As a German i always felts we have quite a lot of rules and regulations, but since my job requires me to travel abroad, i came to actually rather appreciating these rules. It's nice to be reasonably certain that a household appliance is not likely to kill you, a roof is not likely to come down and the food is not likely to kill you :D
It's not as if other countries don't have regulations concerning food safety and grounding of electric appliances. The "love of rules" alleged about Germany and Germans is on a different level.
Those "rules" you mentioned are nothing but standards, which are common elsewhere, not just Germany lol. The types of rules Germans are usually associated with often have to do with the way you can do things in your day-to-day life: no noise between such-and-such hours, no loitering here on such times of the day, 50,000 forms to get anything done in your life, permits for breathing, existing, riding a bike, 100 forms of insurance etc. Lastly the way in which Germans enforce there rules is overzealous or exaggerate (never try crossing a street with the red man showing even if there are no cars).
@@RM-el3gw What happens if someone does brake this "standart" ? Like is realy noisy in the night? Without this rule u have to go over to you neighbor yourself and hope that he stops it. It may work most of the time but sometimes it does not, and now what ? You accept that you not gona have sleep this night ? Or you start a fight with you neighbor ? These rules are there so that you have someone to call (like the police) that can step in and prevent any future ascalation bevor it even happens.
@@RM-el3gw The ones about the permit for riding a bike and crossing the street on a red light are plain out wrong. Jaywalking is not illegal in Germany, as it is in the US. The rest of your list is horribly exaggerated at least.
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@@RM-el3gw No loitering exist everywhere, and I think I came across more "no loitering" sings in UK than in Germany. Insurance forms... again, they're everywhere. Have you tried filling insurance forms in France or Italy? Stuff of nightmares.
23PowerL nö... Digitales Bild- und Tonmaterial zur Verwendung als Rekreations- Aufklärung- oder Lehrmaterial, veröffentlicht im Weltweiten Informationsnetzwerk.
There's a very formal reason, why Germany has so many rules encoded in law: Our legal system is based upon two simple principles: You, as a citizen, are allowed to do anything you want, unless there is a law, that prohibits it. On the other hand, the state is not allowed to do anything at all, unless there is a law, that explicitly allows it. It's part of the checks and balances, and the main reason why there are so many laws in Germany. A huge number of them actually are in place to allow the authorities to act.
additionally many regulations don't come from 'the government' in germany, but are the legacy from old traditional regulations (adjusted to modern times) that came from 'non-governmental interest groups'. e.g. there are lots of regulations regarding professions and products, that are more or less the legacy of the old merchant and craftsmen guilds. so the (us-american) idea of 'the government vs. the people' isn't really the case, but it's more about 'interest group A vs. interest group B' and the government finding a compromise between those interest groups.
Also to ad. We don't have case law in Germany. In the US and the UK, courts "create" law. This is the reason why US lawyers always look for precedent cases. If a law isn't specific enough, then the government has to specify the law. It doesn't matter how other courts have ruled in the past. Therefore the rules in Germany have to be more specific and detailed.
Well generaly yes but if for example the Federal Court of Justice decides some case the lower corts will usualy folow the decision But as you said it is not law and a court could ignore the ruling
+TheAnonymmynona No expert there, but I think the reason for that is, that the higher court is above the lower court and therefore can overrule decisions of the lower court. So a lower court knows, that their decision could be overturned in a higher court and therefore try to consider in their ruling, what a higher court might rule. But as you rightfully said a ruling doesn't become part of the law. It is just a conclusion, which prevents extra work.
It's quite easy: 1. We love to complain. 2. We love order. So we made up lots of rules called "Laws" to keep up the order - so we can complain about them everyday.....
Andrew, have you considered changing the setting of your videos? Instead of appearing before your desk and PC, you could reside in a big comfy armchair, wear a smoking jacket, a glass of wine in one hand and petting the cat with the other. As topic I would suggest Weltherrschaft.
guess because the citizens of such "freedom-loving" countries dont drink responsibly at all. So if you cant let kids play with a certain toy, you need to take it away from them. Usually you wont see drunk germans yelling at night and destroying everything they want to... but I know countries where this is the case with their citizens.
In fact, there are no laws against drinking in public, but there are rules against being (or acting) drunk in public, these are however not federal, so the cities and counties and whatever can determine them by themselves. And if you're intoxicated enough and walk outside, cross a road without looking or endanger traffic in some other way, you can even lose your license although you never even thought about moving any vehicle in that state you're in.
not laws, no. But many towns and cities actually have local decrees on that matter. It wasn't a problem for many a year, however with the rise of binge-drinking youths going about harrassing people, local politicians decided to restrict public drinking to a certain degree. Which means: if someone above the age of 30 sits on a bench in the park having a beer after work and not bothering anyone, no problem. But if a group of 18 year olds (so legally allowed to drink alcohol) sitting on said bench, drinking bucketloads of vodka, being noisy and generally bothering people in some form, the local bureau of public order (in lack of a better translation for "Ordnungsamt") will ask them to stop and go home to sober up, maybe fining them a small sum and if said teenagers don't follow that heed, the police will come and they'll be obliged to do their bidding. As I said, having these decrees is a local decision and a more recent addition to "dem rules, yo" edit: note to self, refresh page before posting a comment xD
You should visit any "Kirmes" or "Schützenfest" or "Karnevalsumzug" or "any other thing Germans do in a Group greater than 4 people" and see for your self how "responsibly" Germans drink. :P
MyBroSux24 TH-cam is not even a german company. So the german law wouldn't fit. That reminds me of the old wanting of the CSU, a political party in Bavaria, to stop the productions of "Killerspiele", even though most of the games, which were to think of, were produced in the USA.
+Half Eye TH-cam isn't a German company, but it operates in Germany. Same goes for Facebook. There is a case in Germany right now about a selfy of a refugee which is shared on Facebook to label him a terrorist. That is clearly libel/slender, which is illegal in Germany but also in the US. Still he is suing in Germany, as Facebook is operating in Germany. An other case from a few years back, Bettina Wulf (the German "First Lady") sued google, cause googles auto fill suggested, that she was a prostitute. Again she sued in Germany, even though google isn't a German company. (Also I guess I'm the stereotype of a German, reading a joke and going full smartass mode)
Wunderbar zusammengefasst, das ist genau der Schluss, zu dem ich auch immer wieder komme - und dabei scheint das auf den ersten Blick so widersprüchlich: einerseits auf Regeln achten und pochen, andererseits vollkommen zufrieden damit sein, sie zu ignorieren, wenn man es für angemessen hält. Aber ich schätze auch immer wieder das Maß an Vernunft, das in dieser Hinsicht meistens da zu sein scheint :) In Amerika schien mir das bei Besuchen in der Tat auch immer etwas verkrampfter und vollkommen vorbei am Sinn der Regel.
Das hast du schön geschrieben, und so würde ich es auch sehen. Aber ich glaube es gibt genauso auch das Gegenteil, dass in den USA Regeln locker ignoriert werden und in Deutschland auf unsinnige Regeln wortwörtlich gepocht wird.
In english, especially US, people often use the term "it's the law", that sounds much more strict and serious. We never talk about "the law" in German, just about rules, not distinguishing rules by law, rules of moral, ethic or courtesy.
Funnily enough you are actually even allowed to take a walk at 2 am completely naked, because as long as nobody feels harrassed being naked in public is absolutely legal in Germany.
Hypatia N sure. Your wasting precious resources otherwise. As i remember someone actually got charged because he took more then one round around a roundabout.
