German Man Swims to Work Every Day to Avoid Heavy Traffic
Most commuters in Munich, Germany, spend hours stuck in traffic or trying to squeeze into one of the overcrowded subway trains, every morning, but for 40-year-old Benjamin David, commuting is actually a relaxing experience. Every day, he jumps into the Isar River and swims two kilometers to his workplace in Kulturstrand. Benjamin David used to […]
German Granny Has Been Battling Hate Speech All by Herself, for 31 Years
72-year-old Irmela Mensah-Schram is a special kind of cleaning lady. For the last 31 years, she has been travelling across Germany, cleaning its streets of hateful messages, be they propaganda posters or graffiti. She has received death threats from neo-nazis and the police have fined her numerous times, but she continues her fight against racism, antisemitism and […]
At 68, Berlin’s Famous “Techno Grandpa” Still Hits the City’s Hottest Clubs
If you thought your grandpa was cool for his age, you’ve probably never heard of Bernhard Enste, the legendary “techno grandpa” of Berlin. When other 68-year-olds turn in for the night, he’s just getting ready to hit the hottest techno clubs in the German city and party until dawn with kids young enough to be his grand-children. […]
German Man Insists His Spanish Water Dog Is Actually a Sheep to Avoid Paying Tax
The following story actually happened!I wouldn’t have believed it myself if it hadn’t been reported by the German police, following a first-hand experience the likes of which you don’t hear about every day. A man in Rostock, North-Eastern Germany, had to pay a fine and will likely face a tax evasion lawsuit after he claimed that […]
German Man Cheats Recycling Machine Out of Over $47,000 Using a Single Bottle
A drinks vendor in Cologne, Germany was recently tried and convicted to ten months in prison for modifying a bottle recycling machine and cheating the swindling several tens of thousands of euros from the national recycling system. Bottle-recycling machines in Germany are fairly straightforward – a person inserts one or more bottles into the machine […]
German Town Builds Huge Stone Wall to Separate Locals from Refugees
The Munich suburb of Neuperlach Sud has nearly completed a giant stone wall meant to separate the local population from around 160 unaccompanied child refugees set to move into a nearby shelter. The 4-meter-high barrier will be taller than the Berlin Wall (3.6 meters). After the local government decided to build a large refugee shelter approximately […]
Eat Up or Pay Up – German Restaurants Charge Patrons Extra for Not Finishing Their Meals
A number of restaurants in Germany have come up with a somewhat controversial way of fighting food waste – charging patrons a small fee if they cannot finish all the food on their plates. Yuoki, a sushi restaurant in Stuttgart, Germany, is not your everyday all-you-can-eat buffet. For starters, there isn’t an actual buffet to […]
German Family Flees Homeland “Dictatorship”, Seeks Asylum in Russia
Germany is widely regarded as one of the most democratic countries in the world, but for Carola Griesbach and her family it is nothing more that a dictatorship that they just had to escape from. So they hopped in their Volkswagen van and drove 1,400 miles to Moscow’s red Square where they are now asking […]
German Town Installs Ground Traffic Lights for People Looking at Their Smartphones
While zombies thankfully still remain a figment of our imagination, ‘smombies’ – people walking while staring at their smartphones – are very real and a growing cause for concern. Fed up of having to constantly alert both locals an tourists to pay more attention to their surroundings to avoid serious accidents, authorities in a small German […]
Germans Are Combining Yoga and Beer to Spice Up Their Exercising Routine
In a bid to make their workouts more exciting, German fitness enthusiasts in Berlin have come up with ‘Beer Yoga’ or ‘boga’ – a new form of yoga that integrates beer bottles into standard poses. Participants are welcome to use the bottles in any way they like, including holding it in their hands, balancing it […]
German Woman Sick of Paying Rent Decides to Live on Trains
Tired of putting up with her landlord’s tantrums, a German student has decided to give up renting apartments altogether and live on trains instead! “It all started with a dispute I had with my landlord,” said Leonie Müller. “I instantly decided I didn’t want to live there anymore – and then I realized: Actually, I […]
Meet “Miss Farewell”, the Most Beautiful Undertaker in Germany
In an effort to brighten up the image of undertaking, a profession often regarded as joyless, a German online portal for burial price comparisons recently held a unique beauty contest for female undertakers. 36-year-old Rachel Merks got the most votes and was pronounced Miss Farewell. Merks, who runs an undertaking firm with her husband, in Lachheim, Baden-Württemberg, said she […]
German City Sprays Walls with Hydrophobic Paint That Causes Public Urinators to Soak Themselves
For several years, the residents of Hamburg party hub St Pauli have tolerated public urination by drunken partygoers. But now they’ve decided that it’s ‘peeback’ time. In an attempt to combat the problem, they’ve coated their buildings and streets with a special hydrophobic paint that bounces the urine on the urinators! Local community group IG St […]
German Pastafarian Seeks Recognition for Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
In case you haven’t heard of it before, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, also known as Pastafarianism (a cross between pasta and Rastafarian) is a movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion, and is generally viewed by the media as a satirical take on organized religion. But 63-year-old German retiree Rüdiger Weida […]
Elderly Care Home in Germany Uses Therapy Alpacas to Make Residents Happier
Just looking at the picture of an alpaca will make you want to pet the adorable creature. So it comes as no surprise that the camel’s super fluffy cousin is being used for therapy in Germany, at Berlin’s Mana Wedell Tagespflege elderly care home. A group of alpacas live in the home’s garden and are welcome to go […]