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https://medium.com/@bernie_duffy/parken-%C3%BCberall-the-very-german-culture-war-no-one-likes-to-talk-about-9f34d6bed8e2>
"Germany is one of the most densely populated states in Europe, and in the
central areas of the larger cities, particularly, there is a dearth of places
to park cars. Most old apartment buildings do not contain underground parking,
and dwellers of five- and six-story apartment blocks, in most cases, all share
on-street public parking. Couple this with the relative prosperity of the
country, where car prices and insurances are cheap, and parking fees low or
unheard of, it is not uncommon for households to have two vehicles, and/or
including a camper van. That is in the middle of a city, without private
parking, and despite the extensive public transport options available.
Germans are car crazy, this is well established, but the level to which
government and policy panders to the car-owner is absurd in comparison to
neighbouring EU states. Parking fines are as low as €10 or €15 and cars rarely
ticketed, speeding in residential areas is for the most part tolerated with
speed limit signs regarded as “recommendations” to be ignored, and authorities
do as little as possible to enforce regulations on vehicles, displaying a
clearly car-friendly bias. One car on our street, illegally abandoned without
plates or a tax disk since 2007 (I checked Google Street View history) was only
removed in 2019 after a tree grew out of its bonnet. I have seen homeless
people moved on from the same street within 20 minutes.
The car is Germany’s Sacred Cow, a symbol of its national identity, the reason,
some would argue, for the country’s continued existence. To critique the car is
un-German, in the same way that being communist is un-American. I have had
people I thought as wholly rational become instantly infuriated with me when
they discovered that I was reporting illegally parked vehicles. What business
was it of mine? I try to be calm and non-judgmental when I get such a response,
and to treat their sentiment analytically. But the nerve it touches in people
is… immense."
Via Thorsten 'Das Leben, das Univers…' Leemhuis and Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