You can also drive naked in your car on bright day because car (inside) is part of your "home" and nobody is allowed to judge your behaviour at home. But when you leave the car you have to be dressed ;o)
moewi75 that is, unfortunately true only for men. If a woman drove naked, she could endanger the traffic, because she distracts other drivers... And if you parked near a school naked I'd call the police. I think you would know why...
I went to New Zealand a while ago. I watched a debate on TV about some rule, where basically people in Auckland (by far their biggest city) were in favour, and the rest of the country didn't care. It made me understand that rules and population density are directly correlated.
Forgive me when I don't leave a comment. I am too lazy today to fill out the "Bescheinigung zur Erlaubniserteilung zur Durchführung elektronischer Meinungsäußerung in sozialen Netzwerken nach 16 Uhr". I am already busy. Filling out a form for preparing dinner with a knife, slash, dangerous object.
About jaywalking (in the sense of crossing on red lights) I decided to have my own rules: go if safe AND no children in reach, wait if unsafe OR children watching. As a reasonable adult i may be able to decide about the traffic situation, for children it's dangerous.
I've followed the same rule - but had to reconsider: those pesky bastards are everywhere and see everything. Thus, no more jaywalking for me. Being a father is cool, leading by exampke is when it gets more difficult.
That's exactly the same how I always do it. I live in a bigger city and there are many red lights, but only once in my 40 year life an old person did shook their head on me. Even police officers wouldn't say anything if done in a safe way, but I wouldn't recommend that.
Erm. No. Jaywalking is the act of crossing the street apart from traffic lights or crossing. Jaywalking is not a thing in Germany, since you are allowed to cross the street everywhere (as long as its not directly next to a traffic light of course, then you are expected to use it).
Oh. Every incident i read about jaywalking in the US refered to "crossing the street just somewhere". I had never heard about in the context of "crossing a red light". Since your definition is correct however, crossing at a red light should definetly been included, so i guess you are right.
red light crossing is not accepted by police if they see it. It give kids, who could see it, a bad example. Exception will be something like 5 a.m. and no car in sight.
This stereotype of Germany being obsessed in rules seems to be, based on by my observation, the simple fact that German laws tend to be written with a higher degree of specificity than in the US. In the US you have general laws against disturbing peace or endangering others when in Germany they'd go ahead and mention specifics like walking onto a bike lane or making noise after 10 PM. If anything, I'd actually say that in the states they give cops too much discretion. Otherwise, it's refreshing that alcohol isn't basically treated like porn like it is in the US (you keep that shit hidden away, you don't drink outside, and can often only buy it in specifically licensed and often sketchy stores in many states and counties) and cars actually drive at reasonably fast speeds on all roads (not just the Autobahns) rather than being forced to go at what now feels like a snails pace to me every time I go back to the states after being in Germany.
Obviously, many rules have very positive benefits, and there are some in Germany I like very much (passing in the fast lane only, the "zipper rule" for merging traffic, designated bicycle lanes, etc.). And it's also true that a person in a new culture will be more conscious of the rules he is not accustomed to. What the video fails to mention is the unusual number of times that complete strangers in Germany will take it upon themselves to enforce the rules. Sure, there are many more who don't really care (and there are "enforcer" types in every culture), but it does seem to many expats that there are a higher number of people who are more than happy to let you know when you are not following the rules strictly (I'm not afraid to do it, either, if it effects me personally, as when I confront people for letting their dogs poop on my doorstep). Fortunately, Berlin seems to be pretty laid-back in comparison to most other places.
You're probably right. Admittedly though (in most cases), I can relate to people admonishing others. Some rules (like passing left, or -- for US citizens specifically -- no right turn on red) are quite safety-relevant. Others (no loud noises after 10pm/holidays) are culturally contextual. You can't really expect most people to follow them when they haven't got a clue. I will say though that you can helpfully point these things out or be a jackass about it. Der Ton macht die Musik.
A lot of the rules that are on the books in Germany are not intended to be _strictly enforced_ by the police, but to _decide disputes,_ if and when they arise. That's the reason for the German proverb "Wo kein Kläger ist, ist auch kein Richter" (and other phrasings), which translates to "Where there's no plaintiff, there's no judge," and means "The state will not bother to enforce this, unless someone brings a legitimate complaint." In other words, you can often get away with breaking a lot of the petty-sounding rules, as long as it's obvious you're not actually affecting anyone negatively with it.
When I visit the UK, I feel like there are more rules there. When you enter a small park in London, this park will probably have a fence around it, so you can only enter it at designated entrances equipped with signs with totally logical park rules (clean after your dog, playgrounds reserved for children). During nighttime the entrances are closed, so nobody sues the city because they stumbled over something they could not see due to the lack of lighting. Here in Munich, the biggest park is completely unfenced. If you cycle or walk through it during darkness, you need to bring your lighting with you. Ah, cycle lighting: In London, people use blinking lights, not really good for seeing in darkness. But these lights are approved as replacement for standard cycle lighting. Sometimes, British Rules make just no sense. Here in Germany, battery-operated cycle lights were not allowed for a long time since batteries could run out or people might not switch them on in order to save battery power. That's an example for laws that might seem too strict, but usually there is an idea behind them. Some other strange UK laws I encountered: I can't really open my window in the third floor of a hotel, for safety reasons. If the firefighters approach that window, they first need to destroy it in order to rescue people in the room. At some Welsh train stations, elevators are shut down when no railway staff is present. Better definetly get stuck on the plattform than risking the very unlikely event of getting stuck in the elevator.
skblablablabla I believe the British call it the nanny state. The tendency of British officials and government to try and control things they have no business controling for the sake of caring for the citizens, whether they like it or not.
In my opinion, when in Germany someone reminds you of sticking to the rules, in many cases it's just to demonstrate that they themselves know them. It is our ever insatiable appetite to make people recognize that we are knowledgeable/have leant something.
My friend often goes to Germany and stays with an old couple who used to know his parents. One day he said that it was so nice he'd like to go fishing and the old bloke said he would need a licence. My mate said that was the case in the UK, but you could just get a day licence. He was told in Germany you need to go on a course in order to get the licence. He ended by saying 'It was strange, but after six months we still never got hold of a rod'.
The rule against noise in weekends was quite sensible, cutting a tree in your garden without permission came as a surprise.. Makes sense afterall as birds & some neighbours might like the dam tree even more.. ;)
Communes decide, what colour their bins have. Where I used to until least year, we had green bins for paper. At my new place we have blue ones, which absolutely makes no sense!
Everybody knows green is for bio/compost. Green for paper? That sounds like anarchy to me! XD I've seen yellow and brown for paper aswell. Where I live they are black with a blue lit.
it becomes even more confusing when the 'yellow bin' actually is black with a yellow cover and the 'blue bin' (which is of course the only 'true paper bin') is yellow with a blue cover. :P
Is it possible that your green paper bins had a white sticker with blue writing? That's how it done here when they run out of completely blue ones or black ones with a blue lid. To top it all I ones saw a green bin with a note stuck to it saying "this bin is blue" instead of the more useful "paper in here".
No, it's actually like i said in my first comment. There aren't any standards for the colour of bins, so each commune can decide for itself what colour is used for what type of waste. But the sticker on your bin is indeed funny :D By the way, the reason black bins only combined with a colourful lid are often used is because it's cheaper to order only black bins and change the lid than order completely coloured ones.
