into the organic waste.
The "Wacken" festival in Schleswig-Holstein is world famous for international Heavy Metal music.
These videos are a pretty cool reality check. Makes one realize how spoiled we are with all these „surprising“ things we often take for granted! Btw: We drink tap water exclusively.
A lot of Germans have a "Water Sparkler", it contains a repacable gas filled cylinder that lets you convert tap water into sparkling water.
All entrance doors have no door handles. My parents excluded themselves and my brother even twice. ixh too, but I had my second key from my friend and was able to pick it up from her
The door without handle is not only common, it's normal/everywhere.
About the lunch tradition: my grandparents generation typically had 1 warm meal per day and that would be lunch. I also grew up like this. But personally, I'm a 2-warm-meals person, lunch and dinner.
Warm lunch is definitely thr norm here, but I also know families where they eat a warm dinner together rather than each on their own for lunch (so when everyone is home from work and school) and there have been kids back then) 20-30ish years ago) that always ate a warm dinner but not a warm lunch, usually because the dad was at work until late and the mom was at home, cooking for the one united family meal of the day: dinner
we used to eat abendbrot when my sister and i were still in school and were at home during lunch time to have a hot meal right after school. now that my sis and i are both working adults, we'll usually eat a hot meal in the evening instead
Sandwiches are good. With bread it much depends on the quality of the ingridients. Fresh good bread or self made with one of the expensive cheese comes directly from heaven.
2:55 A lot of us have a SodaStream or similar carbonation machine at home, where you can carbonate tap water. It saves on money, plastic and a lot of schlepping. Also in some places (the Alps for example) the tap water will taste better than 90% of bottled water, as stupid as it sounds. Many people prefer a specific amount of minerals in the water.
The door handle thing: I almost only know houses with out a handle on the front door.
When I used to live alone I always locked my door from the inside so I literally had the key in my very hands when I left again. Can only recommend that, I never forgot my key. (29, SW-Germany)
As a German who also likes Scotland, my Abendbrot get enrichted with a nice glass of Talisker. Not the new fancy crap, just the good old regular Talisker.
German doors are not only safer because they keep intruders outside your house.
You also don't have to lock your door when you are inside your house, so it's easier to leave/escape your home in case of a fire/emergency.
When I was young my family had bread even twice a day. In the morning there where also sweet spreads in addition to sausages and cheeses and on the weekends we had rolls instead of bread. Since I am grown up I have bread usually once a day. And I do not eat that much sausages anymore. Mostly different cheeses and vegetable spreads. And there is always a salad or different fresh vegetables as well.
The tap water is so good that it is often better in the maximum allowed contaminant levels than bottled water. Mind you, in most cases even the bottled water surpasses the insanely strict water control ordinances, but tap water is on another level of control. Yet the bottled water has exceeded these minimal allowed contaminant levels in some very rare cases resulting in immediate recalls of whole production runs, plus fines. While drinking that bottled water that won't be harmful for most adults in the short term, infants might, possibly, suffer diarrhea. The contamination levels are set so low that unless a company has no regard at all for food safety that it will almost be impossible to find any water in Germany that is actually harmful. Looking at you, Flint, Michigan, USA.
4:45 sign means Speed Limits are lifted, but it does Not means you can Drive as fast AS you want. That apply only on the Autobahn and ON some Bundesstraße. Usually IT means 50 within City Limits and 100 outside City Limits.
Never locked myself out; It hink, but I am also very paranoid about it, usually taking my keys even if I leave the door wide open.
But when I was looking for my current apartment, the estate agent managed to lock himself out and had to call a (expensive) service for opening the door, apparently the door had a very secure lock that needed to be replaced afterwards.
Festivals: The best ones are those which are small and regional. I habe been moving around Germany for over 20 yrs and stumbling upon these individual events in small and bigger towns is just great. But I could imagine that its the same with other countries.
5:10 Ludwigsburg! 😍
Abendbrot: In the old times, the men went to the factory and had a warm meal in the canteen there. Mum was at home and cooked hot lunch for them. So no need for a second hot meal at dinner.
Tap water. The regulations for tap water are more stict than the regulations for botteled water.
Doors/ Handles. Yes. we have them. And the quality is usually much higher than in e.g. the US. I've seen flimsy doors at houses there that wouldn't be used even at a door for a room inside of a flat here...