A roommate was baffled when their German roommate conducted a morning practice they have never seen before and it left them ‘freezing’, but many say they do the same thing
Brits have been left baffled by one thing that Germans admit they do most mornings without fail. We all have our own routines when it comes to starting our day – whether it’s boiling the kettle immediately for your dose of coffee, heading out for a morning walk, jumping in the shower to waken you up ahead of a busy day, or running to pour your cereal and pop some toast on. Often it differs depending on your job, if you have kids, where you live or grew up as one individual recently realised.
Earlier this week model scout Juliette was confused by one thing her German roommate did. It comes after she noticed the giant windows in their living and kitchen area were wide open early in the morning. Juliette took to TikTok to ask people: “Is this a German thing? My model roommate is opening all the windows in the morning, even when it’s freezing.”
One commented: “Yes. German here sitting having coffee at 6:30am with windows open before I head to work in a bit.”
While another added: “I’m with the Germans on this one, I need fresh air.”
A third chimed in: “Yes! It’s much needed in the winter because we need air circulation and fresh air. German homes don’t have circulating air, especially in winter when it just blows heat.”
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Other people said that the practic is called Lüften.
“Lüften – I usually do it in the morning to freshen the house,” commented one German. Another wrote: “Love to Lüften, I like to make my bed slowly so each layer gets some of the air.”
One more noted: “Probably because the homes are so old the ventilation may not be great. you have to let the fresh air in and stale air out.”
Property care and preservation business Timberwise explained the ritual and said: “Lüften is the concept and practise of letting out old, stale, and humid air from a property, whilst letting in fresh air. It’s a big deal in Germany, and it can even crop up within tenant agreements when people are looking to rent a property.”
The idea is that replacing the stale and humid air in a home has a few benefits; it reduces the chance of condensation and mould occurring, and the second is that it improves the quality of air within the home.
Although it is a practice in Germany, other nations have also followed suit. One US individual commented: “American here and that’s how I was raised…if you don’t allow air and light in, you are trapping in stale air and germs making your house musty.”
One other wrote: “It’s very common. Not in just Germany, all over Europe. I love, during the winter, just open up for a couple of minutes. Fresh and crisp air all over the house.”
One other agreed, adding: “It’s an European thing I guess, I’m Italian and Italian parents open all the windows in the morning because ‘we need to let fresh air in’.”
While someone else chimed in: “I’m not German but I need fresh air no matter how cold it is. During good weather the balcony door is always open, during bad weather I keep it open for a little while and then close it, and repeat whenever needed.”
A Brit also added: “I do this in the UK so I don’t think it’s a German thing. Morning air is so stale and stuffy. Especially if the heating has been on. Need a blast of cool, fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.”
The comments come after one expert told everyone in the UK told to keep their windows open, no matter how cold it gets, to let out moisture and keep your home clean.