Ihr Antrag auf Erlaubnis für die Veröffentlichung eines Online-Videos wurde abgelehnt. Der Antrag auf Erlaubnis für die Veröffentlichung eines Online-Videos kann nur in Verbindung mit Passierschein A38 eingereicht werden. Bitte wenden Sie sich an Schalter 1.
Why would you pull up in a British heavy assault tank Tortoise A39? Anyhow, I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to wait in line just like anybody else and have permit A38 ready on window 2 please.
Wait I always thought that the "Deutsches Ministerium für Spaß und Spaßänliche Betätigungen in der Freizeit, Urlaub oder an Feiertagen" would give out the application "Antrag auf Erlaubnis für die Veröfftlichung eines Onlinevideos (FU110-1312)". No wonder I've been waiting for it for 11 years!
While German cyclists are probably among the most rule-hating people in the world, they are very German in another respect: They have their own Verein... The ADFC... True the ADAC is still more powerful, but the ADFC is often asked their opinion in municipal politics (and then often ignored, except in Münster or Erlangen)
The willingness to obey unpleasant rules is part of the culture, cause you rather accept a rule, if everybody else is excepting them too, and you profit from others obeying a rule. That must be based on a common understanding, which unfortunately is eroding.
The super of my apartment building got quite upset when I took it upon myself to replace the black plastic name label on my mailbox with a blue one. It is my mailbox, isn't it?
You RENT the appartment and the mailbox, but it's owned by your landlord. But since you don't usually rent your bedsheets you can decide on your own how they look - because you own them and take them with you when you leave.
But I have a property interest in the mailbox by virtue of my leasehold. As long as I don't damage it, it's none of my landlord's business what I do with it.
lol cats! Yeah well that's very kind of you. I think they are rule followers.They always ask themselves how it's done "properly" or "the right way" and then they'll do it. They wouldn't just go out and do it. They read the manual first. Or the contract or whatever. ... Unlike the English. I learned that from them. And I feel very indebted. Works well creatively. Does give me a bit of a headache when I buy a new technical item, though.
Rules make people equal. If you know every body else is having some inconvenience by rules, you are more likely to accept it yourself. Germans like to be equal. That's their definition of fairness. It's not as much sportsmanship, as in Britain.
Does anyone remember Reinhard Mey? "Antrag auf Erteilung eines Antragsformulars, Zur Bestätigung der Nichtigkeit des Durchschriftexemplars, Dessen Gültigkeitsvermerk von der Bezugsbehörde stammt Zum Behuf der Vorlage beim zuständ‘gen Erteilungsamt." th-cam.com/video/MJbn5BtAEoc/w-d-xo.html
Ich räusperte mich noch einmal, doch dann schrie ich plötzlich schrill, Warf mich trommelnd auf den Boden, und ich röchelte: „Ich will Meinen Antrag auf Erteilung eines Antragsformulars, Zur Bestätigung der Nichtigkeit des Durchschriftexemplars, Dessen Gültigkeit, ach, wissen Sie, Sie rost‘ge Gabel Sie, nageln Sie sich Ihr Scheißformular gefälligst selbst vor‘s Knie.“
It is not really about rules or laws but the overriding goal of Germans seems to be certainty. My best example is when planning a trip by car there is always a huge discussion beforehand on which route to take. Atlases and road maps are brought out and people can argue about every km of the trip. This can actually be fun and enjoyable but then the trip is set. Once underway to ask to take a short excursion, or if there is a detour due to construction, causes a great deal of stress in the psyche of most Germans. Plans that were made should carried out.
Ich dachte immer, dass Deutschland voller Regeln, Bürokratie und Papierkram wäre. Doch grade bin ich für ein Semester in Japan und ich habe das Gefühl, dass Japaner die ganze Sache noch auf die Spitze treiben... I always thought that Germany was full of rules, bureaucracy and paperwork. However I'm currently staying in Japan for one semester and I get the feeling that the Japanese love these things even more...
As soon as it's put in a law, it's no longer common sense. This is why immigration is sometimes problematic, intuitive laws don't work on a different common sense.
The first time I went to Germany, I was returning to my hotel in Cologne, very early in the morning (before 6am) on a Sunday. There wasn't a car (or another person) in sight. I crossed the road against a red light. A policeman jumped out of nowhere and issued me with a fine, which I had to pay immediately. I actually found it amusing how angry he was at me. The whole situation was just so ridiculous.
As I live in Germany for 40 years and cross streets nearly every day against red lights also in rush hour when there are no cars approaching and never get anybody saying anything about it, this shows the likelihood.
It's not so much that we Germans love rules, but that we hate the absence of rules. We're perfectly fine with not having rules, or ignoring existing rules, as long as nothing bad happens. But if something bad happens, the public opinion will be all like "why is there no law to prevent that sort of thing?" and politicians will give in and make new rules. The funny thing is that it's often the same people who complain that Germany is so over-regulated who will think that making new rules is the solution to everything. I think it also has to do with civil law. If, in a common law country like the UK or the USA, you have noisy neighbours, you can sue them. But in a civil law country, there's nothing you can do about it unless there is a law explicitly forbidding your neighbours to be noisy.
Bundesamt für Internetangelegenheiten just wrote that they will no longer accept your filled in forms. Don't handwrite it, especially if you have such illegible handwriting. In addition, the application must be submitted in duplicate together with a copy of the certificate of entitlement to life and the father's birth certificate.
I feel very strongly that if houses were built decently - and no, you don't get that, not even in Germany - you wouldn't have to pay so much attention to noises. It's quite good to know your roof won't be falling on your head anytime soon, but having walls thick enough to prevent your neighbour's snoring from waking you up would also be very nice. That said, I'm told Switzerland is worse. Not only in the rules department, but also in how badly houses are built.
The most important rule in Berlin is to always do the opposite of what the rules say... that and you always have to occupy at least three seats on the subway or s-bahn. It would just be rude not to.
I was surprised to hear that the chinese word for germany is "land of virtue". It took me a while, but it could be right that we love to do things right. Rules are in every country, but germany runs so smoothly because we tend to follow the rules.
I live in the USA and let me just say that the cops are a bit rough. every time I visited my girl friend in the next town over, the cops would stop me and search me.
That would not happen in Germany - they only stop here cars for speeding tickets or alcohol tests at a sunday morning, or other for visible misbehaviour in traffic. They are extremely friendly and ask for the driver license and car registration paper. But if you tell them that the paper are in the glove box and and you open them the 9mm will appear at first. And it will turn out that you have shoot your wife which is in the trunk - their mode will sink.
I think it´s maybe a rather historic misconception especially regarding bureaucracy many american countries are worse than Germany - boundless bureaucracy combined with massive corruption - from what I hear there is even more bureaucracy in the US compared to Germany. But they started that here like 150 years ago when it was still wild west in the US so back then Germany was regulated quite well.
Hi Rewboss, I've heard that there is a special kind of civil disobedience or industrial strike in Germany that consists of following the laws and rules to the last letter. This creates a massively obstructed, albeit legal, workflow as laws are often unnecessarily convoluted and, ultimately, self-contradicting. Could you comment on the validity of this rumor?
kisfekete That is actually a thing, although I mostly heard of it in terms of offices. "Dienst nach Vorschrift", service by the rules, is an obstruction tactic used to trip superiors, mostly. But it is mostly about being obnoxious and slow about following orders by finding reasons for non-compliance, distractions and ways to bury you in paperwork.
@@MrHodoAstartes "Dienst nach Vorschrift" in my opinion means, you are not happy with a new rule in your job or with your job in general, so you do only the things that are absolutely mandatory and nothing beyond that.
