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by ido 1261 days ago
I don't doubt you but I just wanted to chime in with another point of anecdata that I have a family of 4 (2 kids) & we live perfectly fine in a 92m^2 (just under 1000 sq feet) apartment in Berlin. It would have been nice to have more room but I don't actually think about it that often! jsonne's idea of a modest 1600 sq ft apartment would actually be considered huge here :)

I suspect you're right that a lot of it has to do with the surrounding culture - almost nobody in Berlin lives in large homes (there are very few houses and most people live in 5-8 story high apartment buildings) & I think Germans as a habit just don't buy as much crap.
2 comments
rayiner 1261 days ago
It’s definitely cultural, but also changing culture over time. My brother and I grew up in an 1,100 square foot house, which was a standard size for a detached suburban house in America in the 1950s when it was built. But the average new American home is double that today.
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quadrifoliate 1261 days ago
> almost nobody in Berlin lives in large homes (there are very few houses and most people live in 5-8 story high apartment buildings) & I think Germans as a habit just don't buy as much crap

I grew up with a similar culture in India, but now live in the US where every Christmas, I receive a ton of stuff I could do without.

I have a question for you – wow many gifts do Germans give each other for Christmas, and what sort? I had just kind of assumed that most western countries do these things similar to the US, but as I have found out in the past that might be an incorrect assumption.

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ido 1261 days ago
Unless you’re invited to someone’s home to celebrate together you wouldn’t buy random friends a Christmas present. If you’re celebrating together (or if you’re relatively close family) you would buy 1 present and sometimes this would be something small/symbolic (for a child it’s more likely to be a “real” present like Lego or a board game).

But Germans generally don’t celebrate holidays in massive gatherings, I would expect my mother in law to join us, or maybe 1 other person. It would be unusual for the number of people to reach double digits.

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