The German Lounge

[Santaman]

I've ventured into Germany a few times, not too far though, Osnabruck and Gronau.
My speaking German is fluent with a bit of rust, I can read it very well, my German writing is a catastrophy.

 

[Kilana2]

I could write an entire essay on how horrible our Deutsche Bahn is with its trains, but let's just say that the stereotype/myth of "everything is on time and runs smoothly and is extremely efficient" is indeed a complete myth when it comes to our trains. The shortest summary is this: During summer the air conditioning breaks and people collapse inside overheated trains, in winter the railway switches freeze (some of them are leftovers from the German Empire... I wish I was kidding, but I'm not) and nothing moves.

It's all a result of decades of bad management decisions - such as getting rid of tracks that are desperately needed now because there are more trains than ever and there's simply not enough space for all of them, not wishing to spend money on anything because the basic rule is that if they let things deteriorate enough, the German state has to pay for repairs, but if the Deutsche Bahn repairs stuff BEFORE it's completely broken THEY have to pay for it so for them it's more economically sound to just wait for things to break completely, etc etc etc.

And you are not compensated anymore when trains are delayed and you have to get desperately to work and have to resort to a Taxi. They keep on saying: then you have to get up earlier to catch another trian. It is then 3.00 in the morning for me. Thenk you for trevvelling wisse Deutsche Bahn....

 

[Miss Lemon]

I've visited Germany fairly often during my holidays and for work. Apart from the DB, it’s a well-organised country with lots of history, art, nature and friendly people.

I've been to Dusseldorf (art musea), Dortmund, Berlin, Hamburg and Munchen (lovely green city) several times. I've also visited Frankfurt (again art), Mannheim, Stuttgart (palace), Heilbronn (wine festival) and Trier (Roman remnants including an amfitheatre).

Heidelberg is still on my wish list.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only unfortunate experience I had with DB was when my dad and I were preparing to take the train from Berlin to Munich.

Our tickets were labelled with the specific train car we were supposed to use, but when the train pulled into the station, half the cars weren't numbered, and some of the ones that were, kept changing their numbers! So basically we had no idea where to get onto the train. Fortunately we got things sorted out, but I thought we were gonna be left behind...

 

[Kilana2]

Bahn is canceled because of heat, cold weather, wind. It is not to be used by any kind of weather at all. You can read it in the operating manual.

 

[Nakita Akita]

And you are not compensated anymore when trains are delayed and you have to get desperately to work and have to resort to a Taxi. They keep on saying: then you have to get up earlier to catch another trian. It is then 3.00 in the morning for me. Thenk you for trevvelling wisse Deutsche Bahn....

Where I live, they can't get any bus or train drivers because the jobs suck so much with the homeless people using the busses as toilets or attacks on the drivers, I even heard that the drivers aren't supposed to defend themselves if they ARE attacked!!
Homeless people just get on the bus or train and ride it back and forth and backend forgh until the bus has to be emptied to go back to the garage.
So right now it's bad for people, each morning on the morning news they list which trains or bus routes are not running.
I drive my car to work.

 

[Avro Arrow]

for those lurkers who can't read German: garakvsneelix hails from Passau in Bavaria [hey, that's practically next door from me!] but commutes between Passau and Darmstadt, hence the storm the other day concerned him [I presume. Or her??] quite a bit

I had read @garakvsneelix 's post prior to your posting the translation, but Google Translate gave me the gist! (And based on your post, apparently did a very good job of it, too! That's not always the case... )

 

[rhubarbodendron]

LOL yes, I remember that ages ago we used to run a sentence through 3 or 4 different translators in a row and ROTF at the results It'd frequently be something like 'switch off the power' => 'confuse away from the force'

My speaking German is fluent with a bit of rust

Liar! I happen to know firsthand that you speak it like a native!

 

[Nakita Akita]

LOL yes, I remember that ages ago we used to run a sentence through 3 or 4 different translators in a row and ROTF at the results It'd frequently be something like 'switch off the power' => 'confuse away from the force'

Liar! I happen to know firsthand that you speak it like a native!

I learned a cuss word from a lady I used to work with.
In America, cussing is an important part of life
My grandmother would sometimes cussin German It cracked us kids up.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

And you are not compensated anymore when trains are delayed and you have to get desperately to work and have to resort to a Taxi. They keep on saying: then you have to get up earlier to catch another trian. It is then 3.00 in the morning for me. Thenk you for trevvelling wisse Deutsche Bahn....

I mostly rely on local public transport (which has its own facepalm-inducing quirks, such as "please note that there won't be as many trams today due to personnel shortages"... if ONE tram driver gets sick their entire timetable collapses... sigh) but our trams do use some of the DB tracks and I've lost count of how many times a train is in the way and causes delays. And yeah, I've heard the "then you have to leave earlier" advice as well. How am I supposed to do that when I already TAKE THE EARLIEST TRAM/BUS/TRAIN? This sort of stuff can only come from people who take their car all the time and have never actually had to rely on public transport.

I've visited Germany fairly often during my holidays and for work. Apart from the DB, it’s a well-organised country with lots of history, art, nature and friendly people.

I've been to Dusseldorf (art musea), Dortmund, Berlin, Hamburg and Munchen (lovely green city) several times. I've also visited Frankfurt (again art), Mannheim, Stuttgart (palace), Heilbronn (wine festival) and Trier (Roman remnants including an amfitheatre).

Heidelberg is still on my wish list.

I highly recommend Heidelberg! I studied there for several years (Philosophy & English Language/Literature). Everything there is either catered towards university students or tourists, lol. It's a beautiful city tho. Would recommend it shortly before XMas in particular, the XMas market may be small but it's definitely rather charming. Been there several times, it's right in front of one of the university buildings. My uni friends used to just go out and have some Glühwein (I didn't since I don't drink alcohol) and then came back in to sit through to the next lecture.