I think you mean "Abmahnungen"? Yes those are a thing, but I thought also in other countries. People filing lawsuits against strangers just to make profit about it. They use laws that mostly make sense in other situations, but not so much here. Especially laymen fall for it and often pay "fines" in advance just by threatened by the lawsuit.
Mate, this situation is not much different than Australia. The thing I’ve noticed in Germany is that the locals think they are pragmatic and efficient but all they are is bureaucratic. Take building the new Berlin Brandenberg airport as an example…..way over budget and way over timeline to build. Tschuess aus Australien.
WTF US? You can't walk around at 2am? I mean... It's not like I can't around here bc it gets kinda dangerous but when I used to pull all-nighters with friends, going for a healthy rolê at the city center, where it's safer at like 2-3am was quite awesome, even with a not from the guards :D
The land of "immer Alles genau nach Vorschrift"! I've had Germans tell me that Canada (where I live) is worse, calling us the Land of By The Book. I think with Germans it's not so much a love of rules, but where there are rules they pride themselves on their ability to keep them, whereas here in Canada it's more a matter of not daring to break protocol.
I hadn’t been living in Germany very long when I had a road accident. I was reversing out of a driveway in blinding snow, actually quite slowly, when I hit a cyclist. The cyclist demanded that I call the police, feeling himself in the right. When the police arrived I explained that neither of us could see very well due to the snow storm, and so it was just bad luck and nobody’s fault. Not so, said the policeman. In Germany, when there is an accident, it is ALWAYS somebody’s fault. Often both parties are breaking the law. There is no such thing as bad luck under German law! Since then I have known that there is no room for luck in German law, every possibility is accounted for.
If they don't they sure as hell like writing things down.
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In my experience, Germans love rules that make sense, and they trust the system so if a rule doesn't make sense they aim to change it rather than ignoring it or trashing the whole thing. That's something I can stand by. About jaywalking... it's not illegal in Germany. Crossing with red light will only get you in trouble if you put yourself or others in danger (like crossing when all the cars are coming). And about noise... dude, some people have no respect for others, I'm glad those rules exist. They may have a right to party, but I have a right to sleep peacefully thank you.
Regarding jaywalking: Court decisions in the last years effectifely mean jaywalking is tolerated in Germany as long as the next crossing is more than 30m away and you are not disrupting traffic.
At 30m distance it is no longer jaywalking - it is crossing the street. (Actually, I learned 50m - but that was 20 years ago in driver school.) You don't have to consider traffic lights or pedestrian stripes if none of those are reasonably close. No need for tolerance here - no law broken. Jaywalking is what everybody does when they are two minutes from too late to work (or school): cross the street at the official crossing (or right next to it) despite of a red light that's shining in your face. It is tolerated as long as you don't endanger anyone, there are no small children who could learn the wrong lesson and the police man a few meters away has something better to do than yell at you (like take notes about an accident). Some "old folk" might give you a "stern warning", but that's just venting their frustration that pensions are not being raised again this year, their grand son is talking about this disgusting Rammstein thing again (just when his dad stopped doing it) and the grand niece has pink hair now (just like they always dreamed to for themselves, but couldn't admit)... Ohh, I miss jaywalking and getting stern looks from uptight folk! I need to get out of the home office more often... ;-)
At least you are free to drink whatever you want in Germany the moment you turn 18 where in the United States you are forced, yes forced to wait until you are 21 to drink even light beer.
The jaywalking in berlin is kinda out of control. It seems like the citizens view the red light more like a suggestion than a law and you will get funny looks if you're the only one that actually don't jaywalk.
One thing: Racial profiling *does* happen in germany. The UN just recently published a report that racial profiling is a concern in germany, so if you are black and are running around the block at night, police will likely stop you. Not everything is great here...
Actually, it's not likely to be stopped then, just more likely than if you are Caucasian (maybe a 10% chance instead of 5%). And probably being of African decendance might be less of a problem than looking Turkish orNorth African.
Rewboss, könntest Du diesen Fake-Antrag mal tatsächlich an ein paar Behörden schicken? Amt für öffentliche Ordnung, Bundesnetzagentur, Bayerisches Innenministerium, GEMA, Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands und so weiter. Die Antworten gäben ein prima Video!
Actually there was a statistic about jaywalking in Berlin...so if you keep standing at a red light every time, you maybe lose up to 6 month of your lifetime. So you often see people jaywalk but I think at least 90% of all persons wouldn't do it, if a child in present.
Exactly. The first thing you do at a red light is looking whether there's traffic, the second thing is looking whether there are children around. No children + no cars = just cross the street :)
As a German i always felts we have quite a lot of rules and regulations, but since my job requires me to travel abroad, i came to actually rather appreciating these rules. It's nice to be reasonably certain that a household appliance is not likely to kill you, a roof is not likely to come down and the food is not likely to kill you :D
It's not as if other countries don't have regulations concerning food safety and grounding of electric appliances. The "love of rules" alleged about Germany and Germans is on a different level.
Those "rules" you mentioned are nothing but standards, which are common elsewhere, not just Germany lol. The types of rules Germans are usually associated with often have to do with the way you can do things in your day-to-day life: no noise between such-and-such hours, no loitering here on such times of the day, 50,000 forms to get anything done in your life, permits for breathing, existing, riding a bike, 100 forms of insurance etc. Lastly the way in which Germans enforce there rules is overzealous or exaggerate (never try crossing a street with the red man showing even if there are no cars).
@@RM-el3gw What happens if someone does brake this "standart" ? Like is realy noisy in the night? Without this rule u have to go over to you neighbor yourself and hope that he stops it. It may work most of the time but sometimes it does not, and now what ? You accept that you not gona have sleep this night ? Or you start a fight with you neighbor ?
These rules are there so that you have someone to call (like the police) that can step in and prevent any future ascalation bevor it even happens.
@@RM-el3gw The ones about the permit for riding a bike and crossing the street on a red light are plain out wrong. Jaywalking is not illegal in Germany, as it is in the US. The rest of your list is horribly exaggerated at least.
@@RM-el3gw No loitering exist everywhere, and I think I came across more "no loitering" sings in UK than in Germany. Insurance forms... again, they're everywhere. Have you tried filling insurance forms in France or Italy? Stuff of nightmares.
Online-Video? Du meinst wohl elektronisches Bild- und Tonmaterial.
23PowerL nö...
Digitales Bild- und Tonmaterial zur Verwendung als Rekreations- Aufklärung- oder Lehrmaterial, veröffentlicht im Weltweiten Informationsnetzwerk.
Im weltweiten Neuland
There's a very formal reason, why Germany has so many rules encoded in law: Our legal system is based upon two simple principles: You, as a citizen, are allowed to do anything you want, unless there is a law, that prohibits it. On the other hand, the state is not allowed to do anything at all, unless there is a law, that explicitly allows it. It's part of the checks and balances, and the main reason why there are so many laws in Germany. A huge number of them actually are in place to allow the authorities to act.
You forgot a third principle: No law no rights and therefore no way to arrogate your rights.
additionally many regulations don't come from 'the government' in germany, but are the legacy from old traditional regulations (adjusted to modern times) that came from 'non-governmental interest groups'. e.g. there are lots of regulations regarding professions and products, that are more or less the legacy of the old merchant and craftsmen guilds.
so the (us-american) idea of 'the government vs. the people' isn't really the case, but it's more about 'interest group A vs. interest group B' and the government finding a compromise between those interest groups.
