
How Germany's love of silence led to the first earplug - miraj
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35122755
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elimik31
Noise like living next to an airport, a train track or a loud street can make
people sick, no matter if they are German or of some other nationality. There
is scientific evidence for that, which is why there is a need for regulations
and people can complain if there are violations. Maybe _this_ is something
typical German, the idea the things have to be done the _right_ way.

We have five senses, all of which are important, which is why in my opinion,
architecture shouldn't be only about the "seeing" aspect. Sound architecture
is a good thing, but I never thought of it as something typical German before.

In Germany there is the opinion that if you are speaking the truth, there is
no need to shout. That might be also a reason why our politicians are quieter.
Being loud is often seen as a sign of passion, but not a sign of reason. Well,
our political debates also become quite loud and I could only wish they were
all about reasoning.

 _" Kids' playgrounds across Germany are notable for the lack of noisy
children as parents and teachers fear neighbours' reprisals."_

In my experience that's usually because many children prefer staying at home
and play video games and/or because of the poor state of many playgrounds.
Playgrounds are one of the few places where children can play as much as they
want (in theory), but parents might fear their neighbour's reprisals if
children play loudly outside of playgrounds. But all that might depend on the
neighbourhood. Also, some playgrounds have certain "opening hours."

As a final remark, I don't think that today's Germany is the worldwide
benchmark for quietness. I know somebody who was in Japan recently and nobody
talked inside the train there (at least on the way to work), while it is quite
common to talk in a train in Germany (if you get really loud, you will earn a
lot of looks though). But Germany is changing and becoming more colored and
multinational and sometimes also a little bit more noisy and that's not
necessarily always a bad thing.

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justJanne
Regarding trains: In German long-distance rail, we separate between Ruhewagen
(silent cars) and normal ones – if you want to have a quiet ride, go into one
of the silent cars.

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germanier
To be fair I don't really notice a difference in the sound level between those
types of cars. It's only advised to be quite in those cars but nobody can do
anything against you if you are loud there.

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adrianN
I've tried Ohropax ear plugs, the wax, foam, and silicone variety and didn't
like them very much. So I did a little research on the Internet and bought
Laser Lite earplugs. They are very comfortable and dampen sound _much_ better
than Ohropax products.

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panamafrank
The germans love for silence can be evidenced in the reviews for
earplugs/protectors:

[http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004RANCEA/](http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004RANCEA/)

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mrec
Oh God, I have a pair of those and they're _fantastic_. My only complaint is
that they're too bulky to be practical while sleeping.

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Marinlemaignan
Well i dunno, all my worst flatmates ever have either been british or german.
and they both were sooo terribly noisy and invasive. French people really do
like and respect silence.

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mrec
Speaking as a Brit, some of us do too. But I think we're in a minority, alas.

