1. In German bakeries, female workers in their critical days It is prohibited to pack bread. It is believed that it will quickly become moldy. Energy, however.
2. The largest number of police cars in Germany are Mercedes.
3. The Germans do not know and are afraid of dried fish.
4. Affirmative answer “Yes, yes!” pronounced with the intonation of the Russian “Nu-nu!” means “Kiss my ass” and is understood as such.
5. Due to a demonstration of forty nationalists, traffic in Gamurga is blocked, and the demonstration route is cordoned off by a regiment of policemen in helmets and bulletproof vests. They protect... nationalists. Not a joke, but a fact.
6. In Germany you can not work and live on social assistance. True, it’s very poor, but there’s life.
7. The difference in dialects of the German language is such that television programs in the north of the country are sometimes broadcast with sign language translation when spoken by southerners.
8. If the question: “How to get there?” They will smile at you, take out your iPhone, look at the navigation and, after explaining how to get there, offer to give you a ride by car - you are in Germany.
9. The fine for slapping is 500 euros.
10. If you want the court's leniency, you must confirm that at the beginning of the fight you did not clench your fists.
11. If you do not work in certain areas and do not engage in dubious activities, then you can live your whole life in Germany without ever encountering obvious crime.
12. If you are nevertheless attacked and hit, a retaliatory blow must be struck within one second. If after two, then you will be judged.
13. In Germany, traumatic pistols and gas cartridges are prohibited.
14. The police in Germany, even after catching up with you, do not beat you.
15. 80% of crime in Germany is carried out by foreigners.
16. If you have incurred even half a million in debt, it is enough to declare your ruin and they will be obliged to find you permanent job, will leave you about a thousand euros to live on and in less than 10 years, your debts will be written off.
17. It is extremely difficult to evict even a tenant who does not pay rent in Germany.
18. Living in rented housing in Germany is the norm. Three quarters of the population live in rented apartments and houses. The security of the tenant is extremely high. Even the wealthiest segments of the population live in rented housing.
19. Repairing anything in Germany is so expensive that it is often easier to buy a new thing.
20. The Germans relate to their Nazi past in the same way as the Aborigines do to the eating of Cook.
21. Guilt for World War II has been ingrained in the consciousness of Germans since kindergarten.
22. Children in Germany can do anything. Actually, that's all. Parents will be responsible. If there are no parents, then no one.
23. Beer in Germany is very good and there are an incredible variety of it.
24. In Bavaria, a person has the right to drink a glass of beer during the working day.
25. Homeless people often have dogs. They receive additional money for their maintenance.
26. Germans are wary of foreigners. And there is a reason for it.
27. Drawing a swastika or raising your hand in a fascist salute is prohibited by law in Germany.
28. With the introduction of the euro, most prices in Germany doubled. But the standard of living in Germany is still considered one of the highest in the world.
29. In Hamburg, the Hells Angels motorcycle gang gained such influence on local criminals that bikers were legally prohibited from wearing club symbols. Any large convoy of motorcyclists is accompanied by a police truck.
30. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet is prohibited. Strictly.
31. The worst German insults translate to “Asshole” and “Son of a bitch.”
32. Germans are very attentive to their health and what they eat and drink.
33. The former mayor of Hamburg and the mayor of Berlin are homosexuals. In society, “gay” people are treated almost as if they were the norm.
34. The level of culture of the average German significantly exceeds the level of culture of the average Russian. But, as a rule, the level of education is inferior.
35. Alcohol intoxication is a mitigating circumstance in court. With the exception of traffic precedents and malfeasance.
36. Until recently, German women practically did not use cosmetics. Due to the influx of bright foreign women, German women began to wear makeup and ceased to be one of the most scary women in Europe.
37. German women wear high heels only for “occasional occasions.”
38. Treating the boss at companies is most often on a first-name basis.
39. One of the leaders of the Green Party proposed singing the second verse of the German anthem in Turkish.
40. Organic stores are quite popular. Prices there are on average 30% higher than in a regular store. Organic bananas are smaller than regular bananas, and lemons are indeed much more flavorful.
41. Over-the-knee boots are worn only by prostitutes during working hours and foreign women, those who haven’t figured it out yet and those who don’t care.
42. An offer to drink a cup of coffee together in the evening from a German often means an invitation to sex.
43. In Germany there are fewer women than men.
44. The Germans are sure that the most popular Russian toast sounds like “To your health!” It is useless to persuade.
45. Christmas in Germany is celebrated much more significant and brighter than the New Year.
46. A crowded refrigerator in Germany means that you are from Russia.
47. People at the institution may be rude to you. If you pretend that you are about to grab your face, they become very polite.
48. Dogs in Germany are very friendly. It is extremely rare to hear a dog bark.
49. The idea of a multicultural society in Germany failed miserably, Merkel herself was forced to admit this.
50. In Germany sanitary standards so high that you can safely eat not only uncooked meat, but also raw meat.
51. In Germany, quite often you can enter a residential building without taking off your shoes.
52. A one-time ticket to the sauna costs just under 20 euros.
53. The cost of prostitute services on the Reeperbahn averages 200 euros per hour.
54. Germans rarely respect non-German beer. Surprisingly, I quite often heard positive reviews from Germans about one Ukrainian manufacturer; I will not indicate the brand of beer, so as not to advertise.
