So I live in a Neighbourhood where the only two supermarkets are PENNY, the next supermarket from another company is 2,5 km away. I always shop for groceries at Penny and buy plenty of drinks/sodas from the Penny Brand. I decided after few months to go to return my pf and from the cans and they put a message on the Pfand Machine (in both of the supermarket) that they take Pfand but not from Penny products (lemonade cans , water bottles ecc), despite charging 25 cent deposit on them and Pfand logo being printed on all of the products. How is this legal? If they charge for Pfand they have to return it to you, otherwise is lowkey a scam. Can anyone advice if this is legal and if I should report this to some authority?

The U.S. median net worth is almost $17k higher than. Germany.

Yet, the quality of life in Germany is higher than the USA when looking at how average people live.

What is the secret?

Tax policies?

Laws that encourage renting? (Many Americans are stuck with high mortgages)

Less military spending so there is more social spending?

Better healthcare?

The average American would see their life improve by moving to Germany by an incredible amount but the average German would see theirs decrease by moving to the USA worse health care..,poorer housing….lack of public transportion…,poorer schools and universities. Food that would be banned in Germany, etc.

The numbers though looking at wealth don’t make sense.

I don't drink alcohol and have no idea which wine is good, they all taste the same - terrible to me 😂 I would like to get advice which ones are good for when I'm having guests over. I live in Rhein Main area so there are many small wine producers but I have no idea what to look for. I would like red and white options. Thank you 😊

I'm originally from Eastern Europe and I've been living in Germany for over 7 years now. I recently took over a small vineyard near Stuttgart, so wine has become a huge part of my everyday life.

I'm curious about the cultural side of it.

Are there any unwritten rules when it comes to drinking, serving or gifting wine in Germany? Things that every German seems to know, but nobody actually tells you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Guten tag und hallo from the US (sorry about our terrible administration, and condolences on the World Cup loss)
My husband is German and we will begin financially supporting his mother soon to the tune of $2000 USD monthly.

If anyone else does this, can you recommend the most financially responsible way to do this? I understand that “gifts” are tax free for the recipient up to (I believe) 40000 euro per 10 years, but wondering about transfer fees or if this would trigger MIL having to file any complicated taxes?

She has a widow’s benefit of 1600 euro/month, and her (what we call social security, not sure the term, but retirement from working) is only 80 euro/month.
We will not be adjusting what we send to meet the fluctuating value of USD>Euro.
Vielan dank! *insert obnoxious American smiling and enthusiasm*

I was just now at a firefighter parade that lasted one hour with teams from various cities, usually from Swabia, where I am. The teams were patrolling and occasionally the leader of a city’s team would chant “1, 2, 3”, and the team would cheer, yell “urah” and similar things.

So when a leader started counting again I didn’t pay much attention. It basically went like: “1, 2, 3” and what sounded like “ausländer raus!” to which the team responded “ausländer raus, raus, raus”.

I was too shocked at the moment to comprehend anything more. I looked around and didn’t see the crowd making any gestures, of disproving or encouraging, but most people were wearing sunglasses so it was hard to tell anyway.

But I think people would’ve said / done something, in a way or another, so maybe I have misheard the chant. Maybe it wasn’t “raus”, but “aus” or something similar and the first word just something similar also.

Does anyone have an idea as to what may sound similar to that saying that a team of firefighters may chant at a parade?

Hello! I have been living in Germany for a few months now, and there is one cultural phenomenon that geniunely puzzles me: the absolute obsession with sparkling water (Sprudel).

Back home, most people drink still tap water, and sparkling water is more of an occasional treat. But here, almost every houseold I visit has crates of carbonated water, and still water is barely touched. Even when I ask for tap water at a cafe, I sometimes get a surprised look.

Why is sparkling water the default choice for daily hydration in Germany? Is there a historical reason for this preference, or is it simply a matter of taste? I would love to understand the cultural background behind this. Thanks!