Also to ad. We don't have case law in Germany.
In the US and the UK, courts "create" law. This is the reason why US lawyers always look for precedent cases.
If a law isn't specific enough, then the government has to specify the law. It doesn't matter how other courts have ruled in the past.
Therefore the rules in Germany have to be more specific and detailed.
Well generaly yes but if for example the Federal Court of Justice decides some case the lower corts will usualy folow the decision
But as you said it is not law and a court could ignore the ruling
+TheAnonymmynona
No expert there, but I think the reason for that is, that the higher court is above the lower court and therefore can overrule decisions of the lower court.
So a lower court knows, that their decision could be overturned in a higher court and therefore try to consider in their ruling, what a higher court might rule.
But as you rightfully said a ruling doesn't become part of the law. It is just a conclusion, which prevents extra work.
It's quite easy:
1. We love to complain.
2. We love order.
So we made up lots of rules called "Laws" to keep up the order - so we can complain about them everyday.....
And we love to conquer the comment section of youtube content with the word 'German' or 'Germany' in it.
@@proteus03 Doesn't every entho-linguistic group?
Andrew, have you considered changing the setting of your videos? Instead of appearing before your desk and PC, you could reside in a big comfy armchair, wear a smoking jacket, a glass of wine in one hand and petting the cat with the other.
As topic I would suggest Weltherrschaft.
At least there are no laws against drinking in public (I still don't understand why some "freedom-loving" countries have such laws)
guess because the citizens of such "freedom-loving" countries dont drink responsibly at all. So if you cant let kids play with a certain toy, you need to take it away from them. Usually you wont see drunk germans yelling at night and destroying everything they want to... but I know countries where this is the case with their citizens.
In fact, there are no laws against drinking in public, but there are rules against being (or acting) drunk in public, these are however not federal, so the cities and counties and whatever can determine them by themselves.
And if you're intoxicated enough and walk outside, cross a road without looking or endanger traffic in some other way, you can even lose your license although you never even thought about moving any vehicle in that state you're in.
not laws, no. But many towns and cities actually have local decrees on that matter. It wasn't a problem for many a year, however with the rise of binge-drinking youths going about harrassing people, local politicians decided to restrict public drinking to a certain degree.
Which means: if someone above the age of 30 sits on a bench in the park having a beer after work and not bothering anyone, no problem. But if a group of 18 year olds (so legally allowed to drink alcohol) sitting on said bench, drinking bucketloads of vodka, being noisy and generally bothering people in some form, the local bureau of public order (in lack of a better translation for "Ordnungsamt") will ask them to stop and go home to sober up, maybe fining them a small sum and if said teenagers don't follow that heed, the police will come and they'll be obliged to do their bidding.
As I said, having these decrees is a local decision and a more recent addition to "dem rules, yo"
edit: note to self, refresh page before posting a comment xD
You should visit any "Kirmes" or "Schützenfest" or "Karnevalsumzug" or "any other thing Germans do in a Group greater than 4 people" and see for your self how "responsibly" Germans drink. :P
or, if you're from my region, go to the "Kulmbacher Bierwoche", which is a brewery festival, i.e. binge-drinking on a county-wide scale, lol :)
I hope you also applied for Passierschein A38 or else your upload might be delayed even further
I'd rather think it was Passierschein B39.
He don't want to pass through something. So no "Passierschein" in needed.
Half Eye data has to pass though tho ;)
MyBroSux24
TH-cam is not even a german company. So the german law wouldn't fit.
That reminds me of the old wanting of the CSU, a political party in Bavaria, to stop the productions of "Killerspiele", even though most of the games, which were to think of, were produced in the USA.
+Half Eye
TH-cam isn't a German company, but it operates in Germany.
Same goes for Facebook. There is a case in Germany right now about a selfy of a refugee which is shared on Facebook to label him a terrorist. That is clearly libel/slender, which is illegal in Germany but also in the US. Still he is suing in Germany, as Facebook is operating in Germany.
An other case from a few years back, Bettina Wulf (the German "First Lady") sued google, cause googles auto fill suggested, that she was a prostitute. Again she sued in Germany, even though google isn't a German company.
(Also I guess I'm the stereotype of a German, reading a joke and going full smartass mode)
Jakob Schulze
"Da streiche ich die Segel." aka "I give up." I can't mess with that. I don't know enough about rights.
Wunderbar zusammengefasst, das ist genau der Schluss, zu dem ich auch immer wieder komme - und dabei scheint das auf den ersten Blick so widersprüchlich: einerseits auf Regeln achten und pochen, andererseits vollkommen zufrieden damit sein, sie zu ignorieren, wenn man es für angemessen hält. Aber ich schätze auch immer wieder das Maß an Vernunft, das in dieser Hinsicht meistens da zu sein scheint :) In Amerika schien mir das bei Besuchen in der Tat auch immer etwas verkrampfter und vollkommen vorbei am Sinn der Regel.
Das hast du schön geschrieben, und so würde ich es auch sehen.
Aber ich glaube es gibt genauso auch das Gegenteil, dass in den USA Regeln locker ignoriert werden und in Deutschland auf unsinnige Regeln wortwörtlich gepocht wird.
In english, especially US, people often use the term "it's the law", that sounds much more strict and serious. We never talk about "the law" in German, just about rules, not distinguishing rules by law, rules of moral, ethic or courtesy.
Funnily enough you are actually even allowed to take a walk at 2 am completely naked, because as long as nobody feels harrassed being naked in public is absolutely legal in Germany.
But you're not allowed to drive your car without reason - German streets are made to get from one place to another, not for driving just for fun ;)
Hypatia N sure. Your wasting precious resources otherwise. As i remember someone actually got charged because he took more then one round around a roundabout.
Bia Zarr What different reason to punish someone for walking around naked should there be anyway?
You can also drive naked in your car on bright day because car (inside) is part of your "home" and nobody is allowed to judge your behaviour at home. But when you leave the car you have to be dressed ;o)
moewi75 that is, unfortunately true only for men. If a woman drove naked, she could endanger the traffic, because she distracts other drivers...
And if you parked near a school naked I'd call the police. I think you would know why...
I went to New Zealand a while ago.
I watched a debate on TV about some rule, where basically people in Auckland (by far their biggest city) were in favour, and the rest of the country didn't care.
It made me understand that rules and population density are directly correlated.
I'm from New Zealand and that happens a lot. Such is life when a third of your country lives in one city.
Forgive me when I don't leave a comment.
I am too lazy today to fill out the "Bescheinigung zur Erlaubniserteilung zur Durchführung elektronischer Meinungsäußerung in sozialen Netzwerken nach 16 Uhr".
I am already busy. Filling out a form for preparing dinner with a knife, slash, dangerous object.
Since you comented anyways I contacted the authorities. Also that file needs to be submited one week in advance.
Rumblefin There's a special form for after 4 pm? Damn it, I'm in trouble now...
About jaywalking (in the sense of crossing on red lights) I decided to have my own rules: go if safe AND no children in reach, wait if unsafe OR children watching. As a reasonable adult i may be able to decide about the traffic situation, for children it's dangerous.
I've followed the same rule - but had to reconsider: those pesky bastards are everywhere and see everything. Thus, no more jaywalking for me.
Being a father is cool, leading by exampke is when it gets more difficult.
That's exactly the same how I always do it. I live in a bigger city and there are many red lights, but only once in my 40 year life an old person did shook their head on me.
Even police officers wouldn't say anything if done in a safe way, but I wouldn't recommend that.
