Upon arrival in early 1978 to West Germany...being from Alabama...the 1978 summer for me was 'mild'. Yeah...it did get up into the 34 C (93 F) range....but it wasn't that bad.
Anyone having AC? No. Literally nowhere did you find AC hooked-up/running. Did Germans dress ultra casual? Oh yeah.
Around 1984/1985 when I returned....same attitude, but less clothing and fans set up everywhere.
Around 1990s when I returned again? Well....now folks were kinda engaged to not suffer....AC units (single room units) were selling. Around 2001, I noted various Air Force folks were buying 400 Euro units. Their German neighbors got 'weak' and they bought into the idea.
Around 2015....my German wife finally 'allowed' me to buy a 400 Euro unit...with stipulations. First, it had to be 33 C or more (91.4 F). The windows to the house....had to be closed at 11, and the AC unit went on at noon.....for a max of eight hours (to save energy). Finally, by 10 PM....all windows in the house had to be opened....to allow the summer cooling-off effect to occur.
So....here's the weather talk.
Over a 10 year period....there are typically five years of moderate heat (say 20 days of 33 C or MORE....spread out over June, July and August. You might have 2 days here....4 days there....1 day here....5 days there. The rest of the summer....mostly 30 C downward to 18 C (86 F down to 65 F).
The two harsh years of the ten? This is where you have 30 to 45 days of full-blast heat....going for 10 days straight (minimum). People talk about this....as the end of the world. 2003 was one of those memory years.
Then you have the ultra moderate years (three out of ten)....where you have one single day of 32 C/higher in a month, and the rest are mostly 18 C to 25 C. 2024 was one of those ultra moderate years.
Fronts come in, move, and leave. Occasionally....like 2003, the fronts 'stall'....where you end up with two to three weeks of miserable heat. It's not some demon like 'climate-change'.....it's a lingering front that simply stalls.
In my village (well-to-do crowd)....I'd take a guess that 75-percent of folks have a single-unit AC device. Older folks? No.
German hotels now with AC units? Big-name places have AC.....which you pay upwards to 150 Euro a night for the 'extras'.
Offices having AC? My wife's company has a building with AC built in. But I'd take a guess that two-thirds of businesses have only fans...no AC. The Auslander-Buro (office for migrants/Green Card).....they are without AC units.
My 'demon'? When it's a harsh summer and the 7th consecutive day of 35 C....trying to watch the nightly news and they desperately want you to fight the climate-change demon....I have to leave the room.
The best story? My wife has a gym-partner who owns a 1890s house, and deep about 6 feet below the surface....there's a room that her husband has 'set-up'....where the room never gets above 23 C (naturally chilled). The lady will escape around 10 PM, and comfortably sleep.
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