calman014

Washing your car at home is now actually illegal! You must do it at a car wash (which is closed on Sundays!)

Assanah

Which is not entirely true. It is not that rigid in Germany. You can wash your car at home if you can make sure that the water will not pollute the groundwater, meaning you need to be connected to the sewer system. But because this regulation is quiet flexible and if you do wrong the fines are high it is advisable to go to a car wash. That much to rigidity in Germany.

In my opinion being rigid makes things a lot easier, clearer, and fair than being "flexible". I remember a friend driving in Montana on the highway where there are no speed limits. He got pulled over and fined for speeding because the 'no limit' is actually limited. You are not allowed to speed in dangerous situations. In his case there simply were several other cars on the road....in German we would call this Willkür. Flexibility can give a lot of power to the authorities.

Better not wash your car at home in Germany, and don't speed in Montana

amideislas

Excuse me, but with all due respect, you offer an example of the undesirable effects of authoritarian "flexibility" in other countries ...

...coming from a country where the finanzamt routinely retrieves your private Kontoauszugen to "kontrol" whether your steuereklarung is precisely consistent with your einkommen, in hopes of collecting a few extra bits of tax, wherever possible. No doubt the Finanzamt has a little flexibility in how they interpret that data.

...a country where public television is about as interesting as a box of rocks, is directly manipulated by government, yet their executives make millions, and the TV licence fee is obligatory to every household, even if they don't have a TV. Where businesses are also obliged to pay it on the basis of the number of people they employ, even if there is no TV on premises, and more ironically, is effectively paying it twice, as their employees are also obliged to pay it separately. In addition, the bureaucracy behind it has facilitated the GEZ machine (as well as a number of imposters) to "mistakenly" bill people who aren't even eligible - such as children - or expats residing in other countries, which can take months or years to sort out, as the bills, penalties and Schufa listings mount.

Television license 330,000 Germans Sign Petition Against Compulsory TV Licence Fee Sixt to battle new German TV licence fee

...a country that collects kirchensteuer on behalf of the church, which nets roughly €8 billion per year from it, yet has absolutely no obligation to declare that income, how it's spent, nor pay one cent of tax on it. A church where senior officials have been consistently caught bagging millions for their personal stash, yet enjoy complete immunity from prosecution.
Financial Scandals: The Hidden Wealth of the Catholic Church - SPIEGEL ONLINE


In all fairness, I suppose one could argue that it's only unethical if it doesn't conform to accepted, legal process as defined by law.

For example, I reckon it would be considered "criminal" if say, my "church" online gambling racket didn't properly solicit the government to collect the money on my behalf. It can only be considered "acceptable" when the government is complicit and has a clearly defined process for it. Then it's OK.

Again, a rigid, uniquely German process-oriented mindset, precisely as your example illustrates.

Moses2013

It's the same sh.. but a different story. I'm German and can say that Germany has problems like any country and you will find positive things and negative things. Unfortunately a lot of the laws have never changed and you still can't mow your lawn on a Sunday etc. You will find people who will tolerate it and others might report you (especially the older generation). Church tax is another thing, but you have the option to leave the church and many are doing that now. I think people just have to do more research before they consider a move to Germany and shouldn't be fooled by reports that the economy is doing well. As Europeans, we're lucky to be able to move around without visas, but knowing the culture and language is very important.

Novocastrian

I lived in Germany from 1986-1993 and had the common sense to declare my religious affiliation as "keine": No church tax.

I take it the TV thingy has changed, but back then I had a TV but never bothered to declare it: No tax.

I enjoyed those years (in and around Mainz) but I think I did the right thing in leaving when I did.

dmu

Ditto for my two daughters when they arrived in Germany. The Kirchensteuer isn't a problem for expats if they've no wish to pay it.

amideislas

Unfortunately, for the uninitiated, nobody ever mentions anything about it at the time of your einmeldung. It's not an uncommon shock for newbie expats to receive a wholly unexpected €200 kirchensteuer demand in the mail. And there isn't a thing you can do about it, except pay it and then change your religious affiliation for the following year.

But I agree; nowhere is perfect. Here in Spain we don't have those headaches. We have another set of nonsensical drolleries.

But what we don't have is the rigidity, in fact, being a bit too rigid can very much work against you here - in a lot of ways. If you can't be "flexible", you'll never fit in here.

I think it must be something unique to living in Germany. Lots of Germans live here, and it doesn't take very long for them to become extremely relaxed and "un-wound". I reckon that may be one of the attractions.

dmu

Yes they do, it's mentioned on the form that you fill in at the Town Hall. I was with DD1 at the time and we puzzled over why it was asked. The clerk explained, and DD ticked "keine". DD2 was warned, and followed suit later.
Maybe the newbie expats you mentioned ticked Catholic, Protestant or whatever, without realising the consequences....

scorpio14

There are a lot of nice things to say about Germany. I was born there and I spent my entire childhood there as well. i do have to agree with amideislas with the neidishkeit complex because I have felt that since I was little when I started Kindergarten. It was hard during that time for foreigners to fit in. I am not sure how things are these days, but since the EU, Germany has become more multi-cultural.

Language barrier is one of the factor that can cause a lot of problems during your stay in Germany. It can be frustrating to both if you can hardly understand each other even if you are just at the supermarket to buy some eggs or milk. Some Germans even find it offensive if you try to communicate with them in your native language. For them it is insulting. But some would actually be considerate if they see you doing your best in speaking their language.

So my advice, is you prep yourself with the language first. Master the basics ... especially in conversations. Don't worry much about the grammar. If you feel confident conversing to a german native then you can probably survive in Germany.

scot47

Even with a good knowledge of German, you will always be an outsider, an "Auslaender". Employment will be problematic.

calman014

That really depends if you arrive with or without skills or qualifications.

amideislas

I believe that's changed a lot with the labour shortages Germany faces as a result of its aging workforce. Germany is actively importing skilled labour from abroad. Key word: skilled.

Still, my experience in earlier times reflected the favouritism of German employers for German workers, unless of course, they're willing to work for lower wages. Lots of Poles came to Germany and secured - usually low-paying - jobs.

In any case, certain ethnicities have never been on the A-list, regardless of their skill set. And I suspect that's probably still true to a certain extent.

Having said that, until the EU pressed Spain some years back, Spanish nationals were favoured as a matter of labour law. The official hiring pecking order when a firm registered a new employee was: 1: Spanish nationals. 2. EU nationals. 3: other. The employer had to provide written justification for hiring a non-Spanish national. But that was stopped well over 5 years ago.