55. Among German women, it is common to view sex as fitness.
56. A bribe to an official in Germany, for example a police officer, usually starts around 50,000 euros. However, in one of the cities where I lived, it was possible to remove a photograph from a traffic machine for only 300 euros.
57. A civil servant in Germany does not pay public taxes and cannot be fired.
58. Most apartments in Germany are equipped with fire detectors. If you overcook something or haven’t closed the door to the shower, it goes off, starting to squeak disgustingly. A naked man swearing and poking the ceiling with a mop is a common sight seen by pets.
59. German women often don’t know how to cook.
60. The “Nationality” column in Germany is determined by citizenship.
61. Germans are surprised at Russians’ ability to pronounce the letters “P” and “Y”
62. The proverb “Without a piece of paper you’re a turd” was apparently invented by the Germans.
63. Everything business letters in Germany they end with the phrase “With friendly greetings.” Even a summons for a fine.
64. The word “Foreigner” in Germany is a dirty word.
65. Germans are usually welcoming and friendly in their communication. But don’t flatter yourself too much, they’re just well-mannered.
66. Married couples of Russians and Germans are quite rare, due to too different mentalities. They prefer to remain lovers. That's good.
67. In a café-eatery, leaving a tip for the waiter more than one euro is regarded as a good tip.
68. Germany becomes home to an emigrant when there is a feeling that if you litter on the street, you are littering in your apartment and there is a desire to clean up someone’s trash in a public park.
69. Tattoos and piercings are very popular in Germany. Both among women and among men.
70. In Germany, a popular TV presenter was fired because she said that good autobahns were built under Hitler.
71. In Germany, they are very attentive to how owners treat pets. Even if a blind disabled person mistreats his guide dog, the dog will be taken away from him.
72. Germany is a paradise for those with a sweet tooth. It seems to me that there are no more diverse and beautiful sweets anywhere in the world.
73. Russian grocery products can be bought in almost every large supermarket in Germany.
74. In Germany, I sometimes met men who had never fought in their lives.
75. To go fishing in Germany, you first need to complete the appropriate courses. Where one of the sections will be devoted to how to handle caught fish so that it does not experience unnecessary suffering.
76. One of the most expensive hunting clubs in Germany is the Wolf Hunters Club. The annual fee is around 100,000 euros.
77. A change of workplace often leads a German to a psychotherapist.
78. The reason for not allowing you into a German disco or club may simply be that the security guard did not like you. Girls are rarely allowed in. Beautiful girls They are always missed, they serve as bait for visitors. They are also often given special cards entitling them to free drinks. A group of young Turks in many cities has virtually no chance of passing. The security guard could be fired for this. There is no smell of Nazism here, it is a justified necessity.
79. Germany goes to bed and gets up very early.
80. You can walk along the zebra crossing across the German road with your eyes closed.
81. The fine for throwing a cigarette butt on the asphalt in Germany is 20 euros.
82. One of the most popular drinks among German bikers is Jackie-Cola, a mixture of Jack Daniels whiskey and Coca-Cola (in no case with Pepsi!)
83. The Germans snack on beer with special rolls with grains of salt, they are called “Pretzel”
84. You get less drunk from draft German beer than from bottled beer. I don’t know why.
85. German cuisine is not distinguished by any special delights. But it’s hearty and substantial, like everything German. Potatoes, cabbage, pork - classics, in general.
87. Everything that is necessary is very cheap in Germany. Everything related to convenience and whims is expensive.
88. The closest ice cream in taste to Soviet ice cream in Germany is at McDonald's.
89. Germans are sentimental and surprisingly romantic.
90. Germans, when communicating with Russian friends, often say “I am a German potato.”
91. The mentality of the Germans is such that they do not get into a fight first. But, if the fight has already begun, they often fight to the last.
92. Unfortunately, there are many pedophiles in Germany. However, in Russia they probably just beat them very painfully. But here it’s impossible. Even planting it is difficult.
93. In Germany, it is normal for a girl and a guy to pay for themselves. If you pay for a girl, this can be seen as unexpected generosity or a claim on her independence.
94. Once an emigrant masters the language, interethnic problems practically disappear.
95. German police, as a rule, are not looking for unnecessary heroism. There are exceptions. But rarely.
96. If I had not taken it upon myself to write these 100 facts, then at the beginning of the second night I would not have been the only one in the apartment building who was still awake at that time.
97. In Germany, getting sick leave for three days is not a problem.
98. In Germany, a seasonal disease is common, in Russia it is practically unknown - intestinal flu. If you catch it, hold on... Otherwise, from a low start, it will blow you away.
99. In Germany, the fiercer the chef, the tastier the meat he cooks.
100. When getting a job in Germany, you should remember that the immutable law of developed capitalism begins to operate - “Are you carrying one bag faster than others? Well done! Carry two. Are you carrying two? Great, here's your third one. Can't you? Don't you want to? He’s fired, we don’t need lazy people.”
101. If you have public rather than private health insurance, the wait to see a doctor can last several weeks.
102. When the German list of the most dangerous dog breeds was compiled, not a single one was included German breed, even ahead of others in the number of unmotivated attacks on people.