If you think that Germany is overburdened with rules, I suggest you take a holiday in Singapore
Or Switzerland.
The application form to publish a video online by the " internet ministry" (which doesn't exist ... yet) was a nice touch.
Great and truthfull video ! :)
Best video I've ever seen about the german rules :D
Greets
Erm. No. Jaywalking is the act of crossing the street apart from traffic lights or crossing. Jaywalking is not a thing in Germany, since you are allowed to cross the street everywhere (as long as its not directly next to a traffic light of course, then you are expected to use it).
Jaywalking means crossing the road in any dangerous or illegal manner, and is usually interpreted to mean crossing on a red light.
Oh. Every incident i read about jaywalking in the US refered to "crossing the street just somewhere". I had never heard about in the context of "crossing a red light".
Since your definition is correct however, crossing at a red light should definetly been included, so i guess you are right.
red light crossing is not accepted by police if they see it. It give kids, who could see it, a bad example. Exception will be something like 5 a.m. and no car in sight.
A very well explained video. Danke!
300 views in 20 minutes.. damn dude!! you're rocking it!
This stereotype of Germany being obsessed in rules seems to be, based on by my observation, the simple fact that German laws tend to be written with a higher degree of specificity than in the US. In the US you have general laws against disturbing peace or endangering others when in Germany they'd go ahead and mention specifics like walking onto a bike lane or making noise after 10 PM. If anything, I'd actually say that in the states they give cops too much discretion.
Otherwise, it's refreshing that alcohol isn't basically treated like porn like it is in the US (you keep that shit hidden away, you don't drink outside, and can often only buy it in specifically licensed and often sketchy stores in many states and counties) and cars actually drive at reasonably fast speeds on all roads (not just the Autobahns) rather than being forced to go at what now feels like a snails pace to me every time I go back to the states after being in Germany.
Obviously, many rules have very positive benefits, and there are some in Germany I like very much (passing in the fast lane only, the "zipper rule" for merging traffic, designated bicycle lanes, etc.). And it's also true that a person in a new culture will be more conscious of the rules he is not accustomed to. What the video fails to mention is the unusual number of times that complete strangers in Germany will take it upon themselves to enforce the rules. Sure, there are many more who don't really care (and there are "enforcer" types in every culture), but it does seem to many expats that there are a higher number of people who are more than happy to let you know when you are not following the rules strictly (I'm not afraid to do it, either, if it effects me personally, as when I confront people for letting their dogs poop on my doorstep). Fortunately, Berlin seems to be pretty laid-back in comparison to most other places.
You're probably right.
Admittedly though (in most cases), I can relate to people admonishing others. Some rules (like passing left, or -- for US citizens specifically -- no right turn on red) are quite safety-relevant. Others (no loud noises after 10pm/holidays) are culturally contextual. You can't really expect most people to follow them when they haven't got a clue.
I will say though that you can helpfully point these things out or be a jackass about it. Der Ton macht die Musik.
A lot of the rules that are on the books in Germany are not intended to be _strictly enforced_ by the police, but to _decide disputes,_ if and when they arise. That's the reason for the German proverb "Wo kein Kläger ist, ist auch kein Richter" (and other phrasings), which translates to "Where there's no plaintiff, there's no judge," and means "The state will not bother to enforce this, unless someone brings a legitimate complaint."
In other words, you can often get away with breaking a lot of the petty-sounding rules, as long as it's obvious you're not actually affecting anyone negatively with it.
When I visit the UK, I feel like there are more rules there. When you enter a small park in London, this park will probably have a fence around it, so you can only enter it at designated entrances equipped with signs with totally logical park rules (clean after your dog, playgrounds reserved for children). During nighttime the entrances are closed, so nobody sues the city because they stumbled over something they could not see due to the lack of lighting. Here in Munich, the biggest park is completely unfenced. If you cycle or walk through it during darkness, you need to bring your lighting with you. Ah, cycle lighting: In London, people use blinking lights, not really good for seeing in darkness. But these lights are approved as replacement for standard cycle lighting. Sometimes, British Rules make just no sense. Here in Germany, battery-operated cycle lights were not allowed for a long time since batteries could run out or people might not switch them on in order to save battery power. That's an example for laws that might seem too strict, but usually there is an idea behind them.
Some other strange UK laws I encountered: I can't really open my window in the third floor of a hotel, for safety reasons. If the firefighters approach that window, they first need to destroy it in order to rescue people in the room. At some Welsh train stations, elevators are shut down when no railway staff is present. Better definetly get stuck on the plattform than risking the very unlikely event of getting stuck in the elevator.
skblablablabla
I believe the British call it the nanny state. The tendency of British officials and government to try and control things they have no business controling for the sake of caring for the citizens, whether they like it or not.
In my opinion, when in Germany someone reminds you of sticking to the rules, in many cases it's just to demonstrate
that they themselves know them. It is our ever insatiable appetite to make people recognize that we are knowledgeable/have leant something.
OMG again you nailed it, and you are actually funny.
My friend often goes to Germany and stays with an old couple who used to know his parents. One day he said that it was so nice he'd like to go fishing and the old bloke said he would need a licence. My mate said that was the case in the UK, but you could just get a day licence. He was told in Germany you need to go on a course in order to get the licence. He ended by saying 'It was strange, but after six months we still never got hold of a rod'.
Yeah, fishing is a special case, because Germany tries to protect what little they've left of natural biotopes.
Having used A1 a lot recently, I'm not sure I agree with the positive image you draw about German driving habits. It's pure madness.
Loved the cat! Always interesting and entertaining here!
Me too :D
You did it wrong Andrew! Leave the cat where it wants to sit, like "Der8auer", gives you more than double the views :D
Just love (!) all the comments here about uber difficult application forms! Genius! XD
The rule against noise in weekends was quite sensible, cutting a tree in your garden without permission came as a surprise.. Makes sense afterall as birds & some neighbours might like the dam tree even more.. ;)
My last two holidays in England I have got the impression, the English got german, because there are so many notices everywhere, what is not allowed.
The Germans even have a rule for drinking beer: "kein Bier vor Vier!"
if you want to drink anyway: "Aber Met, das geht!" :D
@@pocketlanguages or "vor vier ist nach vier!"
That's not a rule. Because: "Bier geht immer!"
und irgendwo ist es immer nach Vier.
Oh boy, that form at the end made me laugh really good. xD
Thanks for the very first English positive video about Germans and their rules.
Where have you seen a negative one ?
Communes decide, what colour their bins have. Where I used to until least year, we had green bins for paper. At my new place we have blue ones, which absolutely makes no sense!
Everybody knows green is for bio/compost.
Green for paper? That sounds like anarchy to me!
XD
I've seen yellow and brown for paper aswell. Where I live they are black with a blue lit.
Jakob Schulze No! we had green bins for paper and brown ones for compost, which of course is the only right way to do it!
it becomes even more confusing when the 'yellow bin' actually is black with a yellow cover and the 'blue bin' (which is of course the only 'true paper bin') is yellow with a blue cover. :P
Is it possible that your green paper bins had a white sticker with blue writing? That's how it done here when they run out of completely blue ones or black ones with a blue lid.
To top it all I ones saw a green bin with a note stuck to it saying "this bin is blue" instead of the more useful "paper in here".
No, it's actually like i said in my first comment. There aren't any standards for the colour of bins, so each commune can decide for itself what colour is used for what type of waste. But the sticker on your bin is indeed funny :D By the way, the reason black bins only combined with a colourful lid are often used is because it's cheaper to order only black bins and change the lid than order completely coloured ones.
