Shopping in Germany

Until now, the retail structure has been largely the product of German law, which has sheltered small storekeepers with strict limits on competition. Sales events are illegal except during the semi-annual sales (Schlussverkaufs), even advertising language is regulated to keep competition at bay.

Opening hours, though they have been slightly modified, remain among the most restrictive in Europe. Under a recent liberalisation stores may be open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. They still must remain closed on Sundays. In practice, shops in the city centre are open from 1000 until 2000 from Monday to Friday, and from 1000 to 1600 on Saturday, however as the actual opening times are decided by the shops themselves they very much vary, especially in the outskirts and smaller towns where some stores still hold to the old 6:30 p.m. closing times on weekdays, still close at 2 p.m. or earlier on Saturdays and are often closed for an hour or two in the early afternoon.

Railway stations and airports offer a way of getting around the closing hours. The larger ones are "shopping centres" unto themselves, with bakeries, butcher shops, health food shops, pharmacies, post offices, banks, record stores, perfume shops, clothing and dry cleaning stores and, of course, newsstands with

English-language newspapers, magazines and paperbacks. They are not bound by the closing hours of other stores, and you will often find them open Saturday nights and Sundays. Prices, however, are usually higher than 'normal' shops.

Numerous foodstores are sited in local villages and residential areas (Spar, Edeka etc), where most food supplies can be purchased. In the City Centre there are more 'international' foodstores (Karstadt for example), selling amongst German specialities, a wide variety of American and English food products. Retail store will be recognised also, River Island, C+A, Woollworths, Body Shop, H&M to name just a few.

There are two annual sales each year that are observed by a large percentage of the stores; the Winter-Schlussverkauf and the Sommer-Schlussverkauf. By law these sales begin on the first Saturdays of January and July and run for two weeks. Even the discounters participate in these special sales, cutting prices even further.

Virtually all items sold in Germany, including cars, comes with a 16 percent value added tax (Mehrwertsteuer.) This includes clothing, appliances, house repairs, furniture, and even car repairs. If you're buying services, this tax will be a separate item on your bill, but if you're buying goods it will usually just be part of the price.

Personal cheques are virtually nonexistent (See Banking Section). Many Germans use the Eurocheque cards that are issued in conjunction with their personal bank accounts. Credit cards are accepted in most establishments, but check before, just in case, particularly in restaurants.

The typical visitor to Germany still seems to prefer the traditional souvenir items; cuckoo clocks, music boxes, nutcrackers, beer mugs, lederhosen and dirndls; but Germany makes many more sophisticated things; tableware, cutlery, precision instruments, figurines, woodcarvings, fine wine and top quality musical instruments, and these items are becoming more and more popular.

Figurines are highly prized and motorised visitors can tour the Crystal and Porcelain Roads in Eastern Bavaria. The borders with the former East German state of Saxony and the Czech Republic province of Bohemia are lined with companies that make china, crystal, ceramics and cutlery items. Many of them invite visitors to take a tour and shop at the factory outlets, which often accept credit cards.

The Crystal Road covers 150 miles, from Neustadt a.d. Waldnaab to Passau, while the Porcelain Road runs from Coburg to Weiden. There are historical reasons for the existence of these industries in this area. The Saxon Elector August the Strong (1670-1733) set alchemist Johann Friedrich B�ttger to work in Meissen, near Dresden, in a successful quest to discover the Chinese secret of making hard, brilliantly white porcelain. Thus was born an industry that people around the world still link closely with the name "Dresden." They also unlocked a secret in Bohemia; the Venetian method of making brilliant crystal by removing impurities from the sand out of which the glass was made.

Both china and glassware were preceded in Germany by stoneware, and this too remains very much in use today. As far as visitors are concerned, the most popular stoneware item is the beer stein, but you can also get attractive stoneware wine glasses, shot glasses, pitchers, mustard pots, ashtrays, vases and other items in this vein.

Three areas of Germany are famous for wood carving; the Alps, the Black Forest and the Erzgebirge. The cuckoo clock originated in the Black Forest. The Alpine town of Oberammergau, where the famed Passion Play is performed every ten years, produces religious carving - crucifixes, Madonnas, creches and the like - while the Erzgebirge, in the former East Germany, went the "whimsical" route. It's known for that wooden soldier nutcracker, and also for the Christmas pyramid and "smoking man." The wooden Christmas pyramid rotates through the rising heat of a candle while the "smoking man's" outsized pipe has real smoke, from incense, curling out of it.