103. A German kneipp is a small beer hall, more like a club, where many middle-aged and older Germans while away their evenings, sometimes staying in the kneipe until nightfall, and the owner practically lives in it. How many interesting stories you can hear from old regulars there, over a glass of beer...
104. In Germany, many people do not smoke. The Germans, as I already said, take care of their health.
105. Mixed couples are very common in Germany. African guys often choose incredibly fat German women. This is tradition. It is a great pride for an African to have a fat wife. This means he is so rich that he can feed her. Well, fat German women, walking next to the ebony handsome man, are quite happy with life and, finally, with themselves.
106. “Mine, mine, mine” - this is very developed in Germany. But it must be said that “Yours - yours - yours” will be respectfully and delicately taken into account and observed. This applies to everything from candy to silence.
107. On many municipal buildings in Germany, menacing eagles have been preserved, clutching shields in their claws, from which the swastika has been neatly knocked off. They say, well, the bird has sat down, now it’s beautiful.
108. German humor comes in two types - black and abstract.
109. In Germany, it is required to separate waste into food and plastic. In fact, in trash bins, most often everything is thrown into one pile. The purpose of this idiocy is to discipline the already disciplined Germans.
110. "Duckstein" - German beer with cognac aroma, aged in oak barrel. But for some reason it gives me a headache in the morning. Maybe because I'm not German.
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According to the stories of readers published on the site as part of the competitions “My Living Room”, “My Kitchen”, “My Bedroom”, one gets the impression that Belarusians are wealthy people who live in interiors made with taste and attention to detail. Wooden cabinet and leather upholstered furniture, German wallpaper, designer sanitary ware and Italian tiles are almost the norm. It’s curious, what kind of “mansions” do ordinary Europeans live in then?
We have studied housing that is for sale or rent. We also went to visit “ordinary Germans” - pensioners and an “IT specialist” - and asked permission to take pictures for this material.
Kitchen in a house that is on sale for 375 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Kitchen in a house for 400 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Kitchen in the house for 399 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de
It turns out that by Belarusian standards, the Germans live little better than us.
Dining-living room in an apartment, which is rented for one and a half thousand euros 
The bedroom is there too. 
Bathroom in a house for 399 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de What I immediately noticed is that the Germans are terrible conservatives. Rarely will any of them think of, say, buying a cheaper shower cabin in Poland or hiring finishers from Lithuania. They love everything German here, even if you have to overpay for the goods.
Yes, the average salary of Germans differs several times from the Belarusian one. But given the high prices for public utilities, food, gasoline, school after-school programs, services in hairdressing salons and auto repair shops, there is not much free money left. And obviously designer new items do not fall into the category of what practical Germans are willing to spend their free money on.
Living room in the house of German pensioners 
In a house valued at 400 thousand euros. Unfashionable tiles, simple plumbing. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
A beautiful, by German standards, bathroom in a house worth 395 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Plumbing fixtures that have gone out of fashion in Belarus are in a German house for 398 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de We were in the “rich” (according to the German citizens themselves) state of Baden-Württemberg. Just like in Belarus, furniture from IKEA is very popular here. The nearest store of this chain is crowded on a weekend: there are crowds of people around the furniture exhibits, queues for consultants, and lines of carts stretching to the cash registers. For comparison, in the largest local shopping center XXXL Mann Mobilia, where expensive (mass-produced, non-designer) furniture, dishes, lamps and other household goods are sold, the trading floors are quite deserted.
IKEA is also loved in Germany. The photo shows the apartment of the family of a teacher and a social worker. The finishing of the floor, walls and ceiling is not given as much attention here as in our country. Often in wealthy homes you can see inexpensive laminate flooring and paintable wallpaper on the walls and ceiling, painted white. Even in bathrooms.
- Why is almost everything white here? — I asked the owners.
“It’s practical, everything goes with white, it’s easy to choose furniture.”
I almost never saw painted, pre-plastered walls here.
Paintable wallpaper, popular in Germany. In the photo - the apartment of the family of a teacher and a social worker 
All around there is wallpaper for painting. House for 396 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Simple decoration and furniture in the house for 396 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de Only in two apartments was it possible to admire German patterned wallpaper, so popular in Belarus.
Colored wallpaper in the dining room in the house of German pensioners By the way, the Germans have no idea what “German suspended ceilings" There are almost no plasterboard structures here - to make the walls even, they are often upholstered wooden slats.
Living room in the apartment of a teacher and a social worker. The walls are finished with wooden slats and wallpaper for painting 
The house for 398 thousand euros has a wood ceiling. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Wooden ceiling in a house for 398 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
“Dry” interior with budget furniture in a house for 396 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de Comparing the approaches of Belarusians and Germans to housing, you quickly come to the conclusion: we attach more value details and strive to create interiors that look expensive.
No-frills interior in a house for 399 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Strange bathroom in a house worth 396 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de 
Nothing extra. In a house for 396 thousand euros. Photo from immobilienscout24.de In Germany, they make interiors within their means, “for themselves.” As, for example, in the house where the family of a German IT specialist with two children lives:
If you ask me what a typical German apartment looks like, I will throw up my hands - there is simply no exact answer to this question. Standard layouts in Germany there are practically none, therefore, even knowing the number of rooms and area, you can never be sure of what you will see. For example, half of the apartment may be occupied by a cunning system of corridors. There are rooms without windows or heating. A 100-meter apartment may have a guest toilet, but the bathroom will only have a shower. The attic in German houses is almost always inhabited, and in the attics one comes across the most different apartments: both with a barely noticeable bevel at the ceiling, and those in which the walls are located strictly at an angle of 45 degrees, and that’s why you feel like you’re in a wigwam.
