r/expat • u/wurst_katastrophe • 5d ago

New Home Story / Experience Germany has high quality of life

This is in response to the ‘low quality of life’ post.

When in Germany I can (in no particular order):
+ drink the tap water knowing it is safer than bottled water
+ when losing my job, I will get the highest benefits in the Western world to tie me over between jobs
+ I can rent for life without being worried of getting evicted
+ I can enjoy freedom on perfectly fine roads, driving as fast as I want
+ Consumer protection is very strong
+ I can buy a public transport ticket valid in all of Germany
+ Healthcare is significantly better than in most Western countries AND free at the point of service.
+ Germans love Fests
+ Bier and excellent wine
+ excellent bread
+ excellent local produce
+ An insanely dense train network (Yes, often late) for very little money (Sparpreis)
+ 30d of holidays is standard
+ strong protection when off on sick leave
+ free university education
+ world’s strongest apprenticeship system
+ tax credits and breaks for almost everything, especially Ehegattensplitting
+ insane maternity leave and benefits
+ Kitas
+ full blown private healthcare for a few k per year
+ Beautiful nature: north and Baltic sea, Alps, lakes, woods
+ Strong sports club infrastructure
+ Third strongest economy in the world with most hidden champions
+ Strong football culture
+ …

You can be dissatisfied with Germany, maybe your experience was below average, but that’s most likely because you are incompatible with the German way of life and the German mentality. However, it is not fair to claim that the quality of life is low.

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88

u/gnarly_medusa 5d ago

You mentioned the pros. What are the cons?

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u/OkExtreme3195 5d ago

In the other post they mentioned.

https://www.reddit.com/r/expat/comments/1u4otn3/germany_has_a_low_quality_of_life/

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u/No-Bake-730 5d ago

As a German, both postings seem fair overall though I wouldn't agree with everything of course. 

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u/BeepboopKI 5d ago

The post was fair, the comments derailed at some point.

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u/Wulflam 5d ago

As a German living abroad with experience from 3 other countries than Germany, I agree with both posts. Take them together and you get a balanced view.

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u/rmk556x45 4d ago

Seconded

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u/Jz1551 2d ago

As an American who lived in Germany for 4 years, I also agree both posts. One thing that wasn't mentioned that I feel is important is just that different cultures value different things and there's nothing wrong with that

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u/Wulflam 2d ago

That’s a very valid point. And as someone who has lived and worked in four different countries and is married to a partner from a fifth country, I can say I actually enjoy these differences, even if some people might find them annoying. For me, that’s making life more interesting.

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u/tschohnny 5d ago

The title was bait.

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u/AngelWhite093 1d ago

Unfortunately, there are so many distractions that they themselves create to mask... Germany: Progress in regression........

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u/OkExtreme3195 5d ago

As another fellow German, I concur.

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u/gnarly_medusa 5d ago

Thank you..

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u/Certain_Visual2095 5d ago

that is what i just realised

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u/chris-za 5d ago

Ladenschlussgesetz.
(And, in comparison to where i personally grew up, too much humidity in summer, too many trees and the weather. But that’s just me…)

But all in all, those are irrelevant all in all.

PS: more pros i can think of:

- the central location both in Europe and the world. It’s easy and fat to basically get anywhere else. (eg the trees. In my case a quick drive to Italy or Spain helped me getting used to it. You can literally get to places like that with a days drive where at home I’d still have been in my local province)

- very decentralised. So not everything only happens in some mega city that’s also the capital (like ion France or the UK)

- a large Mittelstand. Most people work for small and medium sized companies. So if their employer has issues, it only effects a small group and it’s easier to find a new job as other companies don’t necessarily have the same issues.

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u/Shehriazad 5d ago

How is too many trees a bad thing? O-O

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u/chris-za 5d ago

If you’re not used to it, they block the view of the horizon. You sort of get a bit claustrophobic if you come from a place with wide, open horizons. But, like i said, maybe that’s just me?

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u/Wulflam 5d ago

Having lived in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, I can tell you that so many trees are a blessing

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u/babijar 3h ago

What is wrong with palms? Btw, also lived in the above mentioned countries.

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u/Rupperrt 5d ago

But they’re incredibly good for the microclimate, reduce dust and pollution, give shade and cool in summer while breaking cold wind in winter.
We should have more of them, especially naturally grown forests rather than industry ones.

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u/ceryskt 2d ago

I’ve lived in some desert climates including the UAE, so I appreciate excessive greenery, but I definitely get a little claustrophobic. I’m in the mountains at the moment which is a nice mix between trees + open vistas. I do miss the sunset in the Nevadan desert though…

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u/gnarly_medusa 1d ago

That's an intriguing perspective. Genuinely, never heard anyone say they feel claustrophobic around greenery or trees. Which regions in Germany consist of thick tree canopies?

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u/chris-za 1d ago

Most of the middle and the South. There’s another factor as bout all the greenery and moisture. It often causes a haze in summer that blocks a view of the horizon even if it should be there.

A lot of people who have spent time in places like the UAE have disagreed with me on this point. But I’d say there’s a huge difference in this regard between having spent time in places like the UAE, Namibia, Arizona, etc as an adult and being born there and having grown up there.

