Reserved pool chairs, Germans and their towels

Hey guys, what’s the deal with people reserving pool chairs ???

Hubby and I went to Lanzarote for 2 weeks vacation. Excellent resort – very international. On our second day, we decided to hang out by the pool, unfortunately all chairs seemed to be occupied – you know towels laying neatly on each chairs but we only noticed few people in the pool. Told hubby that maybe we should try again later or the next day. The 3rd day, we tried again … same situation, all chairs seemed to be occupied once again but these time fewer people were in the pool. Hubby suspected that people were reserving the chairs. I told him, no way, the sign clearly say “please do not reserve chairs�. Hubby told me, that the sign does not mean much to the Germans. So he took away the towels, and placed them neatly under the sign “please do not reserve chairs�(also translated in Germany). To my surprise, the other Spanish couple who saw us, did the same thing, they took away the towels and placed them under the sign. About 3 hours passed, 2 couples came, this irritated look in their faces (mid-late 50’s). They started arguing with us (of course in German) – telling us all sort of things. My husband stood up and point to the sign and he told them that if they have a problem with that, then they have to complain to the management. They kept on arguing that they are paying the same money as everybody else … blah blah blah ! I really felt bad but why would anyone for that matter reserve a chair if they are not gonna be there in the first place. The following days I saw the same couples placing their towels on the chair before they go to breakfast.

I’ve heard other similar stories ! I am new in Germany so I have no idea what’s up with reserving chairs. Asked my hubby about it … he jus said, he can’t explain where this attitude is coming from. What’s up with that ??? Next time, we’ll just bring our porta-pool chairs.

Related topic: Coach driver burns German beach towels

Oh yes, that's common from the Germans. Get up at the crack of dawn, place your towel on the lounge, go off and have breakfast, a look around town, lunch, then expect the lounge to be free when you come back.

The sign said no reserving, so they had no right to do that. You did everything perfectly correct. There are others who would have thrown the towels in the pool and claimed the wind knocked them in. Don't worry about it, do the same the next time if there's a sign forbidding it. And feel smug about doing it!

so the stereotype is actually true! cool! and well done your hubby

we ran into the same thing in cuba (alot of germans there as well), but there was no sign. my husband had to get up @ 7 to go "reserve" ours.

Don't worry about porta chairs and don't feel bad. They did not pay for reserved chairs. The same attitude prevails all over Germany, but the real world of "no place backs" overrules! You own it as long as you stay there, you leave-you loose with one exception-bathroom break.

There is even a game so you can practice for your next vacation!

Handtuchkrieg

What we really need are some "timer towels". If you're gone for more than 10 mins, -POOF- towel disappears!!!

I had the exact same situation when I was in Bulgaria, along the black sea.

I had the same thing in a resort in Kenya, at 7 am every morning we were woken by Germany dragging the wooden pool chairs to the best spots, and leaving their towels there, then not turning up til noon or 2 in the afternoon. We also got into a verbal arguement with some Germans, but the pool people settled in our favour, 4 attractive women beat out some doddy old germans anyday... remember men from the south have a weak spot for fairhaired females in bikinis.

I was at my local indoor pool with the kids last weekend - its a nice facility with slides etc.

Anyway they have a line of about 20 poolchairs that tip back, which is nice when you just wanna watch the kids splashing about and read the paper.

So you can guess the problem! 20 chairs - all reserved with towels - and 1 person sitting on 1 chair so no place for me for a quick break. I don't think I even counted 20 people in the pool.

So I just picked one at random and placed the towel nicely on another chair on the side. Some snotty little kid comes over and ostentatiously wipes her face on the towel, and wanders off to glare at me.

I sit on the chair for maybe 15 minutes then go and join the kids again. Quick as a flash kid re-appears with daddy and they put the towel back spread all over the chair...then snotty kid forces herself to lie on the chair for 5 minutes to make the point but obviously gets bored really quick and wanders off.

Selfish morons.

the simplest way we found to beat the german towel laying when on holiday. after a few drinks and its say midnight pop down to the poolwhen no ones around pick up a couple of loungers take them to your room.have a good nights sleep, wake up go for breakfast. when your ready to get some sun return to poolside with loungers place them as close to the germans in the best spot.

It's apparantly in their genes *ggg* and has now become a national sport ;-)

Very restrained. I'd have thrown the towels in the pool, but then again I'm a c*nt.

Very restrained indeed... I would have flown off the handle and been a total d-head and said it's been 60 years since us Americans kicked some German ass and maybe it's overdue... oh, and read the f'ing sign.

It's Monday and just in a mood.

god - it's the one stereotype that's so sadly true. I was in Rome in the summer, the hotel we were in had a small pool and only 10 sunbeds. On my last day there I decided to lounge by the pool, so i went down early and grabbed a sunbed. Ten minutes later, a fully-dressed german couple (complete with backpacks) came out and put two hotel towels on the last two sunbeds, and then in front of everyone got into a taxi and headed off to do some sightseeing. An english couple came down and had to lie on the ground, i told them the situation, and riled up by everyone in the pool area, we threw their towels in a hedge!
When the germans finally came back - about 5 hours later (the man was wearing a g-string swimsuit - gahhhh!), they started giving out, luckily even the lifeguard was sick of them and told them where to go.
Having said all this, I watched a programme on the beeb recently, showing english holiday makers getting up in the middle of the night to get their towels out - and this was in english holiday resorts in the canaries. Mind you I know who we can blame for starting the trend...