Kitchen curse...
Quite a lot of housing is rented in houses that were once built for one big family. They are inhabited by pensioners whose children have long since left. Part of the house is empty, and they decide to rent it out. Sometimes owners do redevelopment for this purpose, but not always. In this case, the apartment looks exactly like Holmes and Watson’s home on Baker Street: a common entrance, the owners are on the first floor, the residents’ rooms are on the second, and nothing separates them except the stairs.
But the main problem with German apartments is, without any doubt, the kitchens. In most homes they are not just small, but tiny. This is some kind of curse, after which even kitchens in Khrushchev-era buildings seem like airfields. In one of the apartments I visited, everything was perfect: large rooms, a bathroom, a twenty-meter terrace with access to the garden... The kitchen was a corridor in which it was impossible to even sit down without blocking the passage. After this, it’s easy to understand why Germans are so willing to spend time in cafes and restaurants. My wife and I were somehow phenomenally lucky to get an apartment with a kitchen of 15 square meters - probably the largest in the city. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the rooms.
... and balcony happiness
On the other hand, there are unconditional advantages in German apartments. One of them is Keller. This is, as a rule, a separate room in the basement measuring from five to fifteen square meters. In terms of the number of apartments, Kellers have almost all houses, regardless of whether they are two hundred years old or two years old. Thanks to this simple solution, balconies and loggias were saved from the sad fate that befell them in Russia. A German balcony is not a warehouse for junk, but a place where the owners grow flowers, drink coffee and fry meat on an electric grill.
There may also be several other very useful rooms in the house. Among them shared garage for bicycles, trockenraum - a room in the attic where clothes are dried (yes, exactly the same one in which Carlson portrayed a ghost, scaring burglars). I also once came across a house in the basement of which there was a small gym for residents with ping-pong and wall bars, and in another, a common children's playroom was built in the attic. Special mention must be made about laundries. Even if there is enough space in the bathroom or kitchen washing machine, you will not always be allowed to put it there. Instead, there is a room in the basements where all residents turn on their Boshis and Indesites. However, today even the Germans themselves do not find it particularly convenient - it is a vestige of the time when any self-respecting washing machine hummed like a steam locomotive. Laundry facilities are a rarity in new homes. But in the old ones, it often serves as a kind of communal kitchen and hobby club for neighbors.
Tenants also receive the right to use the space around the house - a garden or lawn. True, you should first carefully read the list of what you can do there and what you cannot do. I’ve never come across “do not walk on lawns” signs, but there are more than enough other prohibitions: “do not walk on the grass with your dog,” “do not have picnics,” “do not smoke.” At first, the abundance of such restrictions is, to put it mildly, puzzling. But if you look around, you will definitely find that somewhere nearby there are separate places for picnics (with an obligatory public grill), a children’s playground, and a place for sports.
A contract is more valuable than money
In any case, when moving in, it will be useful to ask the owner or building manager about what can be done in the apartment and its surroundings, and what cannot be done, because the lease agreement does not include everything. It usually takes the form of a four-page printed form; only the tenant’s details, amounts and, if necessary, any special conditions are entered into it by hand. For example, we insisted that ours include a clause allowing keeping pets - in standard form it is not included.
Perhaps the most important difference between renting housing in Germany is that the standard rental agreement is for an indefinite period. And if the tenant fulfills his obligations, it is very difficult to force him to leave the apartment. Even if the property changes ownership, this does not lead to automatic termination of the lease. Moreover, the new owner does not have much leverage even to revise the price in the contract. First, he will need to prove the validity of this decision. And if the tenant turns out to be intractable, he can sue the owner all the way. In every city in Germany there are tenant associations, staffed by lawyers who are well versed in the intricacies of housing legislation. Membership isn't free, of course, but it's usually worth it. People go there not only in case of a dispute over the price of housing, but also in a host of other situations. Our friends, for example, thanks to the help of consultants, forced the landlord to replace poorly installed equipment at his own expense. plastic windows and insulate constantly damp walls. Mold, by the way, is a typical problem in local housing, such is the climate.
By the way, apartments with seasoned, litigation-hardened tenants are usually put up for sale much lower than their market price. Local buyers are well informed about the contents of such Pandora's boxes. But a considerable number of our compatriots who dream of real estate in Europe do not know about this. As a result, an unpleasant surprise awaits them. On Russian-language forums you can find a lot of stories about how people, having fallen for a tempting offer from realtors, spent a lot of nerves after the purchase and spent a lot of money on lawyers, and in the end were forced to sell the housing in which they were never able to live at a loss.
