American's First Time In A German House! 🇩🇪 How Different Are German Homes??

[@PassportTwo]

Can any of you explain those things we have no idea what they are?? BTW, don’t forget to get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deals/passport2 - Enter promo code passport2 for 83% off and 3 extra months FREE"

[@PvtRofel]

Die klein Kreise sind so gennante unterputzdosen/verteiler für Elektrik oder Netzwerk/Internet/Telefon der Große könnte entwerder ein Abluftschat sein oder aber ein Kaminzugang hängt auch immer vom raum usw ab. The Smal Circels were In Wallboxes for electrical wires or for your network/ phone and the switches are outdatet becouse of safty changes or maybe for yout Door Bell. The Bige hole ist maybe for a Woodoven or an Used Air Pipe for your Clothdryer or your Kitchen extractor Hood depends on the high of the hole.

[@AK-my2lh]

The square cover is for the shaft of the fireplace. Earlier had wood stoves for heating and cooking. These are remnants from that time

[@hamamatsucho]

The switch could be a kill switch for the door bell from olden times. I have my apartments intercom customized to have such a switch that silences my bell. This has been used by people when you had little kids or work shift and didn't want them to woke up from the blarring ring of a door bell.

[@videomailYT]

^^ NordVPN runs over 5500 server 🤷

[@videomailYT]

the first random thing is an AP (Aufputz) Abzweigdose (connection box for wires), but there exist different types. One type can be the income from the telephone or from the (door)bell and that would be low-voltage (under 50V) and the other type can be for the normal voltage level from 230V an normal connection box And the 3rd random thing is an UP (Unterputz) Abzweigdose the crawler could be an Weberknecht

[@boelwerkr]

The random box is most likely a box to hook up a lamp (night light, reading light, bed light) above a bed. This was all the rage in the 50-70th. The big circles are chimney attachment points for wood/coal stoves. Before central heating every room had access to a chimney for a small stove. The small circles are connection boxes for the electricity. In there the wires are connected. Rule of thumb: wires are 50cm below the ceiling and above the floor, and direct above/below a junktion box, switch, or socket. The random flip-switch. Some homes have switches to turn of the doorbell. Others has a doorbell in the garden, that could be switched of. Low fat milk taste like colored water. :-)

[@gerohubner5101]

It's always helpful to find out about the correct dimensions of the "Installationszonen" (h/v, DIN 18015) before posting BS here. We don't want Donnie to experience the full 230V pleasure when accidentally drilling in an apparently "safe" zone of the wall. We love our Muricans and want them to stay safe and in healthy condition.

[@juergenschimmer960]

@@gerohubner5101 This is correct, but many older installations dont follow DIN 18015

[@Xoiskin1969X]

"Low fat milk taste like colored water. :-)" so true!

[@silentkiel]

@@gerohubner5101 I wouldn't rely on the installation zones, especially in old buildings with installations which have changed several times.

[@stormwing3632]

@@gerohubner5101 dachte es war der Kabelanschluss von früher xD

[@MyriamSchweingruber]

You obviously are in an old house that used to have different wiring and used to have a stove (the circles in the wall cover the holes for the stove pipes). The stove pipes lead to a central chimney. Obviously the room you are in was equipped with wiring for an electrical "Starkstrom" outlet used in kitchens in the second half of the 20th century to connect the oven. I hope it is not wired anymore, but leave the cover on just to make sure not to endanger yourself.

[@PassportTwo]

Great information! Thank you 😊 Ya, like I said, I don't have any plans of taking off the cover 😂

[@MrAlucarda]

Those circles can also be a hole where you can install an electrical socket (which is plugged with a plastic cover) at least I have two such circles in my room.

[@Blechfuchs]

Also in many old houses, you might find still present 3-phase installations in all rooms if the house had been built for electric heating - including the old thermostats still on the walls. But those were usually fed by a separate wiring from a separate energy counter in the central breaker box, as the electric stoves would only heat up and store warmth in ceramics over night at a much cheaper rating.

[@sput42]

Mamarok, we're following the same channels, eh? ;-)

[@MyriamSchweingruber]

@@sput42 looks like 🙂

[@Stinkehund]

You will see a lot more window nets (and even permanent frames) in areas near standing water (mosquito breeding grounds) or forests (weird tree bugs) in Germany; otherwise you won't find many annoying insects coming in from outside for most of the year - it's simply too cold for the majority of the year, plus climate change did a number on the insect populations. And people generally won't bother with a window net for just a few flies.

[@manub.3847]

We installed mosquito screens in the north more than 30 years ago. Wasps and mosquitoes (there is a fire-fighting pond less than 100 meters away) were often uninvited guests.

[@theresabu3000]

It's pretty simple - you have a ton of choices if you rent an apartment in Germany. You can install your own lights and kitchen, hang your own curtains - normally you really only have the bare bones of a home. You can do a lot to improve things - you normally rent for 5 years and then it makes sense to have everything to your liking - paint the walls and have your own furniture... You can install cheap window nets - with tape inside the windows. If you live in rural areas with much flies that makes sense. But not many people will bother and accept it.

[@Al69BfR]

Those bigger circles with the hollow sound were former access holes to the chimney because before there was central heating, every room had it‘s own heater. We had individual oil heatings in every room but the oil was pumped from central tank in the basement. My Grandparents had also oil heatings in every room but they had to fill every heater with an oil can by hand once a weak. The smaller ones high up the wall are like you said access points for the wiring in your house where different switches are connected to certain lamps and power is distributed to different rooms and outlets. Normally you find one of those above every switch or when there is an outlet at the bottom. Electric wiring in German homes follows certain specific rules so that you can be almost sure that there is no wire in the middle of the wall when you trying to drill a hole. So drilling left, right, above or below those boxes is a bad idea. 😉

[@philippbock3399]

We call(ed) it "Zentrale Ölversorgung" when several oil stoves were connected to a small pipe that supplied them with oil. I had relatives woh had such a "Zentrale Ölversorgung" whereas my grandmother had to fill up her oil stove herself (like your grandparents did). She used to have 2 oil stoves but later she got a gas stove in the living room ... But nowadays her formerly home got central heating and no one has to got to the cellar and get a can of oil for the heaters any more 🙂

[@andreasmartin9296]

Sadly those specific rules (VDE-Norm) did not apply to older houses! We have many hidden cables running criss-cross under the wall plaster. Same applies to water pipes.

