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LIVING IN GERMANY

Living in Germany: Annoying your German neighbours and the death of the fax machine

In this week's roundup we write about getting on our German neighbours' nerves by accident, fax machines being phased out in the Bundestag, strikes and differences in life expectancy across Germany.

A Panasonic fax machine from the 1990s.
A Panasonic fax machine from the 1990s. Photo: Panasonic KX-F90.jpg: Pittigrilliderivative work: Georgfotoart - own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101309544

Living in Germany is our weekly look at some of the news and talking points in Germany that you might not have heard about. Members can receive it directly to their inbox on Saturday.

Getting on your German neighbours’ nerves 

We love living in Deutschland. Whether moving for work, love or just to have a life change, embracing German life has been a fulfilling experience. Many of us at The Local (and our readers) have put roots down in Germany, making German friends and perhaps even marrying a German. But one thing that is also true is: we as internationals will still annoy our German neighbours, even if we don’t mean to.

For example, perhaps you’ve arranged a gathering with friends and forgot to put up a note to say you’d be louder during Ruhezeit (quiet time) only to receive a telling off from your neighbour or a passive aggressive note on the stairwell the next morning. Speaking of Ruhezeit, perhaps you’ve cleaned a little too hard during the period when things should be peaceful. Maybe that involved vacuuming on a Sunday or putting the washing machine on too late. As Imogen Goodman wrote in her story on ways you might annoy your German neighbours, “German neighbourhood laws enforce certain ‘quiet periods’ in which your cleaning, music practice and DIY plans will unfortunately have to be put on hold. You can fall afoul of these if you take out the hoover between 12pm and 3pm on weekday afternoons, or in the evenings after 10pm.” 

These are understandable grievances and we have to adapt to the German way of life. But some just go a little too far. For instance, we’ve heard of neighbours in Germany complaining about balconies that have too many fairy lights turned on late at night, and even complaints about the smells of cooking. And two of our friends were repeatedly told off by their downstairs neighbours in Berlin for walking around in their apartment too much. Our advice? Try and forge a good relationship with your neighbours as soon as you move into your flat – consider getting them bread from a nice bakery as a gesture – so you’re less likely to get under their skin in future. 

Tweet of the week

Germany may be moving into the 21st century. That’s right, we found out this week that the German parliament is pledging to phase out fax machines by mid-next year! Miracles do happen. 

Where is this?

Bremen main station

Photo: DPA/Sina Schuldt

A warning strike by the GDL train drivers’ union took place this week, resulting in disruption for travellers. Here, a rail customer with a suitcase makes their way to Bremen main station early on Friday morning after the industrial action ended on Thursday night. The GDL has warned that more strikes could happen – including during the holiday season – if their demands for better pay and conditions are not met. 

Did you know?

New figures released this week show how long Germans are living. Figures from the Federal Institute for Population Research showed an average life expectancy of 82.9 years for women and 78.2 years for men. But did you know that there are strong regional differences? The state where people tend to live the longest is Baden-Württemburg. Women in the university city of Tübingen take the top spot, living up to 84.7 years, and the men up to 80.2, according to the figures. Meanwhile, the region of Germany with the lowest life expectancy for both men and women is the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, with men living to 75.4 years and women to 82.1.

Life expectancy in Germany is slightly above the EU average but is lower in comparison to countries like Switzerland and Spain. Out of the 16 countries in Western Europe, Germany ranks 15th for men and 14th among women.

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INSIDE GERMANY

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish ‘Mannschaft’

From what we can expect from voters at the European elections to what citizenship means to foreign residents and the Scottish take on the German word 'Mannschaft', here are a few things we're talking about this week.

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish 'Mannschaft'

Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

What can we expect as Germany goes to the polls for Europe?

On Sunday, EU citizens living in Germany will cast their vote to elect a new European parliament. 

A lot has changed since the last elections were held back in 2019 – the UK has since left the EU (meaning no Brits in Europe can vote unless they have an EU citizenship), we’ve experienced a worldwide pandemic and war has broken out in Europe. 

The big story of 2019 from Germany was the Green surge. 

Although the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) received the largest share of votes (28.7 percent), the Greens won more than 20 percent of the vote in Germany, increasing by about 10 percent from 2014.

Support for the conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) dropped considerably. 

So what can we expect from voters in Germany this time? 

According to recent polls, the conservatives are likely to secure a victory on the German side of things. The CDU and CSU will scoop up around 30 percent of the vote, according to surveys.

poster urging people to vote

A giant poster announcing the upcoming European elections, on the facade of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD, on the other hand, is only polling between 14 and 16 percent. 

The poll figures for the Greens have fluctuated. The INSA institute reported in April that the Greens could receive 11.5 percent of the vote. But recent polls show the party receiving between 13 and 15 percent – a significant drop from 2019. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has also lost support. While pollsters INSA predicted the party would take 22 percent of the vote back in February, recent polls put them on 14 to 17 percent.

Meanwhile, the Free Democrats (FDP), currently in government with the SPD and Greens, have been hovering between just three and five percent in polls since the beginning of the year.

Aside from these well-known parties, there are also a number of smaller ones.

If you’re eligible to vote, who will you be choosing? Good luck at the ballot box and make sure to check The Local’s coverage as the results come in. 

READ ALSO:

Germany in Focus podcast

After devastating floods in Germany that have claimed lives and cause huge destruction, we talk about how communities are coping and the areas most at risk of flooding on this week’s podcast. We also get into predictions for the European parliamentary elections and answer a reader question on how much you need to earn to qualify for German citizenship, 

With the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament coming up on June 14th, we share some interesting facts about the stadiums involved and talk about the importance of football culture in Germany with guest Kit Holden. 

What does German citizenship mean to foreign residents in Germany?

With the new citizenship law coming into force later this month, we asked The Local readers to share their feelings about citizenship and the process in a questionnaire. More than 100 people filled out our survey in just a few days and were delighted to hear about the different experiences. 

In the first of our articles, we looked at what securing a German passport means to residents. 

Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent intend to apply for citizenship, while 12 percent are still unsure. 

About six percent said they will not apply, and a few respondents had already naturalised. 

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

For many people, a huge benefit of citizenship is about gaining freedom of movement. 

“Free movement with the world’s strongest passport is the main goal here,” Khandakar Rahman from Bangladesh, told us. 

Others mentioned that they would feel more integrated – and have course receive full rights to voting. 

Kristian from Norway said the would “finally be an EU citizen, to be able to vote, and also to actually be German”.

READ MORE: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

The Scottish ‘Mannschaft’ set to take on Germany 

As Germany is about to take on Scotland in the opener for UEFA Euro 2024, ad executives for the Scottish soft drink Irn Bru have outdone themselves. 

They’ve launched an advert playing around with the nickname for Germany’s national football – ‘Die Mannschaft’ 

READ MORE: German word of the day – Mannschaft 

I was keen to know what Germans felt about this advert featuring a guy in a kilt talking about how Scotland’s ‘Mannschaft’ may even reach the semis. 

While many Germans thought it was funny, a few pointed out that the advert technically doesn’t use the word correctly. 

One thing for sure is that the Scottish love it. 

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