The Case of the Cracked Sink
It should be noted that a lawsuit with the owner of an apartment is as commonplace for a German as going to the dentist. In fact, the relationship between owners and tenants here and in Germany differs little - it is exactly the same mixture of distrust, pettiness, quarrelsomeness on the one hand, and sloppiness, irresponsibility, impudence on the other. It's just that the way to resolve conflicts is slightly different. Of those of our friends who have lived in Germany for a long time, litigation housing issue Almost no one escaped. However, the matter does not always come to court. More often than not, everything ends in a settlement agreement, because this is more profitable for both: the amounts involved are small, and the process can drag on for a very long time.
Although, if there are particularly principled citizens on both sides, very revealing stories emerge. For example, our friend’s father sued his former landlord for three years over a crack in the sink. When the respectable pensioner moved out, the owner noticed damage to the plumbing, replaced the sink, and withheld the costs from the deposit. The price of the issue was several hundred euros, but the indignant tenant decided that they were trying to deceive him, which means he had to go to the end. And he filed a lawsuit against the owner of the apartment. The process took place in full, with the invitation of witnesses, photographic evidence and speeches from lawyers. As a result, the landlord was found to be right, and the plaintiff still cannot recover from this terrible injustice. Having learned that I was a journalist, he called me and recounted his misadventures in the most detail, and only with great difficulty did I manage to convince him that there was no point in coming to me personally with all the materials of the case. The victim of the judicial system really wanted his story to be known in his homeland. I take this opportunity to fulfill this request.
By the way, the mentioned deposit is perhaps the most popular reason for disputes between moving out tenants and the owner of the apartment. This deposit in Germany is called a kautzion, its size is equal to two or three months' rent. It is entered at the conclusion of the contract and is strictly regulated. The owner of the house must put the entire amount into a deposit in the name of the tenant. When he moves out, the account will be unblocked, but only if the landlord does not find anything to complain about. And there is certainly a reason.
Here it must be said that, when vacating an apartment, the previous tenant must not only take things out, but also work as a painter as a demobilization bonus. The fact is that the typical wall decoration in Germany is paintable wallpaper. Each new inhabitant receives a white apartment and paints it to his liking, but before leaving he needs to return everything to its original appearance. An exception can only be made for the kitchen - when Germans move, they usually do not try to take kitchen set, because the probability that it will fit into new apartment, not too high. Accordingly, there is no need to repaint the kitchen. If the furniture is almost new, they will try to resell it to new residents. This is what our predecessors did, for example.
In general, burghers change furniture often and with great pleasure. It is considered the norm to completely change the environment at least once every five years. And moving is a wonderful reason to get rid of excess belongings. Moreover, a simple rental of a van for a day will cost 120-150 euros, and the services of a company with loaders will cost at least 500-600 euros. And this is only if you do not have bulky furniture, and with it the price tag often rises to a thousand. If the previous furnishings still retain their marketable appearance, then they put them up on eBay. You can also call the Red Cross and report that you have an unnecessary sofa or closet. Among the wards of the service there are always those who need these things, they will come and take what they need.
The rent is cold and hot
Housing rent can only be paid by bank transfer. Usually, simultaneously with signing the contract, the tenant issues a long-term payment order to the bank and after that, all he needs to worry about is whether he has the required amount in his account at the beginning of the month. The cost of housing in Germany consists of “kalt” - cold and “warm” - hot parts. Kalt is the rental price itself, varm is housing maintenance and utilities. Usually this includes heating, water supply, sewerage, garbage removal, elevator, cleaning in the house and yard and some other expenses of the owner, for example, payment for the work of the house manager, insurance, and so on. It was a revelation to me that the Germans do not receive any monthly receipts. Instead, during the year, a fixed amount is withdrawn from the subscribers’ account, and then a recalculation is made, after which the owner sends letters to residents: if there has been an overconsumption of water, or cold winter and the residents were diligently warming themselves, they will have to pay a few hundred extra. If, on the contrary, you saved, the overpaid amount will be returned. But this happens much less often.
The same applies to energy workers, whose services are not included in the “warm” and with whom the tenant has a direct contract. It should be noted here that the electricity and gas market in Germany is competitive. By default, having moved, a person becomes a subscriber of the organization with which the previous resident had an agreement. If its tariffs suit you, then you don’t need to do anything - in a few days you will receive an agreement by mail, select one of the tariff plans, sign the papers and send them back by mail. But if you wish, you can change the supplier to any of those who work in your area. The difference can be quite significant, especially if you are able to accurately calculate your energy consumption, including at different times of the day. There are special websites where you can compare prices and choose the most profitable option.
Green kilowatts
Moreover, you can choose not only a supplier, but also an energy source. The Germans are obsessed with defense environment and fundamentally do not want the light bulbs in their homes to be powered by nuclear power plants. In this regard, contracts with energy companies clearly indicate where the energy comes from to the consumer. You can even choose a tariff plan in which all energy will be produced exclusively by solar panels and wind turbines.
I was interested in the mechanism of how this is achieved. After all, electrons, as you know, cannot be signed, and you cannot stick a label on them. It turned out that the scheme was quite crafty. The company can only guarantee that at the same time you turn on the light bulb, it purchases the appropriate amount of energy from a trusted supplier. But, of course, there is no separate network into which energy is supplied, only wind generators.
On average, electricity costs Germans 25-30 cents per kilowatt. For a family of four this is approximately 80-90 euros per month. But the most serious item of utility costs in Germany is still heating. Of course, the climate here cannot be compared with Siberian, and the batteries are not kept on around the clock, even in winter. But fuel also costs much more.
