No risk, no fun?
14.10.2008
Haftpflichtversicherung was the magic word that came out of our host's mouth as she looked at the red wine which had just spilled onto her treasured, new, deep-pile, white carpet.
Although my German was good enough to read the works of Goethe and Schiller I wasn’t sure what this word meant. When I got home I turned to my German-English dictionary for help. "Personal indemnity insurance" was the translation it offered. Unfortunately I was still none the wiser.
It was only after eight years of living dangerously in Germany that I realized how important it was to take out this insurance policy. I am now very happy with my Haftplichtversicherung.
Apparently, Germany is one of the countries with the highest number of insurance policies per capita; some argue that this reflects a fundamental aversion to risk. Research by intercultural guru Geert Hofstede shows that Germany scores significantly higher on the scale of "uncertainty avoidance" than the USA or Britain. Academics claim that Germans tend to value security because, for centuries, the borders of their country were under threat.
Personally I’m a bit sceptical about these sorts of explanations, although I too have the impression that security and avoidance of risk seem to be fundamental values here in Germany.
These thoughts came to mind when I was interviewing Ulrike Reisach, an expert on US models in Gemany, on the Americanization of German businesses (see Business Spotlight 6/2008, "The American way", pages 36–41). Even before the scope of the current financial crisis was evident, she commented that Americans could learn something from traditional German values, like the attitude to risk. 
The American Way (PDF)
Maybe it’s time for Germans to have confidence in these values in the same way as they showed a pride in their country during the 2006 Fifa World Cup.
verschütten
hoch geschätzt
weißer Hochflorteppich
Schadensversicherung
eine Versicherung abschließen
Offenbar
pro Kopf
den Standpunkt vertreten
Untersuchungen
rangieren, abschneiden
Unsicherheitsvermeidung
dazu neigen
offensichtlich
Einstellung
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