[@trillian1964]

Those VDE-Norms for wiring are quite simple. 1. Wiring has to be vertikally or horizontally. 2. Horizontal wires have to be 30 cm below the ceiling or 30 cm above the floor. And that's it irrc.

[@norbertzillatron3456]

In my youth, there was no central oil pump. We had to carry coal, wood, and oil all the way up to the 3rd floor. Sometimes in autumn or spring, just adding another layer of cloth was less inconvenient ...

[@redshirt49]

You can and the primary reasons that I don't use them is that if they're installed I can't lean out of my window, which Germans are fond of doing. Now, my father's place had fancy screens on the windows that could also be opened to allow for leaning out of windows, which was very nice, but is pretty pricey and may or may not have to be a custom job depending on your window.

[@georgdrache7858]

Want to keep bugs out? No problem. Go to are Super Market called "Bauhaus", "Obi" or "Hornbach". Ask for Insect Protection Units for Windows. Make them fit, bugs will be kept out

[@kilikoe]

Your Donnie Bee perfomance is hilarious 🤣! Not finding the open door/window is sooo accurate...brilliant. Qotw: full fat milk

[@abcpichard1]

The old-style/Frankenstein-like lever towards the end of the Video was often used to change between different (old) Telephones. When i was a kid, our household had such thing and our telephone was used in the office at daytime and in our appartment for private use after official officetime, because in those times the house had only one telephone number for the entire house. We lived in a building that was the post office of our village and my father was the "postamtsleiter", the leader of the post office. The office was at the ground floor and our apartement was at the first floor... Sometimes those levers switched the the old doorbells ON and OFF, in case that you dont want to be interrupted at your "afternoon nap" (Mittagsschlaf). They were not uncommon in older times. And yes, the bigger round plates in higher spaces are old connections to the chimney and the smaller ones are for electrical wiring. Usually the had to be covered by the wallpapers because in germany it is mandatory that those plates could be opened "only with a tool" and not simply by your hands, because of safety regulations!

[@ramona3010]

My family and all of our neighbours never used a flame thrower for weeds 🤣 And most homes in my area have bug screens here, you just stick them on the windows frame with „Klettverschluss“ (And you can buy them from big brands like Tesa in lots of sizes)

[@PassportTwo]

Man, EVERYBODY in our area of Germany uses the flame throwers 😅 It is always interesting to hear how different various parts of Germany can be 😊 Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@HalfEye79]

I've never seen a person with a flame thrower before, I think. There are even door-bug-screens, for i.e. the terrace, which you can open.

[@JH-xo9sy]

Never ever see one flame throwers in the different neighbourhoods we lived.

[@HolyNarz]

@@PassportTwo it's indeed Interesting. I didn't know there are so many using it. I'm from Cologne/ Nordrhein-Westfalen and I have never seen anyone use this little flamethrower.

[@americanstudent9062]

@@PassportTwo, I can probably guess you bought the flame thrower at Obi

[@ClaudiaG.1979]

i cant believe you bought a bee costume and crawled into your bathroom window. i bursted out laughing when you hit the window again and again. Thanks for the laugher

[@chrisb.3854]

At 10:42 it is an "Abzweigdose" (junction box) most often used in older buildings especially placed above light switches. Nowadays you do the wiring behind the swtich. Today they are moste used to connect an "elektrischer Rollaladen" (electric shutters) or "Elektrische Außenjalousie" (electric external blinds)

[@chrisk5651]

Well in the USA in the 1980s there was this false belief that spread that rather than too much sugar that was making us fat , that really too much fat was making us fat and so low fat foods and diet became a big thing. Thus a lot of us switched to low-fat or even no-fat foods like milk even though doing so by itself didn’t cause us to lose weight in the long run. My family switched to 2%or 1% milk (which had that percentage of milk fat in it). At university, I even switched to skim milk (where all the fat had been skimmed off the top or removed). There was no understanding that there were beneficial or good fats.

[@reinerjung1613]

The first "circle" could be a chimney hole that has been covered. The other one is a cover for a holder box for electrical wiring. In case the house uses ductwork for cables, wires end up in these corners so you can remove them and repair them without opening the wall in case of a fault. Or if you need more cables you can add them.

[@Al69BfR]

But curtain tracks are more a thing of older people in older homes and in recent years they are getting more and more out of fashion. When I was looking for an apartment there was a almost clear pattern: apartments built prior to the 90s are mostly having curtain tracks, apartments and houses built or renovated in the 2000 are more likely to have curtain bars. At least that‘s my experience with growing up in Germany and seeing those in homes of my family and friends. Oatmilk

[@MyriamSchweingruber]

Or you live in a "Fachwerkhaus" build somewhere in the 15th century and there is no installation for curtains at all, as curtains are a relatively new invention. It also depends a lot on the regions, the Northern parts of Germany are having far less curtains than the Southern regions, so calling this a German thing is also not correct. I grew up in Switzerland in a house where you had no curtains, but a double window system with wooden blinds for the summer and actual outside windows in the winter with self-made draft stoppers between the two windows. Talk about Switzerland: the wire caps near the ceiling are square, not round 🙂

[@Philemaphobia]

Yeah…. Homes build prior to 1920 also most likely have bars (if they weren’t ‚modernized‘ during the 70s)

[@meryemdekiert5172]

You're right. The tiny circles are the caps where you get access to the Kabelschacht (sorry I don't know the English word for it) wich electricians use to remove or repair cables.

[@simonw7654]

The "circles" are indeed plastic covers for the electric wiring underneath. They are called "Federdeckel".

[@Hipp0campus_1]

The (Blass) box on the wall is most likely a cover for wiring. It's either wall power or telephone wiring. Connect the two wires inside and find out. If there is a big spark and your home has no more power and maybe you are dead on the floor, it wasn't the telephone wire.