District heating, by the way, is considered a German invention. But in our usual form - with thermal power plants and large boiler houses - it is rare. The hundred-thousandth city of Trier, for example, manages just fine without its heating plant and about summer blackouts hot water its inhabitants had never heard of it. Central heating today in Germany is called a communal boiler in the basement, running on fuel oil, diesel fuel or gas.
Heating and chimney sweeps
This is the most common method of heat supply, but there are other options, for example, electric floor heating or electric storage heaters, which operate at night, when energy is cheap, and release heat during the day. Recently, fireplaces have gained popularity again, for which special fireplaces are made from waste wood. fuel briquettes. In our house, the rooms are installed connected to the chimney gas convectors, they need to be ignited by pressing a button.
By the way, all heating equipment in Germany is controlled by chimney sweeps. They not only check the condition of the equipment, but also measure the level of emissions into the atmosphere. Reducing carbon emissions is a new global priority for the Germans, which is why people in this profession walk around important and full of their own importance. When we learned in the fall that an inspector was coming to see us, we were at first delighted at the rare chance to see a live chimney sweep, hold his button and make a wish. But he entered the apartment with such a stern and serious expression on his face that we decided not to risk it.
Moreover, it immediately turned out that one of our convectors sends more harmful substances than it should be. The chimney sweep said that he would immediately write a threatening letter and demand that the owners of the apartment eliminate the violations within a week. Indeed, a few days later a technician came to us and tweaked something in the device. A week later, a chimney sweep showed up to check. He took measurements, and only when everything turned out to be normal did he allow himself to smile for the first time. Here we could no longer resist and asked him about the buttons. It turned out that they know this sign in Germany, and our chimney sweep willingly allowed us to make a wish.
We wished that our next apartment in Germany would be more like a Russian one.
I recently met a builder from Germany, and was surprised to learn from him that building a house is very easy and simple. They have spent a lot of brains on technology and organization, they have a bunch of services, from strength calculations to free house-building capacity - but there is almost nowhere to put all this wealth.
I am primarily interested in wooden houses“a la frame builder” and I, of course, told him about my idea for a building constructor. As it turned out, the idea is not new - everyone has already come up with it before us! This is how they build themselves. Only with the hands not of the customer, but of the builders.
According to the German, they build both wooden and stone houses. Wooden - frame. Houses made from SIP panels are considered a type of frame house. Stone - their wall stones, like our aerated concrete, but not quite. Their main difference is that these stones are made either without the use of cement at all, or with some ridiculous amount of it. But ordinary brick for external walls is prohibited, so as not to heat the street, and the construction of such a house is much more expensive.
And, by the way, at the cost of a “box” of them frame houses are obtained a little more expensive than from their wall blocks. And if with finishing and additional insulation- then on the contrary - all communications cannot be laid into stone walls and ceilings during masonry; this has to be done separately.
The German was very reluctant to talk about the details of the device - he said that everything would be done “as expected.” However, we managed to find out something.
“As it should be” - these are German standards of quality, durability and energy saving for our climate, i.e. the way, according to their standards and understanding, it is necessary to build in our climate.
I was interested wooden house, so the main conversations were about this. First we discussed SIP panels, because, as it seemed to me, they were faster and more convenient to build with.
It turned out that, despite the same name, they have different panels - not the ones what we call "Ecopan". They often use polyurethane foam as insulation, rather than polystyrene foam, like ours. He says it’s more environmentally friendly and warmer - less insulation is needed, the wall is thinner, less wood is used for the frame, and it’s not cheap.
The main advantage of SIP panels - the simplicity and speed of assembling the box - disappears when assembled by German hands: the box of a 150 m2 house made from SIP panels is installed in a day, and a simple frame - a maximum of one and a half. But SIP panels are inferior in terms of assembly time: to prepare structural elements for a regular frame, it takes 2 weeks, and from SIP panels - 4-6 weeks. The final price of the house is almost the same.
Especially about energy efficiency at home: this is one of my “problems” (well, I really don’t like being dependent on external factors, especially in such a vital issue as the temperature inside the house).
It is clear that the climate in the main territory of Germany is significantly warmer than ours. But German houses are warmer than ours even for their climate. And if you use their standards for our climate, then you get a “hurricane”:
We believe that 14 cm of polystyrene foam in a SIP panel (Ekopan type) is enough for the walls to have the required resistance heat transfer And by German standards for our climate outside you need another 10 cm of foam. And for their climate they add only 4 cm! At the same time, there are practically no vestibules at the entrance. For our Krasnodar region, this, of course, is suitable, but for the Moscow region it is not.
Here is an example of their house:
Some details of the structure of such a house are.
The construction of such a house with an area of about 150 m2 looks like this:
A set of parts is made at the factory and delivered to the construction site by 8:00 along with a detailed installation plan. By the evening of the same day (10 hours before), the box is assembled at home. AND this happens without a hacksaw or tape measure- parts do not require adjustment on site.
The foundation (usually of the “slab” type) is made in advance by another team of four people. It takes her TWO day. All necessary communications are laid in the foundation. After production, the foundation should stand for at least a week.