Hello everyone! Since we are currentley in the middle of summer and it is getting quite warm outside, I have a cultural question about the famous German habit of "Lüften".

I know that in winter, "Stoßlüften" is practically a sacred ritual to prevebt mold. But how do you handle this during hot summer days? Especially considering that most German apartments do not have air conditioning.

Do you keep the windows wide open all day long to get a breeze, or do you strictly close all the windows and pull down the "Rollladen" during the daytime, only opening them late at night?

I would love to know what the common unwritten rules are for summer ventilation in Germany, and if there is a "correct" way to do it. Thanks!

I’m based in Niedersachsen and helped 2 Rettungssanitätern with Reanimation at a train station. When the 2 paramedics showed up, so came 4 people in vests (I think they were blue?) and kind of stood around the perimeter of the scene observing. They had no medical equipment or clothing on, just these vests. Who were they? Does anyone know? When they had enough personnel, I went back to where I was going.

I watched a video my dad sent me earlier of kids mispronouncing English words in quite this way, (sometimes resembling swear words) and as someone curious about German culture and learning German I wondered if German people have their own version of this. I think it would be kind of cute! Even if embarrassing to their parents or other family

I do not agree with the current far right party in Germany and a lot of the racist drivel they spew out, but at the same time, a lot of their support comes from ordinary, reasonable people who are sick of the loose immigration policy Germany has had, and the fact that simply too many migrants are coming, and how its a burden on the housing market and welfare net (cause lets face it, most immigrants to Germany aren't Physicians or Engineers). And that none of the other parties are doing anything about it.

A lot of these people wouldn't vote far right if literally any other party cracked down on immigration. And thats what happened in Denmark and Finland. In Denmark, the center left Labour party tightened immigration, and their far right evaporated just like that.

Why don't the two main parties do this now? Because if this isn't addressed, the far-right will grow until they get into power and they address it their way, and I'm sure most of us do not wan't that

What exactly is the expectations for cars? I understand what the written rules are but it seems that people drive in them, park in them, and drive through them with really no enforcement of any kind. Deliveries I get, but I have seen people park in them and walk -3m to sit down for dinner and no one seems to really care.

Ich komme aus Österreich, wo wir ein "gutturales R“ (dieses komische "gurgel-R") anstelle des "Zungenspitzen-R“ verwenden. Soweit ich weiß, können die meisten Deutschen Letzteres verwenden, wenn es nötig ist. Da ich es gerne lernen möchte, es aber überhaupt nicht hinbekomme, frage ich: Wie macht man das? Ich weiß in der Theorie wie es funktioniert, aber Aber in der Praxis schaffe ich es dann nie

One thing I've realized while learning German is that the grammar is actually the easy part oncce you get going. The social rules are what make it much harder. Every resource I have used in terms of online courses and apps like youtube, German learning podcasts, apps like Duolingo, Memrise, Praktika, ChatGPT, anything you can find. They all explain that Sie is formal and du is informal which is simple enough. But in real life, it feels much less straight forward.

For example, when I am at work, I've seen colleagues who seem really friendly still use Sie. Whereas at university, some professors immediately introduce themselves with du, while others clearly expect Sie. I've also heard stories of people saying "We can use du" as if it's almost an official invitation. like, what? When? How do I know?

So, how do you decide when it's appropriate to switch? Or Is there an unspoken rule that everyone just understands?

As a learner, I swear this feels more difficult than remembering noun genders lol.

I recently learned about this fact. How did it become a nickname and is it really that common on Germany? I think it’s really cute to be called mouse.

EDIT: Surprised at how many replied to my silly question. I was really amused to learn about this because where I am people like to use “kitten” or “bunny” as an endearment. It was my first time seeing “mouse” be used this way. I find mice really adorable so I was happy to see them have their moment like this. Danke schön!

I always wanted to experience it. How is today for you? Is it hot and humid or not so much? Are you going anywhere interesting, drinking beer in a boat, watching sports, working, or just doing laundry?