[@jackybraun2705]

You have to attach the curtain rail to the ceiling as the Rollladenkasten (mechanics for the rolling shutters) is immediately behind the wall between the top of the window and up to the ceiling, so you can't drill in it.

[@iamcurious9541]

Not really. Plenty of them only have two attachment points. So you can put them in the wall next to the shutter box.

[@IcyT]

I used a very strong glue to glue them onto the wall. I have the outer two screwed onto the wall though where there is no box of the shutters and the two inner two glued. Spanning around 5 meters. Works without problems.

[@Thomas_Meier93]

12:00 The switch is a on/off switch for the door bell. And the circules in the wall are covers that cover electrical distribution boxes

[@j.neumann1722]

At 12:12 that little old school switch used to be for turning of the door bell during quiet hours. So you would not get disturbed by unexpected/ unwanted guests ringing the doorbell while you’re taking a nap or your Kids being asleep.

[@albundy7718]

In our House a similar Switch like seen in 11:50 switches the Doorbell on and off, a 'dont disturb us' Switch. :)

[@0al797]

The thing at 10:39 is an "Unterputzdose mit Abdeckung", a "round box" where electrical wires are connected. It was painted over it. You can carefully scratch around the edge and open/remove the cover. Then you see the connected wires. And BTW: "regular" milk as it comes "out of the cow", although pasteurized.

[@svenmueller]

As others said, the large circle is probably an old access from an oven to the chimney. The smaller ones are most likely covering electrical connection boxes (up high) and holes where the were light switches in the past. The one low small one you pointed to is on the outside of the bathroom. I guess that your flat used to have the light switch for the bathroom on the outside, as it was often fine in older homes. At some point it was moved to the inside. I struggle to think of what that box near your sofa is. Maybe a cable outlet for rear speakers put in by a previous tenant. Not way to be sure without opening it though. Could also be a very old outlet for a telephone.

[@herb6677]

I liked the way you tried to buzz out of the house next to the open door - how hilarious! In former times you had to have those pipe exits, so that you could also put up a "Notofen" in case you had to heat your house by burning wood or coal.

[@tjb62]

Due to traditional climate here, bugs really have never been that much of an issue. With weather becoming warmer this is slowly changing....

[@PassportTwo]

There weren't always flies and bees? 🤔 I have heard from some neighbors that the wasps have been particularly bad this year and that has been very unusual!

[@leDespicable]

I'd say it just depends on personal habits. Mosquitos have always been an issue, and those are a pain to deal with in summer...so I'd say whether you have a bug screen depends on your personal msoquito tolerance lol

[@isawrooka4]

I. Cities especially mosquitos aren’t much of a problem. Moreso flies and wasps My girlfriends parents house in the countryside has so many mosquitos it is unbearable

[@pjschmid2251]

Also you don’t have friendly little critters like trash pandas (raccoons 🦝) that would happily go through a window and raid your refrigerator. Yep they’re clever little buggers and they know how to open refrigerators and know food’s inside.

[@friedemannkemm63]

@@leDespicable I come from a German region that, up to a few decades ago, was plagued by mosquitoes. Thus, screens were standard during my childhood. After the measures by the government have reduced the number of mosquitoes significantly over the years, screens went "out of fashion".

[@andreasbuttner2085]

The switch at 11:50 was common in old houses, and was mostly used to turn the doorbell on or off 🙂

[@hypatian9093]

Yeah - I have one of these and it still works. Though it's not painted over cause you don't do that with electrical thingies ;)

[@jorg4443]

Yes I still remember that one when I was a child. It's a 1960's doorbell switch

[@elipa3]

Nee. Wir hatten vor 50 Jahren auch so ein Ding. Das ist ein Schalter, um die Telefonleitungen zwischen zwei Wohnungen umzuschalten. Es war damals nicht unüblich, dass zwei Wohnungen in einem Zweifamilienhaus sich eine Leitung geteilt haben. Um zu telefonieren, musste man die Leitung auf die eigene Wohnung umschalten. Später bekam dann jeder Haushalt eine eigene Leitung bzw. einen eigenen Anschluss. Vorher gab es halt einen Anschluss für zwei Wohnungen. War aber nicht sehr praktikabel, wenn in einem Haushalt telefoniert wurde, konnte im anderen nicht telefoniert werden. Vorher, als ich ein Kind war, hatten wir überhaupt kein Telefon, und mussten im Bedarfsfall zu Nachbarn oder in die Telefonzelle. Ausstattung mit Telefon war in den sechziger Jahren nicht üblich, ausserdem fehlte die Infrastruktur.

[@philipkudrna5643]

The salt in the dishwasher is required due to the fact that Central Europe has hard water / lime water, which causes to kill your appliances unless you take precautions. Salt is the classic (and cheapest) way, unless your home generally has a water softening system installed.

[@RenateWest-j3d]

In my regional area of Ballarat Victoria Australia has soft water.Does that do any damage long term to a dishwasher. Renate Westenberger. Thankyou

[@philipkudrna5643]

@@RenateWest-j3d Only hard water is a problem, as the limestone will gradually clog the pipes and tubes. Soft water is usually not a problem - but I am not a plumber!

[@markusguetlich8406]

The switch at 12:08 might be turning off the door bell. Good idea for moments in which you don't want to be disturbed. 😉 Try it out. The covers at 11:41 are electrical divider boxes. until the 90s a single cable has been installed from the ciruit breaker to each room. There the cable would devide into one cable for the light switch, one cable for the light outlet and others for wall plugs. The connection is done in theses devider boxes. Today the cable devision is done in most cases behind the light switch in an extra large box.