Since their worker’s time is very expensive (according to the estimate - at least 20 euros per hour, usually 25), the assembly team has a good set of tools and uses a mini-crane - although there are no heavy parts, but with it it is much faster.
Of course, after 10 hours of assembly, only a “box” is obtained, but the box is very nice: the walls and ceilings are standing, the roof attic floor or rafter system ready for roofing. Cable channels are already laid into the walls and there are wires and all the pipes in them. Walls are not only a frame in the traditional sense of the word, but also the entire necessary insulation inside. From the inside it turns out smooth walls made of polished OSB (you can glue wallpaper), If the house is made of SIP panels, then on outer side additional insulation has already been fixed - ready for exterior finishing. The outside of the house is covered with windproofing.
At this point, the installation of the box is considered complete.
No exterior finishing is included in this stage. Windows are one of the first jobs to be installed the next day: without them there are drafts and the inability to carry out other work. On the second day the house is covered with a roof.
Bringing a 150 m2 house into turnkey condition takes them about another month. But it’s really “turnkey” - hang curtains, put in furniture and live: sockets, switches and plumbing are installed, tiles are installed, the roof is covered, laminate flooring is installed, all doors are installed, all communications are connected to existing networks. A finishing staircase has been installed.
The German house has several more features:
- the rigidity of the floors and the load-bearing capacity of the walls is calculated, and not done by eye. And it is calculated according to German standards, which are higher than ours. The minimum permissible load “they have” is 200 kg per m2 - it is impossible to make it less. When ordering a house, you can ask any other, but only above them minimum standards. If your project includes, for example, a large corner bathroom, then the load-bearing capacity of the floor underneath will be appropriate. For floors, special beams are used, which can have different sizes, and they can be laid as often as necessary to ensure the required strength of the floor. Examples of such beams
- The Germans have different panels. Instead of polystyrene foam, which causes environmental concerns, rigid polyurethane foam is used inside the panels. It is more effective as insulation, safer in case of fire, and better in terms of environmental parameters. Thanks to this, the layer of additional external insulation of the house box with polystyrene foam can be reduced to 8 (!!!) cm. Our houses made of SIP panels make do with only a 14 cm layer of polystyrene foam inside the SIP panel. I have never seen any cases of such insulation outside. Maybe there is somewhere in Siberia...
In addition, the Germans have sanded OSB on the inner layer of the SIP panel - it is much smoother than usual, and, for example, wallpaper can be glued on it without additional leveling/puttying, which significantly simplifies the finishing and reduces its cost. Although they usually cover it with plasterboard - according to their German standards, this is supposed to be done in a number of cases for fire safety reasons.
- heating it requires much less energy - 1 kilowatt per 100 m2. It turns out that a 100-watt incandescent light bulb can heat a room of 10 m2. And a warm floor can be the main heating system, and not an auxiliary one, as is usually the case with us. And taking into account the fact that a person also gives off a noticeable amount of heat, and household appliances- too, then heating energy may require even less. Almost an "energy-passive" house!
In principle, such a house can be placed even “in an open field”, and the necessary energy can be obtained using a small wind generator and solar battery. And if you use gas in cylinders for heating, then one cylinder is enough for a month in winter.
There are already technologies for storing electricity and delivering it to the house when power is needed that significantly exceeds the power of the source, and I wrote about this. If you calculate the amount of money, effort and time that needs to be spent on supplying and connecting main gas to the house, then now the “autonomous” option may turn out to be more attractive. Especially considering the independence from gas and energy companies.
This, of course, is partly explained by significantly more warm walls and floors, but German ventilation standards make a huge contribution to the increased energy efficiency of the house.
Let me remind you that according to our standards, the air in a room 3 meters high should change once an hour. This means that warm air it is necessary to drive it outside, and the outside one must be heated and brought into the house.
I can understand such standards if three people live in a 15m2 room (as was often the case after the Civil War), but for a house with a volume of 450m3 meters, which usually houses 1-3 people? I'm afraid it's just sabotage.
The Germans have individual house You just need to open the windows once a day and ventilate the rooms. It is believed that air leaks from the street through opening doors and leaks in windows. Nobody prohibits fans in bathrooms and hoods in the kitchen, and, in my opinion, they should be left. And an open window in the summer is the most proper ventilation. And in winter, opening it slightly for a few minutes is also very pleasant.
The construction of such a house turns from a terrible headache and a lot of risks into a very nice and enjoyable activity for the customer. WITH labor discipline, the accuracy and quality of work of the Germans is all right. Construction simply ceases to be a feat.
And, most importantly: the cost of construction such a house, including materials, delivery, customs and assembly by German hands according to their German drawings practically no different from construction"almost the same" houses by our builders. It turned out that 1m2 of area will cost 27.5 thousand rubles!!! This amount was obtained using the example of calculating the cost of building a turnkey house like this by the architect Firsov:
This money includes the foundation, delivery, customs, assembly by German hands, and connection to communications. (The cost of sewage treatment plants, water wells, electricity limits - of course - no. They don't even really understand what that means.)
The German says that he is ready to build a house in the Moscow region for this money!