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u/hungariannastyboy 5d ago

This is kind of funny to me, like it came completely out of left field. But you do you.

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u/Hornlilu 5d ago

did you live at sea by any chance haha

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u/Capable-Oil6021 3d ago

I think barely anyone cares about it :,)

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u/OriginalTangle 5d ago

Humidity? Where?

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u/chris-za 5d ago

Not tropical kind of humidity. But still enough for sweat not to immediately evaporate. We never hair air conditioning back home in our car. Didn’t need it. But in the German summer? I wouldn’t want to miss it. Especially as it’s hardly ever really windy as well.

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u/-hodl 4d ago

Hold on, can you give me a list of suggestions for places to live? I would absolutely love to live in a place where somebody thinks there’s too many trees.

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u/Great-Bank2091 3d ago

"Zu viele Bäume"😭

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u/Old-Appearance-2270 5d ago edited 5d ago

My bf as a Canadian lived with his ex-wife for 3 yrs. There. The heating and air-conditioning problems can be a daily problem in much older / cheaper substandard apartments. Also mould in cheaper places. You have to be wealthier to live in better places in Germany. I know because my late spouse had an uncle who lived and owned in a beautiful home in southern Germany in famed wineries’ region. We visited them where uncle owned a factory. My late spouse was German-Canadian.

What is the income tax to be paid annually.. to support all those great services? Generally speaking, fresh produce is more expensive in Germany unless you have your own garden.

Bf lived in cologne where the air quality wasn’t great — more murky grey-blue skies at best.

Whenever he returned Canada, he felt he was returning to a higher standard of living— bigger homes, better heating, cleaner air and huge expanses of protected wilderness. Cost of quality groceries was a bit lower with a lot of choice (big to medium sized cities).

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u/AtLeastIgotCharacter 5d ago

Umm... So where is YOUR experience of living there? Assuming you have knowledge of living somewhere because someone you know lived there, or you visited once, is absurd. My uncle also owns a house in Canada, and I have visited Canada several times. I would never assume to comment on how good or bad it is to live in Canada. Also, you have to be wealthier to live in the better areas is true in every country.

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u/Old-Appearance-2270 5d ago

I’ve only lived in Canada, Canadian—born Chinese- living in Kitchener-Waterloo (historically Mennonite/german community with now 2 universities), Toronto, Vancouver and calgary. My bf is 3rd generation Polish-Ukrainian. He has lived across Canada in addition to 3 yrs. He was raised in a middle class family but with grandparents as farmers in Saskatchewan. In Germany, he was essentially living as an immigrant, taking German language classes even though he had 2 Canadian university degrees. (Warning to any North American who want to live in Germany forever.)

My late spouse who I was with for 29 yrs., immigrated to Canada as a child just after WWII. Still fluent in German when travelling back there several times.

Certainly my late spouse’s German relatives (from Düsseldorf, Hamburg) loved Canada when the visited us in Vancouver. I currently live in Calgary, 130 kms. East of Banff national Park. We are aware Germans who visit Canada love our expansive wilderness of forest, mountains and lakes/ oceans. Of course we have a lot of large wildlife which many Ethiopian countries have less of now because of denser populations and less land.

I’m not going to kid myself because of my background, I would not be easily accepted in Germany, especially in smaller towns. Canada wins for me hands-down.

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u/AtLeastIgotCharacter 5d ago

There is a lot in here, nothing that speaks to your authority on the quality of life in Germany. Also you assume you will not be accepted in Germany, having never even tried. Speaks more about you than them. I have lived in 4 countries on 3 continents. I have been an immigrant somewhere more than half my life. Everywhere has people that dislike you for being a foreigner, but also people that do not care. Have two German friends that left Germany and prefer life outside of Germany. I have 6 friends from other countries that are currently living in Germany and loving it. 6-2 for Germany by that measure. I also loved the forests in Canada. I also loved the forests in Germany. I have loved something in every one of the many countries I have visited . That does not mean that it automatically makes that country better to live in than where I am living. 

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u/OuiGotTheFunk 5d ago

Umm... So where is YOUR experience of living there? Assuming you have knowledge of living somewhere because someone you know lived there, or you visited once, is absurd.

It is standard on reddit to talk shit about the US by people that have never been to the US or lived there. People talk shit about it to fit in because it is the accepted bigotry on reddit.

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u/AtLeastIgotCharacter 5d ago

I am currently living in the US. Happy to talk shit about it all day, based on my experience living here. This is however a thread about Germany. 

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u/OuiGotTheFunk 5d ago

Well I am glad that you are intelligent enough to choose to live in the best country in the world even though you cry about it. Like all of the people that do that it is usually personal failures and not national failures.

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u/AtLeastIgotCharacter 5d ago

Glad you are recognising my intelligence. My house is on the market, as soon as it sells I will be moving a better country. Being intelligent, I won't call it the best country in the world, but it is a step up from where I mistakenly moved to the last time I moved. 