[@Stephan4711]

You are right with the underwall boxes, but they are also used in wood construction houses, to get easy access to the connections point where the wires are connected to each other, to be able to easy change the wirering. Like add a cross switching function

[@PassportTwo]

Glad I was able to at least figure those out! 😅😊

[@Mariosch26]

the house is also probably not a recent construction. I think in older electrical installation those underwall boxes were very common - a cable with power from the breakerbox would come into one of those, there would be clamps connecting it to a wire going to the switch and another clamp connecting the return from the lightswitch with the wire going to the ceiling light. Also I think electrical cables should only run either horizontal or vertical, never diagonal over a wall, and in older installations they tend to put the horizontal cables close to the ceilings. So you would usually find those underwall boxes either above a lightswitch or a wall socket (then connecting the wire from the wall socket with wire coming from the breakerbox). In more modern electrical installations, the clamps often sit right behind the switch itself, making most underwall boxes obsolute. Guess modern screwless clamps are a bit smaller than what they used 40 or 50 years ago...

[@Stephan4711]

@@Mariosch26 also modern houses have this boxes there is the connection between the switch and the lamps at the ceiling and if you have more than one switch there is the connection done too

[@Mariosch26]

@@Stephan4711 at least my apartment (completely re-wired in 2007 or 2008) has virtually none of those anymore. And I do have two switches in my hallway, all wires are clamped behind the switches. I was surprised myself, since I was used to the vast amount of underwall boxes, but the electrican said they wouldn't do that anymore. I also have wires running between wallboxes a few cm above the floor, instead of having a "ring wire" for power under the ceiling which all wall sockets would split of (in an underwall box). those connector underwall boxes usually do not provide much benefit at all if the cable is actually plastered into the wall, since you can't change much then. They might come in handy though if you opt for the "luxury version" of having conduits in your wall to feed the wires through, since then you could change the wiring fairly easy if you want to. But I don't think using conduits is standard in electrical installations, unless you specifically ask for it.

[@davidmozer6487]

@@Mariosch26 correct! That's how it was used to be done! The upside is/was that wire-connections also stayed accessible if something went wrong which happened more often back then as the standards weren't as high and connections not as sophisticated as today..

[@jan-matthisweng4437]

Humanoid bees hacking into my personal accounts is one of my greatest fears, actually.

[@airlag]

the circles on the wall are most likely covers of junction boxes of the power grid. Since most walls are not dry walls as in the USA, and we don't want to tear down a wall to access them, we just put a plastic cap and wallpaper on top. The same boxes are used for every light switch. Of course with a switch instead of a plastic cap.

[@larsschmitt3826]

(9:58) BLASS is the name of the company that makes euqipment for electrical installations like sockets, distribution boxes, switch in-wall cases and so on. If you unscrew the little screw you will most possibly find some wires. (10:39) most probaply those "circles" that sound hollow are electrical distribution points inside the wall. You can remove the lid (damaging the paint) and will find maybe an other "BLASS box" sunk into the wall where different wires can be found. (11:11) Yes, if the "circles" are bigger in diameter they might also be closed up chimney accesses. (11:25) You guess right, like I've said before. (12:05) I've never seen one of this before.

[@ceha9517]

hahahaha you as a bee smacking against the patio door. that was funny. 😊

[@MiniTitanic1]

So These round things in the Wall was for a fire Heater (we called Ofen) some use oil. Or wood and Coal. In Order to warm up every room u have Multi heater. Old houses also have this in the bathroom for a Wood Fired water heater. (Warm water) . So u can install a fireplace when u ask the owner.

[@beenthere5505]

Circles on/in the wall - the smaller ones are the covers of single gang electrical boxes. Those boxes are either for the distribution of electrical wires to light switches or electrical outlets. They also can be just covering up the ends of wires that used to be connected to an outlet, a wall-mounted lamp, or a switch.

[@an-an]

Bärenmarke 3,8% ESL fresh milk!! 😁And switch with the 0/I on the housing was or is to disable the door bell... BTW: You live in a pretty old home what we can see from the electric installations and the old fashion curtain tracks... 😉

[@TrangleC]

Good video. I especially liked the bee costume bit and how you tied it in with the promotion.

[@PassportTwo]

Haha, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@worldhello1234]

@6:02 Exactly, you don't want to have to deal with a hornet queen or wasps. Those screens aren't standard but that doesn't necessarily mean people who care won't bother.

[@Aine197]

The round things high up on your walls are covers for electrical distribution boxes. German houses used to be built with these boxes at places where the wiring changed direction to make it easier for an electrician to hook up new wiring. Houses with newer electrical wiring don‘t habe these boxes anymore.

[@johnsMOBA]

Blass is a Company producing such things, the white thing on the wall is purely called a „Aufputz Abzweigdose“. So basically it contains a electrical connection which can be used for further installations, „aufputz“ means it is on and not in the wall. The circles are the same but in the wall, there are the electrical connections and wires runt towards those ususally vertical or sometimes horizontally.. so if you happen to put something on your walls like a picture make sure you don’t drill in in a direct vertical or horizontal line of these without having checked for wires.. regards

[@Stephan4711]

Wenn du mal in den Baumarkt gehst, findest du 100% Fliegengitter. Ich habe welche an jedem Fenster und eine Tür am Balkon

[@PassportTwo]

Ja, wie ich schon im Video gesagt habe, gibt es sie auch in Deutschland, sie sind nur in deutschen Haushalten nicht so üblich wie in den USA 😊

[@Ehregott]

@@PassportTwo Es könnte damit zu tun haben, wie die Mietsituation in den USA vs. Deutschland ist. In Deutschland wird z.B. zwar häufig eine Küche gestellt, aber eben nicht immer und der Vermieter muss keine Küche stellen. In den USA ist es vielleicht ähnlich aber dort ziehen die Familien auch häufiger um und das durch das ganze Land. Da noch eine Küche einbauen zu müssen hat sich vmtl. nicht als wirtschaftlich erwiesen bzw. die vorher eingebaute Küche wurde bevorzugt. Ähnlich könnte es mit den Fliegengittern sein - einfach ein Verkaufsargument und deswegen häufig. Außerdem kann man in Deutschland das ganze Fenster öffnen. Ich meine mich zu erinnern, dass in unserem Haus in den USA die Fliegengitter genau wie die Fenster weggeschoben werden konnten - aber eben immer in Sicht waren. Hier mögen viele Leute den Ausblick aus dem Fenster und mögen es nicht so gerne, wenn da irgendeine Form von Gitter zwischen ist. Aber alles nur Spekulation...

