[Tade0]

For me, it's that _everyone_ takes a break at the same time to have coffee.

I've spent four years in Italy and around 12:00-12:30 the whole country essentially stops and goes for a lunch break - small businesses close etc.

The vast majority of restaurants are open during certain hours when there's a chance that people will visit.

I read somewhere that before WW2 it was like that in other countries, but died out over the years because of competition.

Perhaps what you're describing is a remnant of these times?

[mullsork]

I wasn't thinking about lunch, but that makes sense. It's not as strict or drastic here in Berlin. For a 9-6 office job, I'd say people leave for lunch between 12-13.

What I'm thinking of in the Nordics, or Finland especially since I haven't worked in the other ones, are the two coffee breaks that are part of the work day. I've worked in construction and the aforementioned tech internship, and this is roughly how the day looks (offices tend to start one hour later):

- 06:50: arrive early, banter, coffee - 07:00: day beings - 09:15: first 15min coffee break - 11:30: lunch break - 14:15: second 15min coffee break - 15:30: day is over

I may be off by 15 minutes for the coffee breaks, it's been over a decade since I worked outside of the tech startup bubble.

Not sure how things are in Finnish startups, probably slightly different? I miss these "natural" breaks though. On the other hand, I do enjoy having my coffee while working as well. :')