Within Article 5 of the Basic Law (the German Constitution)....you are guaranteed freedom of expression: "Everyone has the right to freely express and disseminate his or her opinion in words, writing and images and to learn from generally accessible sources without hindrance. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting through radio and film are guaranteed. Censorship will not take place."
Well...some polling was done (it's done yearly on this topic)....asking Germans if they felt secure about expressing their opinion. Usually the vast majority said yes. This year (this is via a Focus article)....via the poll of the Allensbach Research Institute....45-percent of people responded that 'no, they aren't able to express their opinion freely'.
Around 44-percent said they were cautious in how they responded in public....meaning they might hear something they object to, but because of public pressure, media pressure.....they can't say much.
I suspect if you asked the same group about the topics that they avoid....it wouldn't be just one or two.....but in general...a number of things that you just skip around or avoid talking to anyone except your closest friend, or spouse.
Topics of conflict? Refugees, crime, politics, cost of living, taxation, expansion of towns/villages, Covid-ban-rules, quality of schools, the environment, etc.
The fear of returning to the 1932 type of environment where you really didn't discuss anything with co-workers or neighbors? We aren't at that point, but it wouldn't shock me if people started to make the comparison.
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