German Diary: My Tryst with German Institutions

I have utmost respect for German systems and institutions. In my stay for over two years in Germany, I have come to admire many aspects of the German society – including its efficiency and functional systems. But there have been times when I have hit a stonewall in my efforts to manouever myself in the society, despite my fairly good command over German language.

My latest experience has come in the form of the Rundfunk Beitrag (roughly translates to Radio Tax). It seems I have been receiving this letter for nearly two years now. So basically I started receiving those letters in 'official German' when my German proficiency must have been worse than a two year old German kid. (Pardon my use of word German so many times, but this is hardly I can escape.) So as a normal foreigner student, who was never briefed about the tax and fees I needed to pay, I just threw the letter away thinking I do not own a TV or Radio and do not need to pay it. And over a period of time the tax kept adding up with fines and it reached nearly 300 Euros. But ignorance cannot be excuse and I also do not intend to use it as such. So when an official from the Vollstreckung Kasse (something like recovery agent) from Erfurt Rathaus knocked at my door, I along with my flatmates agreed to pay (the tax is for an apartment and not per person. That is another anomaly, so if my flatmates refuse to pay I will have to pay it alone And who receives the letter from the ARD Deutschland is like a draw of lot.)

My flatmate paid the tax and I gave my contribution to her and was happy that now I could concentrate on my thesis. But turns out this was not the way, as an angry official (Mr. Ebberman), called me up ranting in German that he has not received any confirmation from ARD Deutschland (the radio service provider I am assuming). I said that I have given you my reference number regarding the payment, have written to ARD and to Vollstreckung Kasse but have not got any response. Have been trying to call ARD up, but my lack of native fluency has not been of much help. I would reserve my comments about the stringent German regulations with regards to naturalisation requirements for people keen to become German citizens. But what about millions of foreign students and tourists who come to Germany temporarily, will it be a crime to accept a bit of courtesy at least from German institutions for them?

Really?

German Railway service provider DB Bahn had 11 strikes in the last nine months, leaving millions of commuters stranded. Last month when they had a strike I went for cancellation of my ticket and had difficulty in following the woman at reception who was speaking too fast. Despite my request, “Können Sie bitte langsam sprechen, ich kann Ihnen nicht verstehen?” (Could you speak a bit slowly, I cannot understand you), the woman retorted “Nein (No)!” and added up there were thousands of commuters like me. I was just thinking about a tourist in Germany stuck during the strike? I even wanted to be a bit pompous and tell the woman that it is because of the commuters like us that she has a job and is getting a salary; but I restrained. This was not my one off such experience with German system. In August 2014 as I came back from India, my train from Frankfurt to Erfurt got cancelled and the official at the ReiseZentrum (Travelling Centre) asked me to spend the night at the platform in biting cold even as he went on to give accommodation/ Taxi arrangements to other “white-looking people”. I don't know if all of them were German. But I had to fight with them, after a a family member checked online the terms and conditions; and informed me that DB Bahn is obliged to provide me an accommodation in case of a cancellation. The official eventually relented and gave me a hotel, but not before displaying his frustration.

Thereafter, I was traveling back from Turkey to Erfurt (supposedly an International airport with flights to Turkey and London). The Passport controller had a problem in finding visa details of my husband on his system. Mind you my husband was on a tourist visa.The controller did not speak a single word of English and refused to even try a bit to cooperate with him. I had to be the mediator between them. The official then had the audacity of asking me questions if I was carrying our marriage certificates (despite my marital status being obvious on my Passport) and as to why I do not have same surname as my husband. We were allowed to go an hour later when their system started working.

People have similar experiences in Foreigners Office, where people who are supposed to deal with foreigners refuse to speak English or do not know the language. During such time one is at mercy of one’s friends to accompany them to offices. But then why are institutions there?

I have been a fairly open-minded person and can even understand individual’s prejudices towards non-German  speakers. What is appalling is the inertia in German institutions regarding the changing times. I do not expect English to be official language of German but if I am paying for services, the least I can expect is a basic courtesy and delivery of services in a language I can comprehend fully. I admire Germans for their rationale, but officials speaking only German at Airports, Train Stations, Foreigners Office make no sense to me. The other solution German bureaucracy might have for the problem is to either stop giving visas to foreign students and tourists or give them advisory to know German with native fluency before setting foot in Germany.

