GERMANY 2021
SOCIETY
BY JOE BAUR
ORDNUNG MUSS SEIN For centuries, Germany has been synonymous with order. So how can a rule-abiding nation also have an anything-goes spirit?
O
n the high-speed train gliding smoothly from Berlin to Düsseldorf, a young man started chatting to me. He eventually asked, “What are some of the cultural differences you’ve noticed between Germans and Americans?” As if on cue, a middle-aged woman hovered over us and gave a harsh, “Shh!” with her finger pressed against her lips. She pointed to a sign of a mobile phone with a cross through it, indicating that we were in the Ruhebereich, the quiet carriage of the train. “You must be quiet,” she said, before returning to her seat. “That,” I said to the man sitting next to me. “That’s different.”
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In the nearly four years I’ve lived in Germany, that woman’s reprimand was just one of many examples I’ve experienced of Germans strictly adhering to the rules in the name of preserving Ordnung (order). Because in Germany, as the famous expression goes, “Ordnung muss sein” (“there must be order”). In fact, this proverbial saying is so well-ingrained in the German psyche that it’s become a cultural cliché for Germans around the world, and a way of life for them at home. In Germany, your brown bottles must be recycled separately from your clear ones. You must be quiet after 10pm. You must always obey
the red man at a crossing, even if no cars are coming. And if you want to get anything done in this country, you need to print and fill out the proper forms, make an appointment, take your number and wait to be called to find out if you followed the rules or missed something in the fine print – which you probably did. On the surface, “Ordnung muss sein” seems to be the foundation of German personal and social conduct. But, stereotypes aside, is Germany really “orderly”? As with many things “German”, the answer may go back to Martin Luther. In addition to forever changing how Germany (and the world) worships,
