No Speed Limit on the Autobahn: More European Cultural Observations
August 16th, 2010 | Categories: Travel | 11 Comments- The rules for the Autobahn in Germany would never fly in the US. Having an interstate highway with no speed limit? Oh please. That is a recipe for disaster in the States. In Germany (or perhaps all of Europe), it works surprisingly well.
- As Emma commented in my previous European cultural observations post, you have to specify for flat/still water in Germany or else you get carbonated, salty mineral water. I find this very strange, as “water” to me is still water and “mineral water” is the “gassy” stuff!
- The license plates all state which country the car is from, much like how license plates in the US say which state the car is from. It helps pass the time on long car trips to see which countries cars are from (I’ve always been entertained by license plate games). If the country is in the EU, the license plate will have an EU flag. Letters that tripped me up were E (for Spain, my guess was Estonia) and P (Portugal, PL is Poland).
- Maybe this is just a German thing, but everything here is loaded with salt. But I could also be the only one that notices it, as I’m not really a fan of overly salty foods.
- The cost of living is very expensive in Germany (and, I assume, for most of Europe; I remember France being very expensive when I was there three years ago and everyone knows how expensive the UK is). In Germany, there is a 19% tax imposed on all goods (I think, feel free to correct me if I am wrong). When I go shopping, the sale prices here are the pre-sale prices in the US!
- In Eastern Germany, they kept the walk / don’t walk pedestrian signs from the Soviet era. I was very amused by the chubby figures when I was in Dresden.
Tags: europe
Subscribe Feed (RSS)
Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
Hi Manda, I’m glad you’re enjoying your time here in Europe!
E is for Spain the same way D is for Germany ;)
I think Germany is the only country that has no speed limit in highways. In most Europe (and certainly in Spain) the limit is 120 km/h. If we ask for water we get still water. The carbonated water is not popular here.
And we don’t usually get charged when using public bathrooms. ;)
Germany is the only country with no speed limit in entire Europe, so you either were just lucky or just did not noticed how some people drive. As soon as you see a fast car coming closer you better drive on the right side!
License plate games… I’m so often on journeys throughout the country, they are already pretty boring. ;) I don’t know if you noticed, but on German license plates you can also see from which region the car is from. The big cities like Berlin just have one letter first (B), others have two like Dresden (DD) and many others have three, like the region I live in (WAF for the main city Warendorf). The next time you can work on guessing these. ;)
I must sadly admit that we do use a ‘lot’ of salt on food but for me I can say I grew up with that, maybe it’s also a bit of a polish thing on my side. :P
Cost of living… I better not start too much on this one! 19% taxes is correct for most things, only food you buy in grocery stores and books have a smaller taxes rate of 7%. :)
The pedestrian signs are even updated to the newest technique with LEDs, so I doubt East Germany will ever get rid of these lovely figures. They’re much more awesome than the standardised ones we have here in Western Germany! :D
I tried guessing the German cities but I am not familiar with many, aside from the major ones like Dresden and Berlin. I know MEI is for Meissen and HD is for Heidelberg though :D And I LOVE the Ampelmann :D
The 19% tax is to discourage people from buying things that aren’t very good for them. Basic necessities have no tax or the low tax (6% in The Netherlands), books also have low tax I think. Also, all the prices in supermarkets have the tax already added, it’s very handy :)
E is for Spain because the letters on the license plates come from the name of the country in that country’s language. So E = Espagna in the same way that D = Deutschland. ;)
Some day soon when I get my driver’s license (hopefully by the end of the summer/september) I’m going to drive on the Autobahn. I think that would be awesome! xD
The next time you’re going to Europe you should totally come to Holland and I’ll teach you about Dutch culture ;)
Hahhahaha I agree :D definitely visit Holland *tee-hee*
I’ve spent a little time in Amsterdam but I definitely want to explore more of The Netherlands in the future. If I ever venture over there I’ll definitely let you guys know!
E for España!
Driving in the NY/NJ area is the closest I’ve seen to a highway with no speed limit. When the speed limit says 55mph, people go 75-80. I love it when the speed limit is actually 70-75, which I think is more common in the southern U.S.?
I remember thinking that 10% sales tax (and 2.25% tax on food?!) in Chicago was outrageous! (It’s 6.75% sales tax and no tax on food here.)
Germany is famous for that no speed limit rule on the highway. It’s definitely not allowed in The Netherlands! But hmmm prices are expensive in Germany? Well… people in The Netherlands sometimes go to Germany because things can be much cheaper than in The Netherlands e.g. clothes. Also flying via a German airport (Düsseldorf) can be much cheaper than flying van Amsterdam Airport / Schiphol :O Enjoy your Europe trip!
My boyfriend’s uncle and aunt drove us around on the autobahn in Germany, it didn’t feel like we were going that quickly actually! :P But yes, here it would be a disaster.
I had to ask for tap water in Europe because spring water was EXPENSIVE and like you pointed out, they think you mean fizzy water when you just say water. The license plates thing is a good idea too. In Germany, the letters at beginning tell you which city the car is from too, so M = Munich, MA= Mannheim, I thought that was a pretty good idea too!
Yeah, so don’t go to Ireland because the tax on ‘luxury’ items is 21%. Yay Ireland!
I imagine though, that Germany is similar to Ireland in that there are certain things that are exempt from that tax – food and children’s clothes, for example.
I actually spent half a day in Dublin because I had a very long layover there and I didn’t notice any high taxes. But that’s only because I just bought food there and no other items, so no luxury tax for me :P