If all this works out like this, then the “German house” has one more thing interesting "consequence":
If a one-room apartment in Moscow costs 500 thousand USD, then with this money you can buy a plot of land near Istra (50 thousand USD, 30 km from Moscow), build a “German” house of 130 meters (140 thousand USD - one living room and three bedrooms), spend another 20 thousand on developing the site (water, local wastewater treatment plants, paths, etc.), 15 thousand - for furniture - a total of 225 thousand. Another 25 thousand - a car. And live on the remaining 250 thousand for 10-15 years, forgetting about work. This is an interesting arrangement.
And all this can be done without a headache in 4-5 months, taking into account the time for searching and registering a site.
What is your attitude towards this construction?
More about the "German House":
Comments:
Half-timbered architecture is immediately recognizable. It is associated with the houses of Germany and Europe. Often the roofs in such structures are covered with tiled roofs. Today, this canonical type of residential buildings is used as a design delight. On the other hand, it is a symbol of German quality. But in fact, buildings from the 15th-16th centuries have been preserved in Germany, which are still in use today. Therefore, many argue that houses using German technology have an increased service life.
History of German houses
Actually famous German houses, whose photos are mesmerizing, appeared for a reason. The designs of buildings in which wood is the main material are typical for both wooded areas and coastal areas. In the countries of the Baltic and North Seas (Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, Holland, etc.) there were many skilled carpenters who built high-quality ships. These masters knew how to build correctly reliable design made of wood, so we started building the structures.
To build the first houses, pillars were dug directly into the ground, and connecting beams and rafters were laid on top of them, after which the construction of the roof began. Of course, after 15 years, the pillars rotted relatively quickly. Over time, they began to be installed on the prototype of a stone foundation - huge boulders previously dug into the ground. The service life of poles, and therefore structures, has increased tenfold. But it was necessary to compensate for the connection to the ground with many transverse slopes, rods, tightenings and connections.
For skilled carpenters, such a connection was not a problem. They were carried out according to naval methods and techniques. Today, all connections have been replaced by simpler ones, using steel fasteners (anchors, screws, brackets, threaded rods).
Design Features
In fact, a German house is a special frame made of elements of large and medium sections, with the cavities of the external temperature contour filled. The remaining elements of the structure (roof, foundation, partitions, walls) can be made in the same way as in other houses.
A reliable frame is not a problem for skilled carpenters. But filling your sinuses is a difficult task. After all, the quality of the walls, and therefore the fate of the entire structure, depended on this. At that time, the sinuses were filled with adobe or adobe material. This material has been used on all continents. Today it is also becoming popular and is used in green construction.
Grooves were cut into the beams into which a paired or wicker lattice of rods was inserted. Saman was applied to it. Sheet material for exterior finishing building was not invented at that time, and using boards for this purpose was too expensive. Therefore, the buildings were plastered, but first apply the solution to wooden beams it didn't work out.
Therefore, the walls remained with visible beams, which later became the hallmark of German houses.
Distinctive feature of a half-timbered house
Many old German houses have one distinctive feature. If you look closely, you can see that each new floor of the house hangs over the previous one. At first glance it looks unusual. The explanation for this design is quite simple. In coastal areas it often rains and precipitation, flowing down the walls, water fell on the lower floors. Their walls were getting very wet. The upper floors dried quickly due to the wind and sun. The lower ones could rot due to moisture, and this is unacceptable. Therefore, the upper floors were brought forward.
This construction feature became ineffective with the invention of construction industry quality waterproofing materials. Modern facades, foundations, walls and wood are reliably protected from frost and moisture. Therefore, modern German houses have completely flat wall planes.
The changes also affected roofing material, due to the weight of which it was impossible to carry the visor even half a meter. Today they use lightweight sheets that can remove water from the wall by a meter or even more.
Canadian technology or still German?
Old German houses can safely be called the basis of all technologies frame structure. After all, in modern construction By frame technology Almost everything was repeated. There are no transverse slopes in the systems. Today, experts only use a different thickness of the material (modern beams have become a little thinner). Many believe that it is Canadian, but finished structures are often called both Finnish and German. And this is fair, because buildings were constructed using this technology even before the discovery of America.
Today at frame houses It’s hard to see old European houses, because they have the characteristic advantage of covering with high-quality sheet material and finishing the building on the outside. The design of the structure was improved, and nature also benefited, because wood consumption was significantly reduced.
Ancient house-building method and modern materials
Thanks to the sheathing of a solid OSB sheet, the structure has become even stronger, stiffer and more reliable. Now there is no need to use powerful beams and racks at the initial stage. Exterior decoration And sheet material reliably protect the wooden frame from negative environmental influences: solar burnout, weathering, freezing. Thanks to such protection, the service life of the structure has increased significantly.
A good German house has business card- visible beams of the structure. Today they are used only for decorative purposes. Of course, walls made of adobe and clay are a thing of the past, and the space is filled with high-quality and environmentally friendly insulation. Today straw is also used as filler.
Previously, finishing the sinuses was a problem, but today this process takes as much effort as interior decoration walls Thanks to the use of modern façade putties this process is easy and simple.
The frame of the structure remains a model of the reliability of the entire structure. Metal elements helped speed up and simplify the installation process of a German house.
Conclusion
A German house is a high-quality, reliable structure. Its construction is practically no different from other houses. Remember, having decided to build such a house, you will be able to fulfill your dream and live in