[@a.riddlemethis795]

Buying low-fat milk basically means paying additionally for watered down milk. If I were on a cholestrine diet, I would reduce my intake instead of consuming low-fat milk/butter/yoghurt etc. This way I would continue to enjoy the full taste of products at lower cost.

[@hessin3027]

Dishwasher salt is required for "hard" water (e.g. containing lime). but it always depends on the water hardness, which can vary in one place. you can ask the local waterworks (municipality/city) about the water hardness. We have "soft water", we don't need any extra salt.

[@tslarusso]

The circle boxes are either electrical junction boxes (the smaller ones) and old access points to the chimmney (the bigger one). It looks like your junction boxes have been closed and overpainted a few times ;)

[@PassportTwo]

Ya...overpainted many many times through the years 😂

[@mick-berry5331]

​@@PassportTwo ...and the connection to the chimney was not for kitchen air, but for a wood stove or a wood or coal burning oven to heat the place. 😅

[@Laurelinad]

9:59 there is a company called "BLASS Elektro" 11:25 yes, those are usually plastic covers for old holes or junction boxes that tend to stick a tiny bit out of the wall hence them being somewhat visible (partly to make it easier to find said junction boxes in case there is an issue) 12:25 obviously some kind of switch. it might have been kept from nostalgia or because they just kept the whole circuit, just unconnected, inside the house in case they i.e. wanna divide the house again so it could be for the front door buzzer or such. many possibilities 12:35 low fat (1.5%)

[@sausyl]

We had a cable tube (Kabel Schacht) in our house this went the whole way from the cellar to the top, each level had a access hole to the Schacht, this was the owner can install new cable though out the house. Our house was built in the 60s

[@wjhann4836]

The little "light switch" is a bell disconnect. If people don't want to be disturbed, they use that switch to cut off the door bell. It is too small for 230V - it can only be used with small voltages - doorbells are typically 12V.

[@TheLexorius]

The small switches on the door are usually usually for the doorbell.

[@PassportTwo]

And do what for the doorbell? 🤔 Turn it on and off so people can't ring it if they don't want to be bothered?

[@tosa2522]

@@PassportTwo 12:12 This looks like a 6 or 12 volt switch for the doorbell. Maybe someone wanted to turn it off at night. Looks very "antique". Maybe from the 50s or even earlier.

[@TheLexorius]

@@PassportTwo I remember my grandma had some for wen we kids sleeping...

[@No42O]

Thing 5 : 1. Vielleicht ein W-lan Verstärker 2. Eine Abzweigung in der Stromleitung

[@NubisKnight]

The big round blends behind the wallpapers are for stove pipes. The house of my parents has central heating still some connections to the central chimney where added in cause my parents later wanted to add stoves. Those may not only exists in older homes so!

[@orangedeamon1]

You are absolutely right about those circles. Small ones are access to the wires. Usually those are exactly above your power outlets. Basically the main wires go near the ceiling, and you would connect your outlets to those mainlines. The big is either for the vent hood, or for heating, in which case it is/was probably connected to the chimney. The last "switch" seems to be a part of an old door locking mechanism.

[@philw6056]

The last one is definitely a door lock, but the door was removed and somehow they didn't bother to remove the wall-mounted door lock, too. Is it possible that the "circle" at 11:44 is just a scratch and someone accidentely slammed a cylindrical thing against the wall?

[@theuncalledfor]

11:47 That "creepy crawly" is incredibly harmless, it could not hurt anyone even it wanted to, and AFAIK it doesn't do anything to your food supply or anything either. Live and let live. Note that this is not a spider despite the amount of legs. It's an arachnid, closely related to actual spiders.

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

@9:55 Es gibt eine Firma "BLASS ELEKTRO GMBH" in 51688 Wipperfürth, die Steckdosen und verschiedenste Dinge der Elektroinstallation herstellt und/oder verkauft, auch Anschlussdosen. Anhand des 2018er Katalogs, den ich beim Suchen gefunden habe, könnte es sich um eine Aufputz-Abzweigdose (klein) handeln, Artikelnummer 22141 (grau) oder 22141 (weiß)

[@PassportTwo]

Wow! Du bist ein echter Detektiv 😅 Danke!

[@yt-viewerfromger320]

Bzgl. der überklebten runden Dinger kann ich sagen, daß es es sich sehr wahrscheinlich um Unterputz-Abzweigdosen (oben) bzw. um ungenutzte Schalterdosen (weiter unten) handeln dürfte. Also tatsächlich etwas "Elektrisches"...

[@hase_net]

The circles are indeed covers for electrical junction boxes where cables are joined or are Unterputz-Dosen intended for an electrical socket or switch to be installed. The cables are simply embedded in the plaster (Unter Putz = under plaster) or in cable ducts embedded in the wall/plaster structure. With brick instea of drywall, electrical installation is considered more permanent in Germany than in the US; changes are messy (mill trenches in the plaster). Therefore frequently optional junctions are pre-installed in the walls during construction and covered with the round plastic covers to allow for later installation of sockes. The two switches look like only rated for low voltage (Schutzkleinspannung, anything below 40VAC/48VDC). So probably telecommunications installation (external ringer for land-line telephone) or something with the doorbell.

[@Jan_Seidel]

10:00 looks to me like a distributor box for wiring up a lamp in the corner. Blass it probably the producing company. Just unscrew it and have a peek, no big deal. Loose live wires are normally terminated at the blank ends to prevent hazard. 10:30 seems to be 155 mm vent covers where you can connect an oven or fireplace to. 10:40 these higher "circles" are cover of junction boxes for the homes wiring. They tend to be above switches and power sockets. There main wire runs just below the ceiling and where needed these box are placed into the walls to split off power lines to the mentioned switched and power sockets. 11:38 covers a box for a switch that has been deleted. 12:00 the switch works on low voltage. My guess would be it switched off the door bell.

[@tinhead1112]

These round holes are junction boxes for the house wiring and this box at your bedroom wall is a junction box to hang a lamp there for reading purposes.

