The gathering of downfall twigs and branches for the kitchen.
The German habit of saving money is so entrenched it has come to define the national character, according to the curators of an exhibition who say they hope to spark a much-needed debate about whether the obsession is healthy.
Saving ‐ History of a German Virtue at the German Historical Museum in Berlin seeks to uncover why saving money is central to most Germans’ lives ‐ even in times of historically low interest rates.
"In Germany everyone takes it for granted that they should save, both privately and on a state level," said Robert Muschalla, an economic historian and the main curator. "The idea of making sure you stay in the black, is seen as a goal that is worth striving for at all costs, and is fetishistically stuck to."
Saving boxes, money socks and piggy banks from every era since the foundation of the German nation in 1871 are on display in the exhibition. They illustrate the everyday acceptance of saving in Germany, as well as the extent to which it has been linked not just with personal morality but with serving a national purpose.
"The fate of the nation rests solely in our own strength," reads the epithet on one box from the Nazi era. Another from 1900 reads: "Without saving your chest will be empty. If you have nothing, you’ll be a burden."