{"id":12768,"date":"2021-03-17T23:00:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T23:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=12768"},"modified":"2021-03-17T13:29:07","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T13:29:07","slug":"luften-germanys-airing-obsession-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/luften-germanys-airing-obsession-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"L\u00fcften: Germany’s Airing Obsession & Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! In a recent post<\/a> on things you can expect to find in a German home, I talked about how die Heizung<\/em> (the heating) and die L\u00fcftung<\/em> (the airing\/ventilation) systems in German homes are different to those in US homes, meaning the Germans have to open their windows more often to prevent mould & mildew build-up. In fact, it is a bit of a stereotype that Germans are ‘obsessed’ with airing out rooms, otherwise known as l\u00fcften<\/em>. Today we\u2019ll talk a little about that, and how it\u2019s become even more important in Germany in the age of Coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\"l\u00fcften\"

Image by Free-Photos<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a> CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

l\u00fcften \/ die L\u00fcftung<\/h3>\n

The verb l\u00fcften<\/strong> means \u2018to air out\u2019 or \u2018to ventilate\u2019. It stems from the noun die Luft<\/em> \u2013 air. There is also a noun, die L\u00fcftung<\/strong>, meaning \u2018airing\u2019 or \u2018ventilation\u2019. Here are a couple of article headlines using these words. The first uses the verb, the second uses the noun:<\/p>\n

Zimmer richtig l\u00fcften: Die besten Tipps<\/strong>
\n\u2018Best tips for airing rooms out correctly\u2019<\/p>\n

L\u00fcftung f\u00fcr Schulen<\/strong>
\n\u2018Airing\/ventilation (solutions) for schools\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"l\u00fcften\"

Photo by Anna Dudkova<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>
CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

sto\u00dfl\u00fcften \/ die Sto\u00dfl\u00fcftung<\/h3>\n

But there is another word, sto\u00dfl\u00fcften<\/strong> (noun: die Sto\u00dfl\u00fcftung<\/em>), which translates literally to \u2018shock ventilation\u2019<\/strong>. Der Sto\u00df<\/em> means shock, impact, <\/em>or push<\/em>. Though it sounds pretty aggressive, it is literally just a case of opening the windows to let some fresh air in for a few minutes, before closing them again. This tactic is used to ventilate stuffy rooms as quickly as possible. The point to make about sto\u00dfl\u00fcften<\/em> is that Germans do this all year round. Yes, even on the coldest of winter days, they will throw open the windows to \u2018shock ventilate\u2019 the rooms. This is common practice in schools and offices as well as in homes \u2013 it is even written into some tenancy agreements as a must-do activity to keep rented homes free from der Schimmel<\/em> (mould\/mildew)!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"l\u00fcften\"

Photo by Devon Owens<\/a> on Unsplash <\/a>CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

querl\u00fcften \/ die Querl\u00fcftung<\/h3>\n

One step further is querl\u00fcften<\/strong> (noun: die Querl\u00fcftung<\/em>), whereby ALL the windows in a home\/building are opened for a few minutes as a means of \u2018cross ventilation\u2019. The word quer<\/em> translates to across, diagonally, aslant<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As can be expected, many do not like the tradition of sto\u00dfl\u00fcften\/querl\u00fcften, complaining that it’s simply too cold to have all the windows open. There is a common saying about it:<\/p>\n

\u2018Erfroren sind schon viele, erstunken ist noch keiner!\u2019<\/strong>
\n\u2018Many have frozen to death, but no one ever died from a bad smell!\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"l\u00fcften\"

Photo by Jennifer Latuperisa-Andresen<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

L\u00fcften and Coronavirus<\/h3>\n

During the pandemic, the importance of l\u00fcften<\/em> in Germany is apparent \u2013 this time, as a means of keeping the virus at bay. The German chancellor Angela Merkel herself has stressed the importance of proper ventilation, saying it could be one of the cheapest, easiest ways to contain the virus.<\/p>\n

Late last year, the German public health guidelines for Coronavirus were changed to include two new instructions. Known by the acronym \u2018AHA\u2019, it has since changed to \u2018AHACL\u2019, which includes a very familiar instruction! Take a look:<\/p>\n

AHA:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A<\/strong>bstand (distance)
\nH<\/strong>ygiene (hygiene)
\nA<\/strong>lltagsmaske (mask)<\/p>\n

CL:<\/strong><\/p>\n

C<\/strong>orona-Warn-App (Coronavirus alert app)
\nL\u00fcften (airing\/ventilation)!<\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

What do you think of the concept of l\u00fcften, Sto\u00dfl\u00fcften, and Querl\u00fcften? Are you the type to ventilate your home even during the winter, or do your windows stay firmly shut until the summer?? Let me know in the comment box!<\/p>\n

Bis bald,
\nConstanze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! In a recent post on things you can expect to find in a German home, I talked about how die Heizung (the heating) and die L\u00fcftung (the airing\/ventilation) systems in German homes are different to those in US homes, meaning the Germans have to open their windows more often to prevent mould &…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":12770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8,179,913],"tags":[529261,8068,7435,551769,551758],"class_list":["post-12768","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","category-news","category-traditions","tag-coronavirus","tag-health","tag-home","tag-luften","tag-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12768"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12777,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12768\/revisions\/12777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}