[@ascaniusvotan2319]

I don't know what friends you have :D but our windows are always screen protected and the first thing we do when moving into a new home is getting window screens..... And no, we don't have bugs and flys and bees and wasps in our houses, I have never seen anyone like that.... I live here since 28 years... well born here in Germany

[@Cpt_Mackenzie_Calhoun]

The littel Box at the wall could be an old tv system connection clled Antennenanschluss. I rember that we had one in our home in my childhood. At this time the TV Signal was broadcast to recivew with an antenne, but this system was should down in the 90 when we got cable in our house.

[@dirkbiwoll7324]

The electrical cabling nodes are located behind the Platik cover rings. Cables from all directions collect there and this is where you can start with extensions. But does the electrics. Every note has such a cover.

[@Suite21]

Buy Bug nets for ur windows urself, its like with kitchens they are not included in German Homes. The Circles in the Wall are mostly Verteilerdosen ( Distributor Box?) for Electric Wires ect.

[@martingerlitz1162]

The circles are covers to an electrical crossroad of various lines. They are always straight above a light switch, a jack or a lamp. Electrical lines are always straight up or go horizontal. Every house has these either covered with wallpaper or accessible with just the cheap plastic lid

[@bongokamerad]

The round circles under wallpaper are "Dosendeckel" they cover up "Gerätedosen/ Schalterdosen". Gerätedosen are like a small hollow cylinder with openings on their side to run cable through and do cable management (for branching or etc.). Sometimes they just cover up old places where Gerätedosen used to be. The tiny Box at 9:50 is probably a former electrical outlet that was covered up and cut from power. Covering it up is cheaper instead of removing the entire outlet . (Blass is a common German electrical installation company for stuff like switches and electrical outlet) My best guess for the toggle switches at 12:00 (especially because the I and 0 on it means on and off) and the one at 12:30 are either old light or power toggle switches.

[@JohnDoe-us5rq]

Thoses little cabs are not for access to the cables, there is a split or merge of the cables. Those are usually being found right above a lightswitch. Or they are used to split a power supply into another, adjacent, room. The positioning is due to requirements how and where to install electric cables. The big, round thingy might just be a closed-up chimney access from the old wood burning stove. And the tiny switch with the switch on top going left to right is most probably a remnant of an old door bell. Usually those were electro-mechanical and those switches were used to cut the wire im case you did not want to be disturbed. So you might want to switch it and give the door bell a try, maybe it's still hooked-up and switching it off will make you miss your parcel deliveries.

[@toeffimz]

The little thingy at 11:50 is a switch to turn off the door bell. Maybe disconnected...

[@DerJarl1024]

All of the boxes mentioned are junction boxes for electrical wiring in the home. While the first shown is a surface-mounted box, which was most certainly retrofitted to secure, for example, an open power cable to which a wall lamp was previously attached, the other circular covers are the covers for flush-mounted boxes. Here the power supply (cables) are distributed in different directions, e.g. to a socket below or/and to the ceiling light.

[@dirty_old_minion5881]

well, you can buy your own screens. in a diy-market all the year. in a bigger supermarket mostly in spring and summer. They usually have an adhesive side and one like a Velcro fastener where the grid is then attached. oh, and we call it Fliegengitter

[@defiled3s]

Since electrical installation is highly regulated, the circle underneath the wallpaper thats on shoulder height should actually be a chimney access for a stove of some kind. The other little circles are - well you guessed correct there - electrical junction boxes. Mostly used to bring in power and connect multiple wires comming from your switches underneath to the appropriate light fixture.

[@aleksanderdomanski222]

Round thing is in Poland called "puszka" (the can, cos it looks like a can) and contains electric wire joints (and is covered by a lid. This way it is easier to find a broken circuit. For example - you have main electric wiring up high (safety). Then put that "can" as a kind of intersection, then have new wire go straight down to power a socket (for example). This way your electric wiring is done in easy to fix sections. And it is safe and easy to predict (that helps when nailing a picture for example - you know where better not to). I remember, we had courtain tracks in Poland in 80's and 90's, but now we moved to bars.

[@christopherandresen9790]

the circles I know. Its for leading cables within the wall. This way you don't need to remove a whole wall but can simply move the light wires if they ever need replacement. The old switches look like old light switches that somebody didn't seem to know what it was and just let it there in fear it could break something if removed.

[@ladyalexandra2980]

Full fat Milk. The circles are lids to the chimney. You can stick the Metall Tube from the oven into it.

[@LuXifR]

the round section behind the wallpaper might be a closed off chimney connection from when there still was a stove in there for heating if it's an old house

[@kurtfw4581]

Here some (more or less) wild guesses: The mysterious circles: The circle in the hight of your shoulder could be a former access to the chimney which was used for a tiled stove (or another type of stove) to heat this room back in the day. The smaller circles higher on the wall are a "Verteilerdose". There parts of the wiring of the electrical installation is accessable, for example a junction of wires to connect a light switch or an outlet. Old switches: The old switches could have been used to switch the door bell on and off - if you do not want to be disturbed by visitors you would just switch off the door bell. (But this feature is only found in older houses, I guess these switches were not installed after 1965 anymore...) Blowtorches: In rural areas blowtorches are used to kill unwanted weeds in flower-beds - especially in early spring before the wanted seeds are put into the flower bed. And some people there even light their bbq-grill-coal with the torch, which saves a lot of time... But in the city only very few people own a blowtorch (I think). Dishwasher: correct, salt is needed to "soften" the water. Germany (and probably many other parts of Europe) has "hard" water due to the higher amount of natural minerals which are solved in the water. Screen: You can buy a screen or gaze and install it in your window frame to keep flies, wasps etc. out. We installed a screen one summer when there was a hornets nest in the roof - but it was not really neccesary, the hornets left us alone anyway. Final Question: Full fat milk, always! 🙂

[@Pips-hw8nd]

the caps are for electrical wireing yes, usually it's where the cables get dragged through, at the time you build the home

[@green64]

The holes are covers from electricity connection points, as you think, or they are old Switches and Outlets. The big one can be a cover of a chimney in some kind. BLASS is just a Company who made a lot of electronic boxes and outlets. The old switches can be an old Bell in the house, th give a ring when Dinner is ready or even an old Lightswitch.