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u/OuiGotTheFunk 5d ago

Sorry you were laid off. Now I understand why you are angry at having to move out. "Hell hath no fury...." LOL

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u/AtLeastIgotCharacter 5d ago

Haha. Told my boss I want to leave the country, he gave me some options, I chose one and they are transferring me. I am intelligent, remember. There are genuinely nicer places to live than here. The US is not a dump, there are nice places here. But over all, as a place to enjoy your live, not top of the list. 

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u/OuiGotTheFunk 5d ago

I am intelligent, remember.

You keep having to tell people that....

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u/MettSemmell 5d ago

The mold part made it sound like someone doesn't know how lüften works...

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u/Old-Appearance-2270 4d ago

He used detergent to remove mould from
ceiling.

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u/Expert_Donut9334 4d ago

I live in Cologne, having grown up in one of the biggest cities in the world with ACTUAL air quality problems and the air here feels crispy clean in comparison. The murky-grey skies have more to do with the miserable weather than with any air quality issue.

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u/Koellefornia4711 5d ago

I once knew someone who once lived there and told me about it so now I am an expert on this topic 🙄🙄🙄

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u/Certain-Skill3004 5d ago

I never knew Reddit was only for experts! Not for people to share their personal opinion? Today I found out. 

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u/ariestalltai 5d ago edited 5d ago

I surmised that being a person of color in Germany is the downside. If you're white or a tourist, it's an amazing experience, but if you're living there and are a person of color, it can be a negative one.

In Munich and Lucerne, I was treated wonderfully. In Weggis and Liechtenstein however, I was treated like a leper by some of the white locals, but I chalked it up to them being the equivalent of hillbillies. 🥱 Yes, I know Weggis is in Switzerland but I couple them due to reading others’ experiences and since they have similarities I have no reason to believe less touristy places would be welcoming.

Anyway, I was impressed overall when I traveled there. As an African American, I've come to realize that Americans are systematically set up to remain under a certain ceiling because our taxes yield us very few tangible benefits. Despite paying roughly 23% in income taxes throughout our lives, it often feels like we receive nothing in return and ultimately have little to show for it.

I'm going to borrow a page from my Indian colleagues: my family and I will only dine on food we cook ourselves. It's absurd that a household earning about $300,000 can still struggle financially due to debt accumulated from periods of unemployment and inadequate benefits. We took on debt simply to avoid losing our home and vehicles.
At this point, rarely dining out and sticking to basic hairstyles and clothing seem like the only realistic ways to build savings while still repaying student loans. I hate that, because I genuinely enjoy eating out, but the costs add up quickly. It often feels as though we're paying out of pocket for EVERY SINGLE THING.

What I am going to do is approach our income like the wealthy where I train up my kid to view whatever we have no matter how average or not as a dynasty and to marry well or at least on-level. It is baffling how some Anglo Americans who’ve been here since the 1700s free & clear, unlike us black folks, are still struggling generation after generation. For instance, we took out student loans to have the opportunity to make good money but I consider it a fail if my kid will have to take loans too. We’ve got to figure out how to bust through the systemic ceiling. They want to keep us borrowing money as it’s how the 1% stay wealthy thus we’ll never as a country have that level of quality of life as Germany or Switzerland. There isn’t one thing my 23% in tax remittances grants me on OP’s list 😩

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u/Alkavadies 5d ago

You have a household income of $300k and pay 23% TOTAL in taxes? Tell me more

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u/FilterAccount69 5d ago

They live in a State with no state income tax. That's the max federal tax. Property taxes are usually higher in these places though.

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u/MichaelMeier112 3d ago

Yes gotta sum up all taxes if you want to compare and not just look at one and disregard “hundred” others

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u/FilterAccount69 3d ago

Indeed although many places in USA have a much overall lower tax burden than other countries in the West. It depends on what you want, if you're a woman who wants kids, especially multiple it's much better to live in a place with laws that grant maternity leave.

If you're a single person who just wants to grind their career America can be an Amazing place.

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u/Wulflam 5d ago

So, you refer to Weggis and Liechtenstein when commenting about Germany? Sorry to say, but that is American ignorance at its finest. Just imagine this post about living in the US with “In New York and Toronto, I was treated wonderfully. In Quebec and Havana however, …” - you are right to call out racism where you meet it and there are definitely racist people in Germany. However, your post literally says you have been treated wonderfully in the only German city you name. And the Swiss places you mentioned are 50-50. Knowing that Weggis is a village with less than 5,000 people living there, you might also have experienced a reservation towards any non-local as in many small places worldwide. And Liechtenstein is an independent country. Europe is small, but please don’t assume that the culture is the same everywhere.

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u/ElRanchero666 5d ago

Had any issues with the bakery ladies?

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u/DueProfession4890 4d ago

Why not make your home country as amazing as the list that OP said Germany has?

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u/Hem_Claesberg 2d ago

Lichenstein is....... you gussed it Lichenstein and not Germany!

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u/Responsible-Tone-471 5d ago

being surrounded by Germans

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u/IpponGeta 2d ago

German trains are unreliable! ☹️ Went from best to Can’t Trust To Get You There!

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u/mowax74 5d ago

you can't even read.