Though this type of behaviour would fit very well into the German way of life, it is in fact not (only) a German thing. It was started by the Brits, the Germans fought back and now the Frogs have joined in.

BTW, "Handtuchkrieg" (towel wars) is a popular online game. You can choose if you want to be a Brit or a German

Anyone remember the uk tv advert for this? Carling black label I think.. dambusters themetune and the union jack towel bouncing over the water and landing on a sunbed just ahead of the germans? Maybe there's an mpeg out there somewhere..

If you did that in America you towel really would get stolen by someone.

Dunno which reputation is worse to have - Taking up all the sunbeds or being known for drunken loutish behaviour! Thats the rep us Brits have!

yes but mr lions, brits have that reputation only where its cheap, some germans do this towel thing everywhere.

The sly, underhand tactic of reserving sunbeds is much worse than giving someone a good, honest smack in the chops because he looked at you funny.

this subject was actually book-worthy...

I was on a riverboat for the "Rhine in Flames" in Koblenz. Went up to the top deck and saw that there were a table full of Germans sat around a table on the port side of the ship and opposite on the starboard side was an empty table and chairs with a load of jumpers and cardigans on them. My wife, brother in law and I looked around and started to move the cardigans. The table full of Germans got quite upset and told my wife that they wanted to sit on the port side for the trip up the river as it was in the sun and had reserved the other table for the trip back to get the best view of the fireworks. After a short debate in German between my wife and the other Germans with my typically British interjection of "right, tell them that I will throw their clothes overboard if they dont choose on or the other" they capitulated and took their jumpers to where they were sitting!!! Cheeky sods.

I am told that this is a trait of the "lower classes" and the rest of Germany views this behaviour with mirth!! Some German friends of mine said that they were sitting in a "sandcastle" on a beach in Germany and some other Germans came up and told them they were not allowed to sit there as they had built the "sandcastle" a couple of days ago and therefore this part of the beach was theirs!!!???

Amazing!!!

Next time try the TheBoyFromBozlem's 5 step plan

1 Go out the night before
2 Get really drunk
3 Go back to your hotel at 7am
4 Remove towel and throw in pool
5 Sleep in pool chair till midday

always worked for me

@deutschewelle.de 24.08.2005

German Senior Gets Physical Over Lounger :

When Germans reserve deckchairs with towels, move them at your own risk. That's what one woman learned the hard way when she dared disregard such a reservation.

What started as an idyllic afternoon at the pool in the small spa town of Bad Endbach turned ugly, then violent -- all because of a towel.

A 29-year-old guest and her friend decided they wanted to spend a little time in the pool's relaxation room. Once there, however, they saw that one of the deckchairs was covered with a towel, which, as annoyed tourists around the world can attest to, means "keep your hands off this spot" in German.

Being German herself and wanting to lie down next to her friend, the woman disregarded the reservation and simply moved the towel to an unoccupied lounger.

Her action was witnessed, however, by the towel's owner, a 76-year-old retiree, who flew into a rage when he saw such brazenness. He approached the woman and told her in no uncertain terms to vacate the chair, which he had claimed as his own. When his tirade failed to produce the desired effect, he got physical.

"He tipped the chair over and her with it," said a spokesman for the police in the nearby town of Marburg. The other chair was just the same, "but he didn't want to use it," added the spokesman.

The woman was in shock that the man could resort to violence over such a trifle, but not so much so that she couldn't press charges. The stewing senior has been formally accused of assault.

An old English friend of mine used to get home from clubbing early in the morning and throw all of the towels in the pool. Sounds like a good solution to me - if you do it early in the morning noone will see you and if you throw them all in the pool, they won't single you out for sitting on their chair.

On the other hand, you could just let them lie out there and get skin cancer.

wait a sec.. do they actually reserve their chairs OVERNIGHT? I thought they just got up super early to reserve them...

One not very politically correct solution would be to draw swastikas on all the towels with a permenant marker. How many Germans are going to turn round and say 'Zat iz my towel' when it's got a bloody great swastika on it.

No I think what they would probably do is walk back into the Hotel and have the Police called in order that the braindead racist who thought that amusing could have it explained to them in very simple terms why they are a complete and utter wa*****r!!

not pc maybe but historically correct definitely.

I lived and worked in Mallorca for 5 years, yes the towel thing happens, but perhaps the most bizarre behaviour from the germans was on the beach. Ok you've got to pay for your sunbeds there, so there is no reserving them but this is where it gets weird. They would rent the beds 1st thing in the morning and drag them all down nearest to the water, marking them with towels.

