I've had several people over there tell me that draughts are bad, too.  The most
annoying was when I lived in Yugoslavia, where people seem to be more superstitious
about it than Germans.  I was taking a bus in July from Belgrade to the Dalmatian
coast.  It was a HOT day and all the windows on the bus were closed.  60 hot,
sweaty, non-deodorized people in a rolling sauna.  I reached up to slide open the little
vent window and the people behind me stood up and closed it.  I tried it again a
little later - same thing happened.  I opened the vent in the roof of the bus and the
ticket taker came back and slammed it closed and the look on his face told me that
although I was a foreigner and he would cut me some slack, I'd better not try anything
else.
BZ

I remember travelling on an unbelievably hot train in Germany one summer.
I got up and opened the window just a wee bit in the compartment.  An
"aeltere Dame" immediately got up and literally "slammed" it shut shouting:

"Es zieht!"

She put me in my place.

Ron

Risking that this might turn into a controversial thread like some in
the past having to do with bathing or shopping, let me offer the
following:

One warm summer afternoon I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room
alone. A man entered and asked whether he might open the window. I said
I didn't care, and the man opened the window a crack. Another patient
entered and opened the window further without asking. Shortly after, a
woman entered and immediately shut the window, with the usual comment
"es zieht," even though the air was barely circulating. There ensued a
heated discussion about whether it was unhealthier to sit in a room with
a draft or a room full of trapped germs. Unfortunately, I was called
into the examination room before learning how the issue was resolved.
--
Kevin Fulton    "Not drafted"
Translations German > English   Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
http://www.provide.net/~kfulton/        FAX: +734-747-6027
mailto:kfulton@provide.net

I agree !!! Ich habe "Hier zieht's ja wie in einem Affenhaus!" von meiner
Mutter oefter gehort als jeden anderen Spruch!
Angelika aus Indy

this is one of the most German things I can think of and the number of times
I have had to accommodate myself because of it.  But just remember - it did
Schliemann in.
 


 

Is a draft and an open window not the same thing?  When we've had German
guests--even in the dead of winter with snow on the ground--they have
insisted on having an open window, and leaving it open even when we left
the house, which totally freaked out my husband who is both cost
conscious and an energy freak.  I thought fresh air was a cure-all.  Is
it only bad if it moves?
--
Elma

And lets not forget the horror of walking in a house in your stocking
feet, or worse, bare feet.  Mortal health risk.   In more than one
country I have had my size 12's crammed inot a size 9 or so pair of
houseshoes, after my shoes came off at the door.  Summer or winter.  In
one German house, the owner was convinced that socks were bad for the
wear on carpets, so I had to have slippers perched on the front part of
my feet to get around.  Kaum zu glauben.

Ed V