 

[Finn]

Any Germans here familiar with Bremen? It's pretty close to the Netherlands and Belgium...compared to places like Berlin and Dresden...so it supports some scenarios I have in mind explaining not having connections to Germany in my DNA test.

According to what I've found in my research, it's where my surname left Germany. I don't have anything on them aside from their names being on passenger lists of two ships that had left Bremen for New York City...two months apart.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

We used to have a poster from Bremen. Username: UES Bremen; his sig was "buten und binnen". Haven't seen him around in ages, though, and a search for his name in different spellings yielded no result, so I presume he left or changed his name.

And Intelligence is from Bremen as well. The board says:
Intelligence was last seen: Feb 25, 2014
Now, that explains a lot about global developments of the last 6 years...

Germany has only very few oversea ports so that every emigrant left either via Bremen or via Hamburg. I'm afraid that's not much of a clue. If you happen to have the birthdates, you could possibly trace them back to their hometown.

 

[Finn]

Yes, I realized that. I looked at the maps. Lot of the German immigrants most likely only left from two places...Bremen or Hamburg, I know.

I suspect they had to come from somewhere closer to the Netherlands and/or Belgium.And I think my great-great grandmother had come from a more well-to do family than the [my surname] family she married into....

 

[Kilana2]

Where I live, they can't get any bus or train drivers because the jobs suck so much with the homeless people using the busses as toilets or attacks on the drivers, I even heard that the drivers aren't supposed to defend themselves if they ARE attacked!!
Homeless people just get on the bus or train and ride it back and forth and backend forgh until the bus has to be emptied to go back to the garage.
So right now it's bad for people, each morning on the morning news they list which trains or bus routes are not running.
I drive my car to work.

Homeless people who ride trains, trams and the likes whithout valid tickets are allowed to dodge the fare and to scrounge transportation for free. It makes other people angry.....

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I've never heard of any such case over here. At the first ticket control they'd be forced out.
I have to admit I am not quite certain how to feel about this. On the one hand, I can understand the necessity for the homeless to find a place where they can warm up a little. On the other hand, in Germany nobody needs to be homeless. There are asylums, shelters, container cities warming rooms and homes where they can go, there's the Bahnhofsmission and other charities and the state in the form of social services offers help to absolutely everyone with a problem. So people who live in the street ultimately chose to do so. And hence, if they are cold it's what they decided to be.
Yet, you can't just leave them in the streets. It'd be untidy (a major sin in Germany) and even if they often are too drunk to realize it, it's obvious to everyone else that they do need help. But would it be ethically correct and humane to force help on them?
From whatever angle you look at it, it's a morale dilemma.

 

[Kilana2]

Just read about the shooting in Hanau. Several people - mostly foreigners - have been killed by a German racist. He shot also his mother and himself. Not the kind of news I want to read when I come home from work.

 

[Nakita Akita]

I've never heard of any such case over here. At the first ticket control they'd be forced out.
I have to admit I am not quite certain how to feel about this. On the one hand, I can understand the necessity for the homeless to find a place where they can warm up a little. On the other hand, in Germany nobody needs to be homeless. There are asylums, shelters, container cities warming rooms and homes where they can go, there's the Bahnhofsmission and other charities and the state in the form of social services offers help to absolutely everyone with a problem. So people who live in the street ultimately chose to do so. And hence, if they are cold it's what they decided to be.
Yet, you can't just leave them in the streets. It'd be untidy (a major sin in Germany) and even if they often are too drunk to realize it, it's obvious to everyone else that they do need help. But would it be ethically correct and humane to force help on them?
From whatever angle you look at it, it's a morale dilemma.

I have to work in a somewhat large city.
Most, like about 90% are alcoholics or addicts. There are all sorts of programs and charities the people can use. Most don't want to because there are rules.
Last night was single digits, like +5 Fahrenheit (about -15 C)
I'll bet all of them were okay with the rules last night.
Anyway, it's pretty expensive to ride the trains busses here, the bus fare is $200.00 per month to go to and from work, where I live, that doesn't include fees to park your car, where the bus picks up. 2-4 dollars per day, some have no fee. So after paying a bit to get on the bus, shouldn't it be my right to not have to breathe in urine and fecal matter?
Also, in the city, if there is fecal matter on the sidewalk, it's human. $500.00 fine for not picking up after your pet.
People here make fun of the human excrement waste in san Fransisco Calif.
but it's everywhere.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

geez, that sounds pretty bad.
Our homeless are mostly alcoholics, too. We have only very few drug addicts living in the streets. Interestingly, littering is no problem at all. I've never realized that until you mentioned it. I suppose the number of public restrooms and the fact that during the day they can use the facilities in shops account for the difference.

Several people - mostly foreigners - have been killed by a German racist. He shot also his mother and himself. Not the kind of news I want to read when I come home from work.

yes, it was all over the radio all day. Terrible. Allegedly he was both a racist and a loonie. He had posted a vid where he babbled some nonsense about aliens exchanging people for duplicates (Doctor Who solved that problem in the 70s) and human sacrifices taking place in the US (well, Trump hasn't been doing much else with his staff ever since he came into power; apparently it's legal in the US).
At any rate, being gaga and hating foreigners - it seems he was close to but not an official member of a right wing group - is no excuse for running amok, killing 10 people and injuring dozens. And how the hell could he be that openly insane and not having his weapon license be rescinded?! He lived with his mother and she must have known. So either she was as insane as he or she was fatally loyal to her son - at a terrible cost for both her and all the other victims.

 

[Kilana2]

In my job we have to try to get those people a job - most of them are unable to stay in a job for more than several weeks - mostly because of misbehaviour.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

^do you mean homeless or amok runners?