[jaclaz]

>It sounds complicated but for me it just means opening windows throughout the house for about 15-30 minutes per day.

In practice what our mothers and grandmothers did, without having ever sampled air.

Some old reference:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25332981

[hnbad]

I believe the media has recently (ca 2020) taken to call it "German Lüfting" as it was temporarily celebrated as a solution to the ongoing pandemic.

[ben_w]

My local contacts in Berlin have called it Lüftschlag — air punch.

(Although, who knows, that might just be a weird localism, just like “Guten Nacht, schlaf gut, träum süß von sauren Gurken.” which I was taught in Köln and nobody else I’ve talked to anywhere in Germany recognises, though when I say I learned it in Köln they all go “Oh, Köln, yeah, they’re all crazy like that”.)

[hnbad]

As a Kölner by birth that localism does ring a faint bell though I wouldn't have said it's a Cologne thing if you had pushed me on it. We do have plenty of localisms due to the historical proximity to France though, and it always amuses me that "Plümo" (duvet) for example is completely unheard of in most of the German-speaking world and is usually replaced with the far less graceful and to me frankly confusing "Oberbett".

But the general term, as a verb, is "Lüften" or specifically "Stoßlüften" for the shorter form that is often mandatory for apartments with modern insulation but lacking a proper vent system to prevent mold.

On a sidenote: an interesting folk etymology exists for the Rhineland word "Fisimatenten", meaning something like "shenanigans", deriving it from French "visite ma tente", literally "visit my tent": the claim is that mothers would advise their daughters to avoid "Fisimatenten" because French soldiers during the Napolean occupation might invite them (in French) into their tents for, well, shenanigans.

[jnxx]

> But the general term, as a verb, is "Lüften" or specifically "Stoßlüften" for the shorter form that is often mandatory for apartments with modern insulation but lacking a proper vent system to prevent mold.

Exactly that.

To add, problems with mold are often due to insufficient insulation in some patches of the wall (like near windows), combined with humid air and insufficient ventilation. A properly insulated house should not form mold. But it is necessary to get humidity out, that's correct.

[funcDropShadow]

"Plümo" is definitely used in other cities on the west side of the Rhein. At least in Koblenz and Mainz.

[nicbou]

I've usually heard Stoßlüften (shock ventilation), and it's often part of the lease in Germany. It helps avoid condensation and mold.

[splitbrain]

Berlin native here. My mother (also Berlin-born) said "Träum süß von sauren Gurken". So not a cologne-only thing.

[thiht]

> In practice what our mothers and grandmothers did

Wait, people don't ventilate their home anymore?

[jaclaz]

Seemingly many people don't usually, I think it depends on the country/tradition/habits, in the thread I linked to:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25332981

there are quite a few replies of people that reported how they were not familiar with the concept.

And I have to underline how the evolution of building practices (again that depends greatly on different countries/local uses) generally speaking tends to make houses more airtight than before, so that ventilating should be more needed nowadays (with the exception of mechanically ventilated houses).

[altairprime]

I wasn’t taught to in the 80s, because we had a drafty home and it wasn’t necessary to do so consciously.