Tågförseningssjalen shatters the myth of German punctuality

Pünktlichkeit is for the German self-image, what just right is for the Swedish.

in the soul of the people deeply rooted idea of the importance of coming on time.

punctuality is living in Germany not up to its reputation.

last year, came only three of the four långsdistanståg forward according to the timetable, they were not more than six minutes late), which is verging on the same poor results for the Swedish långdistanstågen.

At the side of the dieselfuskande brand Volkswagen belongs to the state railway company Deutsche Bahn to the most utskällda German companies and the many delays is an eternal topic of conversation in workplaces and beer halls – as well as a constant source of new jokes.

”the employees of Deutsche Bahn and take the train to work, or must they be on time?”

who clench their fists in the pocket, write angry letters to the editor, or calling out their powerlessness on Twitter.

But a 55-year-old woman who daily commute between home in the bavarian countryside and the Munich found another way to have an outlet for their frustration.

Every evening knitted her two lines on their ”tågförseningssjal”: gray for the delays in under five minutes; light pink for delays up to half an hour and red for more than a 30-minute delay, or the delay in both directions. In the spring floated trips on the good, it shows the many gray and pink parties, but during the summer, and colored the scarf red.

At the end of the year knitted the last row.

put up a picture of the 1.5-meter-long scarf on Twitter, it wasn't long before it became a and national matter. The scarf has become a viral success, and the stabbing of the woman has been interviewed in a number of German newspapers about his silent protest.

https://twitter.com/sara__weber/status/1081950904671240192

In the week sold the scarf on the online auction.

An anonymous user on E-bay cried into it 7.550 euro, corresponding to approximately an amount of sek 80,000. The considerable sum has been donated to a christian relief organization that is active in the German train stations. Later it was revealed the buyer – it was Deutsche Bahn, which won in the scarf.

also called the company's management up to an emergency meeting with Germany's minister of transport, who promised to train punctuality and the service should be improved. The German Counterpart to the Swedish nao, the Bundesgerichthof, also came with scathing criticism of the German government for not doing enough to build out and maintain the rail network.

But it remains to be seen whether 2019 will be the year when pünktlichkeit are making a comeback.

The stabbing 55-year-old knits already on a new shawl.

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