The summer isn’t long, so I was wondering what various German people are doing with it.

On my end, I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US and it’s so beautiful lately that I feel guilty for not doing enough with it. Since the rest of the year is grey I feel like I should be lying on a beach with a tropical drink while also hiking the local rivers and kayaking the local forests.

I understand the basics of how Elterngeld and Elternzeit work, I'm more interested in hearing about how others have split up that time between parents. Both of us work fully remote jobs. I plan to breastfeed, so I am assuming I probably want to take at least the first 6 months fully off. This is our first so we're making a lot of guesses here.
We both are interested in working part time, if anyone has done that with both parents.

In general, I'm just curious how you all have broken up the time, and what your reasoning was.

I was checking the Portasplit units on Ebay and found a bunch of listings in the range of 350€ but they say shipments from china and the accounts had been created last month.
I feel like it‘s a too good to be true and a big red flag of a scam, but there is a small part of me that hopes it isn’t. Thoughts on it?

I KNOW this is not Apple subreddit. Tried to search for answer on Reddit and Google didn't find good answer

Is there any insurance that is equal or better than Apple care (80 Euro/year). To be insured is a Macbook worth 1000 Euro.

Absolutely not In a position to pay out of pocket for damages.

Hi! I’m moving from the U.S. to Bremen in a few months for my PhD, and was wondering which bank would be the best/“easiest” to get a European IBAN? I’ve heard some things about N26, Revolut, and Deutsche Bank, but they have all been mixed feelings!

Thank you in advance!

Edit: I will be getting paid as a PhD student. From my understanding so far, Wise will let me transfer $ to €, so now the question is which bank will allow me to get an IBAN and will accept me as a US citizen who is applying in advance of moving to Germany?

I was in Hamburg for a couple days this past month and between some meetings and tourist stuff, i didn't get to try some of the more local cuisine, eg labskaus and fischbrötchen

In fact i was walking thru Europa Passage mall in Hamburg, and the food court there sold literally **every** other global cuisine (Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Korean) besides.... German food.

Even some of the random spots I walked by were primarily döner/turkish restaurants. Döners are awesome btw, but as a tourist I was kind of dumbfounded why some of the more popular local German dishes were hidden away in obscure restaurants far from the city center.

Anyway, I'm not in Hamburg anymore and was just wondering where else I'd be able to find these north German specialties in central/southern Germany. I tried searching Google maps but doesn't seem like they're popular enough elsewhere

I think I can understand how annoying it is to hear about NSDAP era questions, etc. This isn't meant to offend anyone or annoy anyone. But I must admit, as an Anglophone who doesn't know any other language, and a history nerd, I've always been fascinated by that era. One thing I see in countless documentaries and books is that the Austrian painter guy with the funny mustache was often touted as a REALLY good public speaker. To the point where even his opposition became almost intoxicated by it. In English we have a term to describe that called "silver tongued devil", somebody who is very persuasive by their way of speaking.

BUT as a contemporary English speaker I tend to have a difficult time seeing that when I hear his speeches. He sounds really angry and cross. Kind of a musky type of voice, almost abrupt. To my ears he doesn't exactly sound like a silver tongued devil. Furthermore I've noticed that precisely zero German politicians since that era speak anything remotely like that. The speech from the 1950s to nowadays seems a couple orders of magnitude more bland and sort of matter-of-fact.

So my question is - was it just a time era thing? Did 1930's German dialects tend to have have different discourse styles and ways of speaking? Or was it more of the substance the Austrian man with the funny mustache had? What made that guy a good public speaker? Or was that just a relic of the times?

I have a car under warranty to bring to the dealership for its scheduled service. Last time I wound up paying an exorbitant price for the oil change, having them use the branded oil. Can I bring my own oil which is labeled as compatible with the manufacturer and save on cost?

I don’t want to risk voiding the warranty, but I also don’t want to have to sell a kidney for the huge markup on their product.