Our decluttering journey has been pretty successful and gotten pretty far, especially since my husband jumped on board last year. We started the new year by scrapping a metal shed, which we both had disliked since we got it. We redistributed its content and sold more than half of it.
So since our decluttering has even moved beyond our house, it’s safe to say, we have gotten quite advanced. Still, I am always looking for inspiration and motivation on YouTube and Instagram, and after having gained a fair overview of the most popular minimalism influencers, I started to venture into German social media.
I found someone, who could be the German clone of the Minimal Mom. Her name is Anne Löwen, she has four children, is Christian, and advocates for minimalism in order to gain time and energy for the more important things in life, like human connection and charity. But she only has 2% of the following on Instagram, compared to the Minimal Mom, while Germany has 25% of the population compared to the US. (To be fair, if you were to set all the English speakers, native and non-native, in relation to the German speakers, this number would decrease drastically.) Anyways, also on YouTube the influencers and their following are far fewer, and I am wondering why?
Is it a trend that hasn’t caught on in Germany yet? Do Germans possess less? I am not sure. The only two big comparisons that are obviously different to me, and connected to material things, are houses and cars.
In Germany property is very expensive, and it’s not very common to just buy a house. Most people live in apartments their whole lives and pay rent. Few are lucky to find and afford a piece of land and build a house or buy an already-built house. Lots of people inherit their properties. Once you build or buy a house it’s usually for good. You plan on living there for the rest of your life. Houses are often not perceived as an investment (except rental property) or functional if you will. I would even go as far as to say, they include an enormous amount of emotional value and investment.
It’s similar with cars. If you were to take a snapshot of the German Autobahn and an American Interstate and compare the cars, you would see considerably less rust and dents. Due to, in my opinion, stricter inspection regulations, but mostly due to pride, love, and appreciation for the vehicle. In Germany, a car is usually more than a means of transportation, and people normally don’t eat or drink while driving.
Does this translate to other material possessions as well? The concept of donations and charity is also a different one, and frankly, it’s not as easy and accessible. Another thing that comes to mind is the scarce acceptance of therapy and the seemingly unimportance of mental well-being.
Clearly, I have no answers, but the difference I discovered got me thinking, obviously…