Ihr Antrag auf Erlaubnis für die Veröffentlichung eines Online-Videos wurde abgelehnt. Der Antrag auf Erlaubnis für die Veröffentlichung eines Online-Videos kann nur in Verbindung mit Passierschein A38 eingereicht werden. Bitte wenden Sie sich an Schalter 1.
vertex rikers Damn, I got A39!
Why would you pull up in a British heavy assault tank Tortoise A39? Anyhow, I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to wait in line just like anybody else and have permit A38 ready on window 2 please.
Wait I always thought that the "Deutsches Ministerium für Spaß und Spaßänliche Betätigungen in der Freizeit, Urlaub oder an Feiertagen" would give out the application "Antrag auf Erlaubnis für die Veröfftlichung eines Onlinevideos (FU110-1312)". No wonder I've been waiting for it for 11 years!
Awwwh cute kitty. Yeah if a cat wants attention, you should give it to her.
While German cyclists are probably among the most rule-hating people in the world, they are very German in another respect: They have their own Verein... The ADFC... True the ADAC is still more powerful, but the ADFC is often asked their opinion in municipal politics (and then often ignored, except in Münster or Erlangen)
The willingness to obey unpleasant rules is part of the culture, cause you rather accept a rule, if everybody else is excepting them too, and you profit from others obeying a rule.
That must be based on a common understanding, which unfortunately is eroding.
Könntest mir vielleicht sagen, welches Ansteckmikrofone du nutzt. :) Suche ein gutes und finde deins klingt super
The super of my apartment building got quite upset when I took it upon myself to replace the black plastic name label on my mailbox with a blue one.
It is my mailbox, isn't it?
Not really. Your mailbox is usually owned by your landlord and you are just allowed to use it.
But I rented the apartment and, I thought, the mailbox. Doe that mean the landlord can dictate the color of my bedsheets.
You RENT the appartment and the mailbox, but it's owned by your landlord. But since you don't usually rent your bedsheets you can decide on your own how they look - because you own them and take them with you when you leave.
He at least owns the label on the mailbox.
But I have a property interest in the mailbox by virtue of my leasehold. As long as I don't damage it, it's none of my landlord's business what I do with it.
great video and lovely cat!
Rules are a must in order to sustain the civilization...
the form didn't look like it had three copies, one for your records, and two copies for the authorities, all signed and stamped. Ordnung muß sein! :D
lol cats! Yeah well that's very kind of you. I think they are rule followers.They always ask themselves how it's done "properly" or "the right way" and then they'll do it. They wouldn't just go out and do it. They read the manual first. Or the contract or whatever. ... Unlike the English. I learned that from them. And I feel very indebted. Works well creatively. Does give me a bit of a headache when I buy a new technical item, though.
Rules make people equal. If you know every body else is having some inconvenience by rules, you are more likely to accept it yourself. Germans like to be equal. That's their definition of fairness. It's not as much sportsmanship, as in Britain.
Does anyone remember Reinhard Mey?
"Antrag auf Erteilung eines Antragsformulars,
Zur Bestätigung der Nichtigkeit des Durchschriftexemplars,
Dessen Gültigkeitsvermerk von der Bezugsbehörde stammt
Zum Behuf der Vorlage beim zuständ‘gen Erteilungsamt."
th-cam.com/video/MJbn5BtAEoc/w-d-xo.html
Ich räusperte mich noch einmal, doch dann schrie ich plötzlich schrill,
Warf mich trommelnd auf den Boden, und ich röchelte: „Ich will
Meinen Antrag auf Erteilung eines Antragsformulars,
Zur Bestätigung der Nichtigkeit des Durchschriftexemplars,
Dessen Gültigkeit, ach, wissen Sie, Sie rost‘ge Gabel Sie,
nageln Sie sich Ihr Scheißformular gefälligst selbst vor‘s Knie.“
Go to Singapore there they have rules for everything. 'It's a fine city', as it's says on my t-shirt.
Der Antrag made my day :D
It is not really about rules or laws but the overriding goal of Germans seems to be certainty. My best example is when planning a trip by car there is always a huge discussion beforehand on which route to take. Atlases and road maps are brought out and people can argue about every km of the trip. This can actually be fun and enjoyable but then the trip is set. Once underway to ask to take a short excursion, or if there is a detour due to construction, causes a great deal of stress in the psyche of most Germans. Plans that were made should carried out.
Ich dachte immer, dass Deutschland voller Regeln, Bürokratie und Papierkram wäre. Doch grade bin ich für ein Semester in Japan und ich habe das Gefühl, dass Japaner die ganze Sache noch auf die Spitze treiben...
I always thought that Germany was full of rules, bureaucracy and paperwork. However I'm currently staying in Japan for one semester and I get the feeling that the Japanese love these things even more...
achja das video Formular A38. Wir lieben es doch alle.
Okay I just filled out the application form to send you.a postcard, it was denied by the agency for mail safety.
Hi Rewboss!
There's also the thing that the German law system is based on common sense and expects people to rather apply common sense than stick to the rules.
As soon as it's put in a law, it's no longer common sense. This is why immigration is sometimes problematic, intuitive laws don't work on a different common sense.
The first time I went to Germany, I was returning to my hotel in Cologne, very early in the morning (before 6am) on a Sunday. There wasn't a car (or another person) in sight. I crossed the road against a red light. A policeman jumped out of nowhere and issued me with a fine, which I had to pay immediately. I actually found it amusing how angry he was at me. The whole situation was just so ridiculous.
As I live in Germany for 40 years and cross streets nearly every day against red lights also in rush hour when there are no cars approaching and never get anybody saying anything about it, this shows the likelihood.
My dear Andrew,
suggest, that point you have even better understand us German as we have! ^^
It's not so much that we Germans love rules, but that we hate the absence of rules.
We're perfectly fine with not having rules, or ignoring existing rules, as long as nothing bad happens. But if something bad happens, the public opinion will be all like "why is there no law to prevent that sort of thing?" and politicians will give in and make new rules.
The funny thing is that it's often the same people who complain that Germany is so over-regulated who will think that making new rules is the solution to everything.
I think it also has to do with civil law. If, in a common law country like the UK or the USA, you have noisy neighbours, you can sue them. But in a civil law country, there's nothing you can do about it unless there is a law explicitly forbidding your neighbours to be noisy.
Bundesamt für Internetangelegenheiten just wrote that they will no longer accept your filled in forms. Don't handwrite it, especially if you have such illegible handwriting.
In addition, the application must be submitted in duplicate together with a copy of the certificate of entitlement to life and the father's birth certificate.
Oh ok makes since.
I feel very strongly that if houses were built decently - and no, you don't get that, not even in Germany - you wouldn't have to pay so much attention to noises.
It's quite good to know your roof won't be falling on your head anytime soon, but having walls thick enough to prevent your neighbour's snoring from waking you up would also be very nice.
That said, I'm told Switzerland is worse. Not only in the rules department, but also in how badly houses are built.
The most important rule in Berlin is to always do the opposite of what the rules say... that and you always have to occupy at least three seats on the subway or s-bahn. It would just be rude not to.
In einem Deutschen Formular wird niemals ein englisches Wort verwendet, das geht doch nicht...
I was surprised to hear that the chinese word for germany is "land of virtue". It took me a while, but it could be right that we love to do things right. Rules are in every country, but germany runs so smoothly because we tend to follow the rules.
Andrew, I don't mind a cat on your lap while you're filming your video - why do you?
