Why Is The German Bahn (Railway) So F**ked-Up?

 My theory.

In 1978, I was introduced to the German railway system.  At the time, there were four curious positive points.  First, it wasn't very technical.  Second, you bought tickets from a person (mostly) and there was one single pricing scheme. Third, for the most part....it was on-time, but you didn't really care if it ran 30 minutes late.  Finally, train toilets and station toilets....worked.

Between 1978 and 2025....things evolved.

Everything is highly technical....with your reliance on a App at a top-level. Odds of breakage? It's probably triple of what existed in 1978.

With train toilets....it's 50-50 whether they work. At stations....as long as it's a medium-sized or large station....they exist, and you pay 1-Euro.

You can go to the counter to buy a ticket...discovering the way you get there....might have six different pricing schemes. 

If you used a train 150 occasions throughout a year....the odds are that 20-percent of the occasions are either delayed (by 30 minutes or more), or totally cancelled.  Plan 'B' is always in your mind.

So, I've come to this reality....it's an adventure to travel via the German rail service.  It pushes you to appreciate things that work.  You generally improve your plan 'B' mentality.  And it's occasionally entertaining to note the amount of grumbling by Germans, when dumped mid-route...with limited options to complete the trip.

When I peak on Bahn-stress?  It usually mid-summer days when the AC is crapped-out by mid-afternoon, or when all six toilets on a long-haul train are broke at the same time.

My worst experience?  I paid for first-class tickets.....Frankfurt to Hamburg....with reserved seats.  About 12 minutes before the Frankfurt train was to leave....it got cancelled.  They ran a back-up train 30 minutes later....combining two trains....with no reserved seats (yeah, I already paid).  It did eventually get to Hamburg. 

German Bank Spiral

I sat and read through a Focus article on Germany banking.

Around 700 Volks and Raiffeisen banks with 15 million German members are coming under pressure because of the economic slowdown, shaky lending practices, and poor judgement over loans.

Some institutes are facing restructurings....others had to be propped up by the security fund after billions in losses.

What Focus points out....regional banks are gambling in various ways....some on real estate....some over brothel purchases, some involving soccer club financings, and control failures. 

In some ways....what the article points out...risky behavior is increasing.

If German banks reach a point of serious damage?  Well....the Deutsche Bundesbank acts as a 'Federal Reserve' and would  likely inject money, and mandate tighter controls.

But at that point....real  estate issues will pop up and more serious economic problems will spiral into the situation.

28 Dec 2025: Germany: 2 Things

 1.  The Federal Council of Germany.....approved the pension package proposed by the CDU-CSU and SPD. 

Poll done....the German public....still believes that a genuine 'real' reform is still needed. More than 80 percent expressed support for a major overhaul. The current state of the coalition is a source of skepticism.

2.  Lot of black ice over Germany for past two days.  For half the country....fairly dangerous to be out driving.

Essay Commentary

After the Wall came down....there was a East German civil rights actvist who wrote up a assessment of the 'wrongs' of old DDR/East Germany, and how the future would go. Words/test by Bärbel Bohley: 

“All these investigations, the thorough exploration of the Stasi structures, the methods they worked with and still work with, all that will fall into the wrong hands.

People will examine these structures most meticulously, only to take them over.  They will adapt them a little, so that they fit into a free Western society.

They won’t necessarily arrest the troublemakers either.  There are more subtle ways to render someone harmless.

But the secret bans, the surveillance, the suspicion, the fear, the isolating and excluding, the branding and silencing of those who don’t conform, that will come back, believe me.

They will create institutions that work much more effectively, much more subtly than the Stasi.

The constant lying will come back too, the disinformation, the fog in which everything loses its contours.”

Interesting vision of the future. 

26 Dec 2025: Germany: 4 Things

 1.  China putt up a tariff of 42-percent against a number of EU products....because of the tariff the EU has on Chinese-made E-cars coming into Europe.  German wine got onto the list.

2. Berlin-City is fixing up a new set of laws for 2026....to reduce bureaucracy. Anyone wishing to open a restaurant or café....will be able to wrap up ALL paperwork...online...in four weeks.

