Germany, the land of precision engineering, fine sausages and cautious enthusiasm, is now facing an entirely less gemütlich challenge: heat. A sticky succession of summer heatwaves is turning the country into what one might call Central Europe’s most reluctant sauna, and the locals are beginning to feel faintly betrayed by their famously efficient climate control methods, or more precisely, the absence of them.
In a country where air conditioning has traditionally been viewed with the same suspicion as warm beer and unnecessary small talk, many Germans are now asking themselves a question that once seemed as off-topic as lederhosen at a beach party: why exactly don’t more of us have AC units?
Germany’s built environment, consisting mostly of well-insulated homes designed to trap heat like unwelcome dinner guests, was of course never supposed to be cooled artificially. In fact, for decades, opening a window and muttering about the inadequacies of modern urban planning was considered sufficient. But with temperatures now regularly pushing past 30 degrees Celsius in summer, the national strategy of sternly tolerating the heat while sitting in the shade with a lukewarm Radler is beginning to falter.
Data shows that only about 3 percent of German homes currently have air conditioning, which is roughly the same percentage of Germans willing to call their landlord about it. Compare that with the United States, where around 90 percent of households enjoy the luxury of climate-controlled comfort, often while wearing socks indoors. Traditionally, Germans have frowned upon such extravagance, viewing AC as both energy inefficient and very possibly an invention of moral decline. But now, as heat records fall and windows stay stubbornly shut in new energy-efficient buildings, even the most eco-conscious among them are starting to sweat through their convictions.
The situation is not helped by Germany’s renewable energy transition, which, while admirable from a planetary health perspective, occasionally leaves the power grid gasping for breath just when everyone wants to plug in their newly purchased fan. Engineers and policymakers are now delicately trying to balance climate goals with the fact that people would very much like to stop melting into their ergonomic chairs.
Of course, there are solutions. The government could invest in more heat-resilient infrastructure, building codes could be updated to include passive cooling, and the populace could be gently coaxed into accepting that yes, sometimes it is okay to enjoy a breeze that did not originate outdoors. But in a country where air conditioning is still considered a luxury bordering on moral failing, meaningful change may take time.
In the meantime, Germans are rediscovering the age-old summer tradition of sitting in the basement with a cold beer, a small electric fan and the quiet hope that autumn shows up early this year.
No one said saving the planet would be comfortable, but now it is also quite humid.