Germany has an age-old stereotype of being an efficient country. German Efficiency is a myth that has stood the test of time for centuries. The reality is quite the opposite if one looks at typical bureaucracy that runs in German society. I have been living in Germany for close 1.5 years and I have visited Germany 3-4 years ago a couple of times for more than 3 months and I have found that Germany is anything but efficient. This is not to say that other places are not inefficient. My only aim with this post is to break the stereotype.

Examples:

  1. Deliveries:
    • Most of the DHL or any courier deliveries does not get delivered to the exact destination if it is not an office. It is usually delivered to the nearest neighbour to the common building door. This does not change even if you stay at home for the whole day just to receive that package.
    • A few times, they have delivered my package to a post office 3 kms away despite my staying at home for the whole day. They don’t ring bell. They don’t care about delivering things to the door. And this is a pretty well-known fact among all residents of Germany. My German colleagues and friends in Berlin always use a drop-location where they could pick-up as per their convenience.
  2. Immigration:
    • Germany is high on the list to attract highly skilled immigrants to have a talented workforce but it does not do anything to help the immigrants get settled in. You need to apply for the residence permit after arriving in Germany but their immigration offices do not have any available dates. It is extremely rare for them to release a few slots which gets filled up extremely fast. And their online interface is so bad that it only says that there are no dates available without any option to select a much later date.
    • Even if you get a date, the time between your application and your card arriving at your place could take anywhere between 1 month to 3 months or even more.
    • There are very few apartments available to rent within cities. Therefore, their prices are extremely high and the contracts are usually not that flexible.
  3. Public Transport:
    • Although most cities in Germany have a really expansive public transport system, it is not very reliable. Every two weeks or so, during the commute hours, my U-Bahn would get stuck at a random station for an hour without any initimation. The google maps would show that it is running on time but it is usually not.
    • The multi-modal transport system is effective in carrying people easily but the interface between the multi modes is not very easy to find for a tourist. The part of the station that hosts the Airport Express in the Ostkreuz station in Berlin is not easily accessible for 90% of the train lines that pass through that station. There are really few signs that guides passengers to that important train. It is a common sight to find tourists asking for directions to its platform.
    • My wife had applied for the Deutschlandticket last month to be able to use it from November 1st. It has been 26 days and she has not yet received her card. The worst thing is that their offices do not have an ETA. Their physical office say that this is due to a malfunction at their printing company but the official customer care over telephone says that this is not true and the officer is lying and then asked us to get written proof of what the agents said. We have done that and we are now awaiting answers.
  4. Health Care:
    • It is extremely difficult to get an appointment at any specialist clinic that is covered by the public insurance. The earliest dermatologist that I can book using the most widely accepted public insurance is after 4 months.
    • I had a very severe viral infection a few months ago which I have still not been completely cured of. In the process of getting checked up, one of the ENT specialists that I had been to gave me an appointment after 5 weeks to get my eyes and ears checked for dizziness diagnosys. It is astonishing to see such long diagnosys appointment for something that I am troubled with right now. And this is not a one-off case.
  5. Public Offices:
    • Getting an appointment for simple things like driver’s license related procedures or registering a new address takes months. And more often than not, there are no appointments available in the cities. Not a big problem if one lives in a small town.
  6. Paper Work:
    • Germany loves its paper documents. So much so that it is not rare for public offices to ask for fax documents. A usual 2FA authentication method for a German company is to send a written letter to your address despite the residents possessing biometric enabled identity cards.
  7. Paper Currency:
    • It is extremely common for most shops and restaurants to not accept digital payments even in 2023. Most people do not even trust digital currencies and therefore, one needs to carry cash even in their daily life.

Conclusion The only takeaway that I want for you from this post is to know that the term German Efficiency is a myth in daily life. It is surely a true fact when it comes to their engineering. Germany has one of the best work-life balance in the world. It is very common for people to spend time with their family and prioritize them instead of their office work without getting judged with prejudice. It is a lot of things that it is known for, like the Autobahn with no speed limits in many parts. It has an extensive multi-culturism that is envy of the world. But one reputation that does not hold well is efficiency.