Germany etiquette and culture: dos, don'ts and local customs

The same behaviour reads differently depending on where you are and who you are with. Use this as a quick filter before you act.

A handshake is the default on meeting and leaving, with direct eye contact. "Guten Tag" works from late morning until evening, "Guten Morgen" before that, "Guten Abend" after roughly 18:00, and "Hallo" or "Hi" in casual settings. In Bavaria and Austria-influenced areas you will hear "Grüß Gott"; in the north, "Moin" covers the whole day.

Germans separate the formal "Sie" from the informal "du". Default to "Sie" with anyone older, in a shop or office, and wait to be offered "du". First names come with the "du" step, so use Herr or Frau plus surname until then. Small talk stays practical: weather, travel, football, where you are from. Asking about salary, age or religion is not done in passing conversation.

Being on time is the single most noticed habit. For a meeting, a tour, a train or a dinner invitation, arrive at the stated time — not early, not late. Trains leave exactly on schedule and doors close before departure, so be on the platform a few minutes ahead. If you are running 5–10 minutes late, a short message is expected; without one, lateness reads as disrespect rather than a small thing.

Invitations are usually specific. "Come at 19:00" means 19:00, and dinner is served soon after. If you are invited to a home, a small gift — wine, flowers (not red roses, which carry romantic meaning), or something from your country — is welcome. Bring an odd number of flowers if you bring them at all; even numbers are for funerals.

Germany runs on the euro and, more than most of Western Europe, on cash. Supermarkets and chain stores take cards, but bakeries, kiosks, market stalls, small restaurants and some taxis may not. Carry €20–50 in notes for a day out. The bottle deposit, Pfand, is 0.25 € on most plastic and glass drink bottles and 0.08–0.15 € on some cans and beer bottles; return them at the machine in the shop where you bought them.

Tipping is smaller and more direct than in the US. Round up to the next euro or add 5–10% in a restaurant. You say the total you want to pay as you hand over cash or the card — "21, bitte" on a 19.50 € bill — rather than leaving coins on the table. Taxi drivers get rounded up fares; hotel housekeeping and bar staff get small change. Service charges are already included in the bill.

Sunday is protected. Most shops, including supermarkets and department stores, close by law, and only bakeries, petrol stations, station shops and some pharmacies open. Plan groceries and pharmacy runs for Saturday. Museums, cafés and restaurants stay open, and Sunday is when Germans go walking, cycling and to brunch.

Quiet hours, Ruhezeit, usually run 22:00–07:00 and often all day Sunday. No drilling, mowing, loud music or vacuuming in flats during those hours. On trains, phone calls are kept short and quiet carriages are respected. Jaywalking is technically an offence and locals will wait at a red pedestrian light even on an empty street; cross on green and you will blend in.

Recycling and bottle returns are part of daily life. Separate paper, packaging, glass by colour and organic waste where bins allow, and return Pfand bottles rather than binning them. In shared flats and hotels, this is expected, not optional.

In a restaurant, wait to be seated unless there is a sign saying otherwise, and expect to be asked what you want to drink before you see a menu. Water arrives sparkling or still, and it is bottled and paid for; free tap water is not standard. Bread and a small salad may come as a cover charge in some places.

When drinks arrive, say "Prost" and make eye contact before the first sip — this is a real custom, not a joke. In beer gardens you may share a long table with strangers; a nod and "Prost" is enough. In Cologne, Kölsch is served in small glasses and refilled without asking until you put a coaster on top of the glass. In Bavaria, beer garden rules allow your own food but not your own drinks.

Paying is usually at the table, not at a counter, and splitting the bill, getrennt, is normal and easy. Ask for the bill with "Zahlen, bitte" or "Die Rechnung, bitte".

The most common slip is treating lateness as harmless. A second is assuming every place takes cards. A third is talking loudly in a quiet carriage or after 22:00 in a residential building. None of these will get you in trouble, but they are the things locals notice.

Two more: don't joke about the Nazi period or make WWII references in casual conversation, and don't assume the whole country is the same. Berlin and Hamburg are informal and international; smaller towns in Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia are more traditional, and English is less certain outside cities and among older people. Learn a few German phrases — "Danke", "Bitte", "Entschuldigung" — and you will get a warmer response everywhere.