[@sarahmichael270244]

hi, i use just all-in - one tabs for dishwasher. no salt needed. Aldi's tabs are the best. This round things in the wall, can be power access for plug sockets, that are not in use.if you want to, you can open it and install there one. if you kitchenidea is right. it is for the kitchen hood (Dunstabzugshaube).

[@Raptor_CKO]

Ist eine BLASS - Abzweigdose. Vielleicht sogar für den Feuchtraum. Normalerweise werden Abzweigdosen unter Putz verbaut. Manchmal, bei älteren Wohnungen/Häusern, werden Aufputzdosen benutzt um weiter Steckdosen oder Lampen anzuschließen.

[@Raptor_CKO]

Die hohlen rundenkreise sind alte Unterputz Abzweigdosen (für Strom).

[@PassportTwo]

Gut zu wissen! Vielen Dank 😊

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

The curtain tracks are often built into the ceiling in homes built in the second half of the 20th century, so people just use what's already there. Older and newer homes tend to not have them and you can install whatever you want. In the olden days people were not necessarily rich enough to put curtains on every window because fabric was expensive. In modern homes, the rod becomes more and more popular. At least that's my impression.

[@himmel-erdeundzuruck5682]

There are nets to protect flys from entering your windows. You get them in a Baumarkt.

[@hoffmanw157]

In 2014 I built a new single-family house (ground floor only) with isolation according to the building regulations, high-quality windows with triple glazing and roller shutters from the outside. The interior walls are made of solid sand-lime brick with very high heat storage capacity. A ventilation system with heat exchanger (efficiency 92%) is installed, so that with permanent air exchange in winter almost no heat loss occurs. On the other hand, no hot outside air is led into the house in summer. Even after 2 weeks with up to 39 degrees Celsius outside temperature, it never got warmer than 26 degrees in the house, air conditioning is not necessary. The windows do not need to be opened, dust, pollen and insects get trapped in the filters of the system. In December here was almost 2 weeks of permafrost down to -10 degrees. During this time the consumption of natural gas was around 7 cubic meters per day, now with outside temperatures around 5 degrees it is 4 cubic meters per day. The house has a living area of 192 square meters and the temperature in the living area is 22 degrees, in the other rooms 20 degrees. This house meets today's standards, but you can do much more to save energy with solar panels, heat pump and much more. The most important thing, however, is good isolation. Unfortunately, most buildings in Germany are older than 20 years and have a much higher energy consumption.

[@lizben3463]

Behind the box is most likely wiring where a lamp was mounted, the circles are closures of pipes that most likely also contain electrical wiring and the first switch might be to turn of parts of your electricity. We have two of them in the kitchen, one switches off electricity for the dishwasher and one for the stove.

[@Hipp0campus_1]

About the window screens: In most areas we don't have huge problems with mosquitoes, so all the insects that are coming in are some flies and occasionally a wasp. Wasps will get out pretty fast if you have a window open. Most people I know who live in the countryside have come to terms about living with flies. They are all around you anywhere if you live near cattle farms. They have a fly swatter if they get too annoying and that's it.

[@Philemaphobia]

Glass of wine with a drop of dish soaps rid of fruit flies and a sticky fly trap gets rid of the patrolling male flies. We currently have no problem with venomous spiders coming into houses (which is about to change, 2 venomous species entered Germany during the last decade) Ants, meal moths, food bugs etc. don’t come if they can’t find a food source. The occasional wasp or hornet might be scary to someone who is allergic, but there is always the option to buy insect screens and upgrade yourself, there are non-permanent ones.

[@michaellindner1887]

meistens sind in älteren Häusern mit Verteilerdosen für die Stromversorgung verbaut. Vom Sicherungskasten kommt ein Kabel, welches von diesen Verteilerdosen zu den Steckdosen, Lichtschaltern und Lampen verteilt werden. Diese werden im Laufe der Zeit von der Tapete verdeckt. In modernen Häusern gehen einzelne Kabel mit eigener Absicherung direkt zu den Steckdosen Zu den Lichtschaltern gehen jeweils extra abgesichert ein Kabel und von dort weiter zur Leuchte.

[@michaelkloters3454]

hi donnie, for the first little box i `ve also no idea what it`s for, the circle plate you described right, the larger ones close an old oven access to thje chimney, the smaller one gives you access to the electrical system and the little switch was (long ago!) for turning off your doorbell! Michael/Hannover

[@haukesattler446]

About the 'oddities' in your house: The Blass box looks like an old thermostat for a build in electric heater. The white circles are the covers of electrical junction boxes in your wall. Pro tip: NEVER DRILL HOLES in the wall directly over/under beside or between those covers !!! The little switch is an old on/off switch for a doorbell. The last switch has probably the same purpose. (it's definitely a low voltage switch too)

[@marcvanpoucke5560]

In Belgium, we also use German-type windows but we always add a 'flyscreen' which is removable in case of window cleaning. Shure that you will find these flyscreens in any DIY store in the Bundesrepublik.

[@iamcurious9541]

The most common solution I see (in Germany) are velcro strips to put on your window frame. And sometimes new windows have fly screen doors. I've only seen framed, removable flyscreens a handful of times.

[@gecgoodpasi1654]

@@iamcurious9541 we have them and our windows have a attachment for it u can even open the screen without removing it

[@Philemaphobia]

Yep, there is many different options, from velcro attachment to full sturdy screens. They just don’t usually count as necessary. None of the bugs that come from outside are particularly harmful, most of them only stay because of hygienic reasons. Putting up a fly trap in the summer is less of a hassle.

[@iristinkerbell]

I only have a bug screen on one window in the living room. In the other rooms, I don't have the windows open when I have the light turned on, and living in a city, nothing much comes flying in with the light turned off. For example, in the bedroom, we close the windows for the brief period when we get ready for bed, and open them back up when we turn off the lights. For curtains, I have a rod in the bed room. All other windows have even different kind of curtains, like those hooked onto the window frame. Also, def. whole fat milk if you want it to taste like milk.