3. Just a odd TV note from the Christmas eve (24th) viewing on ARD (public TV) at around 1145 PM.  I was channel flipping, and in the midst of the view....some Catholic Church Christmas mass....Stuttgart area.  Camera panned over....here's some German guy in plastic wrap...all hunched over....laying on the cold tile floor of the church....with a priest in the background speaking. 

Took me about a minute to realize....it was a artist thing.  

On social media....lots of hype (mostly negative)....a few asking if this was thought through by the Catholic 'bosses'.

4.  N-TV piece...it's estimate around 100-billion Euro is 'washed' yearly in Germany.

25 Dec 2025: Germany: 4 Things

 1. Interesting commentary by Susanne Nickel on Focus.....worth reading (here). Topic?  How to avoid hyped-up discussions with relatives around holiday periods.  

As bad as the situation has become in the US....there's a German trend where bickering occurs as well....where political positions are drawn.

2.  WELT piece: hype building up in Germany over a possible sugar tax....where 'bad' food would cost more.  Idea is that people would quit the 'bad' food...rather than pay a Euro or more  for the item.   I'm not buying into the idea too much.  I'm of the mind that neighboring countries would see shopping visits by Germans....buying sugar-treats at a normal price.

3.  From Giessen, the guy who injured several people with a car?   The local public prosecutor's office has charged him with attempted murder and has committed him to a psychiatric hospital.  No suspicion of terrorism.

4.  Starting in January....the German Armed Forces will send out questionnaires to around 650,000 young German folks.  

If you ignore the form, fail to respond, or provide fake data......there's up to a 1,000 Euro fine.

The German Armed Forces questionnaires....will go to around 650k folks yearly....figure around 54k per month in a situation where they have to respond.

If you follow the news coverage....I'd say more than half of the youth population are negative about the questionnaire and very unlikely to participate in the German Army, or the defense of the homeland.

Radio Topic

 In the 1990s...stationed here in Germany....I worked with a guy who was also married to a German gal.  One of his favorite topics....was the 'lifestyle' that his wife had growing up in the 1980s...in a West German household...without a TV.

His father-in-law (and wife) were accepting of a radio, but a TV was simply unacceptable.  There was some sort of German logic to this position in life.

About ten years ago....some public TV discussion came up....where they had analyzed TV ownership/use, and came to find out that around 800k to 900k Germans had no TV in the home....relying strictly upon a radio.

No one says how this works.  I'm of the mind that if you divided the no-TV/just-radio crowd up....of the 800k, probably three-quarters of them are over the age of 70. 

My Gut Feeling Over All This Censorship Chatter

 First, there's simply way too much information being dished out yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily.  Generally, people can't consume vast amounts of knowledge and grasp realities (or irrational facts).

Second, in the 1970s/1980s....you might have viewed the news and only had to deal with a thousand 'experts' over a normal year.  Today?  In a average year.....you probably have to engage/devote-time to 40,000 'experts'.  Even your wife, neighbor and kids....now act as 'experts'....conflicting your life even more.

Third, we might as well admit we already allow gov't control over air travel and 300-odd parts of life.....so a little extra censorship isn't going to hurt anyone. This year, the discussion started up to control the green in Mountain Dew....censoring the color in some way.

Fourth, lets just be honest.....a full 15 minutes or 30 minutes of news is way too much for the bulk of society.  You need seven minutes of actual news, and just censor the rest.  Keep the soccer scores in....the weather report stays 'as is'.....cut the rest.

Fifth, we really don't need 13 or 14 year old kids getting hyped-up over the news....they need massive censorship.

Sixth....with x-amount of news....folks reach a point where they need to know the 'MOTIVE' of folks.  Look, you are asking for a lot of extra details....which conflict.  So censorship makes sense....less questions later.

Finally....seventh...people need to be kept constantly busy, otherwise, they get into 'trouble'.  So arguing about censorship (pro-con) keeps them from getting onto  really important topics.