The reason coudt be the no lap top cat sign on the chair.
Yes Andrew, you know there is a big Bonnie and Clyde fan club out there.
I live in the USA and let me just say that the cops are a bit rough. every time I visited my girl friend in the next town over, the cops would stop me and search me.
That would not happen in Germany - they only stop here cars for speeding tickets or alcohol tests at a sunday morning, or other for visible misbehaviour in traffic. They are extremely friendly and ask for the driver license and car registration paper. But if you tell them that the paper are in the glove box and and you open them the 9mm will appear at first. And it will turn out that you have shoot your wife which is in the trunk - their mode will sink.
lol, don't let the cat disturb you :) it wants to be on TH-cam, too ;)
I think it´s maybe a rather historic misconception especially regarding bureaucracy many american countries are worse than Germany - boundless bureaucracy combined with massive corruption - from what I hear there is even more bureaucracy in the US compared to Germany.
But they started that here like 150 years ago when it was still wild west in the US so back then Germany was regulated quite well.
Hi Rewboss,
I've heard that there is a special kind of civil disobedience or industrial strike in Germany that consists of following the laws and rules to the last letter.
This creates a massively obstructed, albeit legal, workflow as laws are often unnecessarily convoluted and, ultimately, self-contradicting. Could you comment on the validity of this rumor?
kisfekete
That is actually a thing, although I mostly heard of it in terms of offices. "Dienst nach Vorschrift", service by the rules, is an obstruction tactic used to trip superiors, mostly. But it is mostly about being obnoxious and slow about following orders by finding reasons for non-compliance, distractions and ways to bury you in paperwork.
This is not unknown in the UK too. It's known as "Work To Rule" and was a popular form of industrial action in the 70's and 80's.
@@MrHodoAstartes "Dienst nach Vorschrift" in my opinion means, you are not happy with a new rule in your job or with your job in general, so you do only the things that are absolutely mandatory and nothing beyond that.
I think you mean "Abmahnungen"? Yes those are a thing, but I thought also in other countries.
People filing lawsuits against strangers just to make profit about it. They use laws that mostly make sense in other situations, but not so much here. Especially laymen fall for it and often pay "fines" in advance just by threatened by the lawsuit.
Mate, this situation is not much different than Australia. The thing I’ve noticed in Germany is that the locals think they are pragmatic and efficient but all they are is bureaucratic. Take building the new Berlin Brandenberg airport as an example…..way over budget and way over timeline to build. Tschuess aus Australien.
WTF US? You can't walk around at 2am? I mean... It's not like I can't around here bc it gets kinda dangerous but when I used to pull all-nighters with friends, going for a healthy rolê at the city center, where it's safer at like 2-3am was quite awesome, even with a not from the guards :D
The land of "immer Alles genau nach Vorschrift"! I've had Germans tell me that Canada (where I live) is worse, calling us the Land of By The Book. I think with Germans it's not so much a love of rules, but where there are rules they pride themselves on their ability to keep them, whereas here in Canada it's more a matter of not daring to break protocol.
I hadn’t been living in Germany very long when I had a road accident. I was reversing out of a driveway in blinding snow, actually quite slowly, when I hit a cyclist. The cyclist demanded that I call the police, feeling himself in the right. When the police arrived I explained that neither of us could see very well due to the snow storm, and so it was just bad luck and nobody’s fault. Not so, said the policeman. In Germany, when there is an accident, it is ALWAYS somebody’s fault. Often both parties are breaking the law. There is no such thing as bad luck under German law! Since then I have known that there is no room for luck in German law, every possibility is accounted for.
If they don't they sure as hell like writing things down.
In my experience, Germans love rules that make sense, and they trust the system so if a rule doesn't make sense they aim to change it rather than ignoring it or trashing the whole thing. That's something I can stand by.
About jaywalking... it's not illegal in Germany. Crossing with red light will only get you in trouble if you put yourself or others in danger (like crossing when all the cars are coming). And about noise... dude, some people have no respect for others, I'm glad those rules exist. They may have a right to party, but I have a right to sleep peacefully thank you.
Regarding jaywalking: Court decisions in the last years effectifely mean jaywalking is tolerated in Germany as long as the next crossing is more than 30m away and you are not disrupting traffic.
At 30m distance it is no longer jaywalking - it is crossing the street. (Actually, I learned 50m - but that was 20 years ago in driver school.) You don't have to consider traffic lights or pedestrian stripes if none of those are reasonably close. No need for tolerance here - no law broken. Jaywalking is what everybody does when they are two minutes from too late to work (or school): cross the street at the official crossing (or right next to it) despite of a red light that's shining in your face.
It is tolerated as long as you don't endanger anyone, there are no small children who could learn the wrong lesson and the police man a few meters away has something better to do than yell at you (like take notes about an accident). Some "old folk" might give you a "stern warning", but that's just venting their frustration that pensions are not being raised again this year, their grand son is talking about this disgusting Rammstein thing again (just when his dad stopped doing it) and the grand niece has pink hair now (just like they always dreamed to for themselves, but couldn't admit)...
Ohh, I miss jaywalking and getting stern looks from uptight folk! I need to get out of the home office more often... ;-)
why can you not receive packages?
PO Boxes cannot accept cargo in. He would need to share his actual house address for that.
At least you are free to drink whatever you want in Germany the moment you turn 18 where in the United States you are forced, yes forced to wait until you are 21 to drink even light beer.
Dear Rewboss...
you mentioned somiething you called "common sense"...
as far as my experiences with it goes... There is nothing common about it !
Yes we love rules!
breakin the law, breakin the law...
The jaywalking in berlin is kinda out of control. It seems like the citizens view the red light more like a suggestion than a law and you will get funny looks if you're the only one that actually don't jaywalk.
where would you be if you had too many rules Germany
2:02 great reference :D
Jaywalking is legal if you are at least 15 meters away from the next pedrstrian crossing
They always read the manuals.
Of course we love rules, except those that force us to drive slower than we want to!
what a nice cat!
Why not do a video with the cat?
Here: th-cam.com/video/56I6JS9rAHM/w-d-xo.html
Why not another video with the cat?
German saying: "Obey the 11th commandment" (Don't get caught).
One thing: Racial profiling *does* happen in germany. The UN just recently published a report that racial profiling is a concern in germany, so if you are black and are running around the block at night, police will likely stop you. Not everything is great here...
Actually, it's not likely to be stopped then, just more likely than if you are Caucasian (maybe a 10% chance instead of 5%). And probably being of African decendance might be less of a problem than looking Turkish orNorth African.
Rewboss, könntest Du diesen Fake-Antrag mal tatsächlich an ein paar Behörden schicken? Amt für öffentliche Ordnung, Bundesnetzagentur, Bayerisches Innenministerium, GEMA, Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Rundfunkanstalten Deutschlands und so weiter.
Die Antworten gäben ein prima Video!
Regelmäßigkeit
I am German, love rules and follow them ( most of the time 😝)
Actually there was a statistic about jaywalking in Berlin...so if you keep standing at a red light every time, you maybe lose up to 6 month of your lifetime. So you often see people jaywalk but I think at least 90% of all persons wouldn't do it, if a child in present.
Exactly. The first thing you do at a red light is looking whether there's traffic, the second thing is looking whether there are children around. No children + no cars = just cross the street :)
Was the online video form a joke or does it actually exist?
It´s a joke
We love the rules but we do exceptions.
I think I would like to live in Germany, so many rules to break.
Cute Cat.