[@MartinMundorf]

these big round wholes are for oven-pipes^^ - and small ones arecovered up switches and power sockets. (and 1,5% fat milk, to answer the question)

[@EumlOriginal]

So these curtain rails are more common in south-west Germany... I don't use either of them myself, I stretched a steel cable from one side of the room to the other and covered two windows with it These boxes hanging on the wall are mostly from old telephone cables, you would have to look inside The circles on the wall are old "flush-mounted sockets", which is how the power cables used to be laid The switch on the wall will be or was for the doorbell so you could turn it off The second switch was probably a light switch... The problem is that many houses in Germany are much longer than in the US and over time there is a lot built in but many are too lazy to remove the old stuff

[@ErklaerMirDieWelt]

You only need additional dishwasher salt and "Klarspüler" (a clear or bluish liquid) for your dishwasher if you use the most basic tabs or pods for it. The more expensive tabs are often called stuff like "all in one" or "complete" and they include both of those things. That's why they often have three different colored parts per tab.

[@JonaxII]

... usually those three parts are just the same mix tho and are only colored to address customers' monkey brain. And they are usually much more expensive per wash than using the loose stuff.

[@fabr5747]

Are the old switches unused in front of a bathroom? It is very common in old houses in germanic Europe to have the light switch outside of the bathroom for safety reasons ! Regarding the circles, definitely electric connection access, and most likely that were built later on in the house life. For the blank plastic box in the wall, it's an electric connection. Maybe there was a light from the ceiling and it was a switch, or you could install something to plug in your electrical stuff, or it was a wall lamp. By using this, you keep the option to use it later, you have access to the whole electrical system of your house, so in case there is an issue, it is ideal.

[@ivanamicimici]

I work in a curtain store and I have to say our customers are very invested in their curtains. They have to hang so perfectly that making the curtains is a very slow process. This makes the curtains very expensive to afford if you want them to be custom made.

[@mrfluffyhedgehog]

for the circles on the walls: yes you are correct they are access point and routing for wiring. mostly electrical but also phone lines etc. there is a round plastic box behind it with multiple acceses ports (usually 4 in total one in each qaudrant) that are closed up unless a pipe is leading into the box. in side then you can route the cables into multiple directions. dead useful for laying new lines as you have points in between the start and end point where you can make sure your wire has gone through and not gotten stuck somewhere.

[@FreezeFather]

those circles all over ur home behind the wallpaper r the caps of junction boxes in the wall ("Verteilerdose") where all the electrical wires connect or split. usually they r near the ceiling or the floor and parralel to each others, due to the rule that u can put those wires only horizontal or vertical but never diagonal or worse. so if u see two of those circles u know that most likely in between there is a wire. pretty helpfull if u want to drill a hole or hammer a nail in to the wall. and if an electrician comes to change something or install a new plug socket he can remove the wallpaper and the cap and access the junktion box. In newer Buldings ( i guess 1990+) u usually cant see those anymore. its in older houses where they r as visible as in ur home. I like the "high end dishwasher" because ours is the cheapest u can get in germany and it still uses dishwasher salt ;) . And we r from germany and we got those keep the bugs out screen on almost all the windows. ...not uncommon.

[@mowana1232]

Some of my neighbors have screens in front of their kitchen windows. I use an electric bug zapper with extra high voltage that we acquired when we lived in the Asian subtropics. Most of the time, I just use it to guide the most annoying bugs out the window, however bugs refusing to return to freedom get zapped. I buy full fat milk for coffee. We don't really drink milk on its own.

[@braunXYZ]

Blass is a manufacturer. That's a surface mounted junction box. The circles are concealed junction boxes 🙂 At least the ones I can see (near the ceiling). Not sure about the one near that picture. It would be an odd place but that doesn't really mean much. If it's the same size, it's probably also a box.

[@justTyping]

I prefer the german curtin option, because they are mostly closer to the wall and window so they make the room darker when closed.

[@e.c.listening326]

The weird old kind of switches that do nothing were used when phones were rare, expensive and a luxury. If you were lucky and well off there was one single phone line into your house, to share it with e.g. the grandparents living upstairs it could be switched between the parties for privacy. Party line principle. When someone calls and one party answers it may be the desired one or not, telling the caller to call again in a minute. Then both hang up, flick the switch and on the 2nd try the caller is on the other phone for the grandparents.

[@thorstenbrandt6256]

The small box in your background is a small standard electric connection box and the small circles are the same, but they are build into the wall (we call it auf Putz - on the plaster - or Unterputz - into the plaster of the wall). And the Unterputz thingies have - like you said - a plastic covering. It's funny to check them when there are x layers of wallpaper and paint on top of them... You find such things in older building (in newer ones they try to get one connection from the switch to the outlet, but in old houses that was not that common, cause a. wires a metal and metal was expensive and b. such outlets weren't that common in the old day. The house I life in was build around 1950 and the standard at that time was one switch, a light socket on the ceiling and one (!!!) outlet max per room. If you want another one you could either get a new line from the fuse box to this room - and since we have real walls in germany, not some wood construction you can put them on the plaster and the existing wallpaper (through the whole building), which doesn't look very nice, or you can put them under the plaster by picking a groove in the plaster. In this case you had to fill in the plaster and, at least in part, new wallpapers and paint on the wall. So it was much easier to take an existing line in the room or maybe the hallway, split it in such a connection box in two or more lines and be done with it. If you had to replaster and repaint something it was a small area, maybe one wall in one room and that's that.

[@gerhardadler3418]

In my experience, what flies in, also flies out. I even have a wasp nest in my building and sometimes wasps fly in, but they just leave. No reason for them to be around ...

[@philipkudrna5643]

The large circle most definitely covers the „entry hole“ to a chimney. You could put up a stove there, if needed. The smaller „circles“ are the lids for junction boxes of the electric wiring that runs through your house. If you need to exchange wires, you can access them there.

[@wjhann4836]

Right. The small circles mentioned probably are junction boxes for the electrical wiring. You may measure: the electrical wiring should be placed 30cm above ground and 30cm below ceiling. So - if the circle is in that level, it hides a connection box.