Germans and Heat

I write one of these essays almost yearly.  It's one of those things that an American would come to notice after a while in the country.  Frankly, Germans can't handle heat, period.  That's my assessment and some Germans might argue about this, but hear me  out.

Today, we are on the third day of the first initial heat wave of the year.  Here at 9:30AM, it's already 29 Celsius (84 degrees Centigrade).  A guy in Alabama would say 29C is just barely getting you to the mild point of summer.  For a German.....especially already this high at 9:30AM.....it's a miserable thing.

By 3:00 PM today, we are expecting it to be near 35C (roughly 95 degrees Fahrenheit).  News reports this morning covered the high number of Germans who got totted off to the hospital in the local state....for heat-related injuries.....dozens of folks.

I can remember as a kid....with a hundred-plus days of 35C per summer being just 'average'....in a whole year, you might hear of one single person in the county being carried off to the hospital.  It just didn't happen that much in Alabama.  A typical summer in Germany will have around three periods of extreme heat (29C or more), and these periods will typically last seven to ten days each.  It's usually a stalled heat wave, with winds out of the south.

Why the big difference in attitude?  I think Germans try to brave it out without AC units (to them, it's a waste of money and unnecessary).  I will admit....since the 1990s.....you see more and more German homes with at least one small AC unit.  In my village, I'd take a guess that ten-percent of houses now have at least a small unit installed.  Business operations for the most part wont' go this way, although you will find butcher shops with AC units and some hair stylist shops with such units.  Most all grocery operations now have a big AC unit running.

Germans try to work through the heat.....taking a extra break or two, and pushing themselves to the limit.  That's a bit different from Americans who will come in earlier to do physical labor and then usually stop major physical work by 1PM.

Higher consumption of ice cream?  Well, that's another thing that you notice.  Compared to a month ago, I'd take a guess that most ice cream shops are doing fifty-percent more business than in May.  Even beer consumption is up.....mostly by guys who finished up work and have gone home to sit on their patio or balcony, and cool off with a cool beer (note: cold beers aren't the preferred item for Germans.....simply chilled beer).

Roads having issues?  Well, that's another funny thing.  Because of the evening to mid-day temperature change.....you tend to see buckling of roads more often. It's a dangerous episode that you might run into on the autobahn.

What happens at 40C (104F)?   It's safe to say that Germans mostly stand around.....muttering curse words, drinking excessive amounts of water, and complaining.  When you stand on a German bus and they have writing on the bus to suggest it's got HVAC units onboard.....well....the units barely work at 32C, and they have absolutely NO effect at 40C.....they simply blow hot air around.  I sat on a bus yesterday afternoon, with the inside temp near 36C (96F), and after five minutes of hot air hitting my face.....I finally said enough and climbed off the bus to some ice cream shop to re-hydrate myself with ice cream and a big cup of chilled water.  An hour later, I got back on the bus and continued on my way.

My house?  Well....my wife (ever the practical German) dictates NO AC units, period.  So, we have this old strategy of the 1950s.  You open up the house during the evening hours completely to allow air flow.  At 7AM, you shut all windows and lower the roladen to cover the windows.  The house stays mostly at 25C (77F) for the bulk of the day.  Heat might pick up toward 7PM, but the sun goes down an hour later (that hill is comforting in the summer....giving you an hour less of direct light).  By 10PM, you open up the windows again, and use natural winds to chill out the house.  The only whiners to this strategy are the cats.

A big deal about nothing?  Well....you have to survive these two or three periods each year.  Oddly, over the past twenty years.....I'd say one or two summers came with almost no excessive heat.  The cherry with those mild summers?  Germans whined that it wasn't the normal summer.  Yeah.....you whine with X or you whine with Y.....but you have to have something, in order to whine about.  It makes sense.....well....sorta.