Deutschland bleibt bunt (Germany remains colourful) - Amen!

Being a nationalizing state that India is, Germany has always been a part of a wider public discourse back home and often seen as an epitome of national might. India has the dubious distinction of being among the countries where ‘Mein Kampf’ remains one of the best-selling books of all times and the Right-wingers invoke the one Who-Is-Not-Named so freely in Germany, with impunity. But then there are things that we were not told in history books, the unease of the present

The card reads - "Hating Humans is a disease. Get well soon."

day Germany with its violent past and a general abhorrence of expressing overtly-nationalistic sentiments. As I arrived in Germany two years ago as a student of Conflict Studies, I was amazed the way the country with such a violent history has managed to make violence a socially unacceptable choice. Since the World War II, Germany had tried with all sincerity to put its past behind and build institutions that are the bulwark of its Democracy.

But as the excitement of living in a foreign country subsided, came the reality. Most of the Germans dissuade from venting their dislike for “Auslanders” or “Aliens” (as the foreigners are referred in German) explicitly in public, however, their coldness is a huge bumper for the integration of the foreigners in my host country. Racism is something that is generally associated only with the right wingers or neo-Nazis but it actually percolates deep down in the society and is manifested in small gestures. When me being the lone brown-shaded person among a bunch of white customers is asked to open my bag at a Supermarket to show if I have not stolen anything, or when a train get cancelled late in the night and the manager at the Bahnhof reception asks me to sit on the platform in freezing cold while all the white passengers were being given taxi fare or places to stay for the night, or when a non-native speaker is humiliated by the German teacher for forgetting to put Verb at position second; it is racism. For a thick-skinned person I am, the constant scrutiny, intrigue, suspicion in the eye of population is not that stifling, but not all the “Colourful people” (a phrase we have derived along with few of my German and ‘Auslander’ friends to instill a higher sense of esteem in the people of colour) are so immune to the latent apathy towards the foreigners.

But with PEGIDA upping its ante on the issue of immigration and specifically against Islam, the latent fear among a certain section of the German populace was given a strong voice, which has been good enough to spread a sense of panic among my fellow international students. A friend was being asked to go back home in the street and another just stayed put in his house when PEGIDA came calling to Erfurt. No doubts that the democracy in Germany is alive and kicking; for a PEGIDA’s anti-Islam demonstration there is an equally potent anti-PEGIDA demonstration. However, the immigrants or German citizens born to immigrants are conspicuous because of their absence from the whole discourse. With this in mind me and other international students decided to go out in open instead of hiding and what is better than the potent weapon of ‘Love and non-violence’ that Mahatma Gandhi gave. I always had love-hate relation with his principles but the prospect of how to confront neo-Nazis with these two weapons was challenging. So holding placard reading “Free Hugs/ Unarmung” and flowers; and with open arms we headed towards the Erfurt Hauptbahnhof. On our way we were amazed by the effervescence and warmth with which people responded to our offer, barring a few old ladies who told me point blank “Geh weg! Wir mochten unser Geld haben!” (Go away! We want to keep our Money!). With a smile on my face I offered them a flower and they just looked the other way.

Our final test was yet to come as we reached the Hauptbahnhof for what later turned out to be a confused demonstration. Our target were the neo-Nazis singing “Wir sind das Volk” ("We are the people". It has an eery similarity to "Dem Deutscher Volke" inscribed on top of the Bundestag – the German Parliament). Their hatred for the “Colourful people”, I have only heard about. Another international student with me tried to pull me back from going there as he wanted to analyse the risk factors first! Being a journalist I have been in much more aggressive and potentially violent situations; and with the number of police available I asked him to just follow. As the Nazis gesticulating towards us we offered them “Free Hugs” with a smile and a flower. There was a look of incredulity on their faces and they just could not look us in the eye anymore.

I doubt that our campaign would have resulted in heart change of any hard core haters of immigrants. But nearly 90 percent of the people were really friendly. At one point of time people from both demonstration and counter-demonstration were hugging us. This gives great hope to people seeking to get assimilated into Germany – go out take part in the “Dance of Democracy” and reclaim your space in public, which at the moment is not happening.

So expect many such free hugging sessions in and around Erfurt from “Colourful people” with a hope that Deutschland bleibt Bunt (Germany remains Colourful). Come join us, only thing you need are “Open Arms”.

(The article was published at Global Public Policy Watch )