Then they would annex an area of the beach around the sunbeds by building a sandcastle wall around them. Then they would vigourously protect their new borders to any encroaching brits, spanish, etc. by shouting loudly if anyone dared to place their sunbed in their exclusion zone. In one particular instance, a 50 year old, gold Lame thong wearing ( ooh try not to think about that please ) german had put a german flag at each corner of his land and pacing and posing round the area. He ended up being arrested by the guardia civil for pushing an invading english 8 year old child out of 'his' part of the beach.

This started off with one german doing this, within a week, the waterfront looked like paddy fields.

This wasnt a one off, this was regularly every year.

When I was a student, a friend of mine had a german girlfriend, when her parents came to visit, he thought it would be funny to put towels on all the chairs in his flat before they came down for breakfast in the morning. She found it funny, but the parents really didnt and checked into a hotel, where presumably they could do the same thing without being laughed at.

@derekbeggs

hilarious- i salute your mate

Sad but true!

Another great method is to bring all the towels to the reception and ask them to put them in their lost and found as they obviously have been forgotten at the pool

It never ceases to amaze me how anal Germans are. I've never heard of this, but I bet I could've told you that it happens, because it TOTALLY fits the profile.

I feel they do these things in order to stir shit up so that they can yell at you.

I saw something similar. Last year during the EU Cup, I was at an indoor club which was showing the final game. We arrived early for the beer and to find a nice seat. We sat in the back on the bleachers and these two German Girls arrived after us and sat about five meters apart in the middle of the bleachers. As the start time approached the whole plave was packed with people. People were sitting in the aisles, but amazingly the twelve seats that these two girls reserved were yet to be filled. What amazed me even more is that no one challenged the girls. After the first twenty minutes passed of the game, their friends finally arrived and sat in the seats. If I did not have a seat already, I would have gone up and sat in the middle, but the Germans accpeted this reserved space without any complaints. I did not know if I should admire the patience of the Germans or ridicule the stupidity.

@brokenm

What amazes me is that they will leave these seats alone but won't wait for anyone to get off the U-bahn because they want a seat. Seems sowehat contradictory to me.

this reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine has to reserve seats in the movie theater and lasts about 25 seconds. That kind of bullshit would never happen in the US (well, in big cities, at least)

I think no matter the story, I'll never understand Germans.

this thread is racist against Germans.

Sausage, it's ok to be racist against Germans because they're whackt.

True story from last year with photographic evidence.

I have been away the last 3 years with a KTM bike owners club based in Germany. Last year we were in Italy overnight and sharing a room. I get a room with a guy called "Bernard" I think, and he happens to get his hands on the room key first, just before me...so I am following maybe 2 minutes behind with my bags etc.

Turns out the room has 1 single bed, and 1 double bed. Do we discuss? Do we flip a coin? Nope. I think the photos show what happened in the 120 seconds I wasn't available.

thats not a real german. look the towel is turned up in the upper corner. thats a fake german. maybe an austrian even. best call the polizei.

ps: sausage you nearly made me snort my spezi.

this is an ingrained cultural genetic trait. look at it like monkies who pick fleas of each other. a german's sense of what is right when it comes to fair play is about as good as a russian's of sobriety. this "got there first na na naa naaa na" mentality, which most civilised nations ween out of their citizens at the age of 9, has and always will be here. in fact during the last war, people used to take little folding chairs and go early to the air raid shelter's and wait even though no warning had been given nor even thought about, just in order to get the "best places".
god knows why they think this sort of action is acceptable. the funny thing is i've never ever met a german who finds this sort of childish action acceptable when its done to them. weird world but there again it says alot for a culture that they have no real ability to understand the concept to the extent that the words they use to express it are the english ones "fair play", just as in english we have to use schadenfreude.

You dont have to go on holidays to experience this, it happens all the time at a pool or sauna place anywhere in Germany.

Hey people!

Sorry only just moved to Munich (and trying to learn the language, so agree with the other articles in the chat room) and only just discovered TT.

Anyway I came across this article in the Daily Mail (sorry) the other week and although it's a little belated for this topic its def worth a read!!! (Article has been pasted from website)...funniest thing is that it's a German who has sold them out Ha!

Dont be ridiculous, it is just a national stereotype, The french drink wine, the brits drink lager, the scots drink whisky, the bavarians drink beer, americans eat burgers.and the germans, well, they reserve sunbeds with towels.

By your logic, pointing out to a german citizen that they speak german would also be classed as racist.

I have to admit I choked on my leberkäse whilst laughing out loud, when I read your post.

ahahahahaaaa sausage you bad troll!!! germans are not a race but a breed, a bit like german shepherds or dachshunds, or even little border terriers and we are truly justified in taking the piss at any opportunity.

(nothing like pikeys whatsoever )

Brit cuffed for German towel-torching raid

"A Brit coach driver successfully liberated Italian Riviera sun loungers from foreign occupation by setting fire to the towels traditionally used to denote German territorial sovereignty."

Full story: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/29/sunbeds_liberated/

Cuffs? Guy deserves an award.

You forgot: "the irish drink."

Quote "It is something that has infuriated British holidaymakers for years.
However early they get up, they arrive at the pool to find all the sun loungers 'reserved' with a German towel. "

How do you know it's a German towel? Does ist scream 'Haende weg' if you remove it??

No, but its owner does.