We owe the best observation of everyday post-war hygiene in Germany to Wolf Biermann: “Every Saturday the father puts his children in the white lacquered iron bathtub with the stains…” Every Saturday! And of course, once the children were cleaned, the mother also climbed into the tub, until finally the father finished the already cloudy broth.
Showering was unknown back then, at most we washed our hair with the hand shower. In this respect, the widespread breakthrough of the shower stall meant a breach of civilization: on the one hand we saved water, on the other hand we used a lot more because we no longer showered on Saturdays but every day, also in the mornings and evenings, and the devil take it; also for refreshment in between.
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Over, sure. Even Hollywood stars like Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts are committed to “non-bathing”, which means for them to only shower every three days on average, and in Berlin this principle has now even received the highest consecration: Environment Senator Bettina Jarasch confesses himself to the cat wash.
Now that’s a confusing term that needs explanation. Cats, afraid of water, clean themselves two to three hours a day with their own spit until their fur is shiny; That’s where the term comes from, but the senator certainly doesn’t practice it that way.
Wikipedia officially states that washing a cat is “colloquially a quick, not very thorough body care, whereby little water is typically used.” Anyone who was a child knows more details: A handful of water on the face, dry, done.
The senator redefines the term once again: she showers, but in rapid motion, as little as necessary – unusual, but compatible with Wikipedia. How long it “needs” remains open, allegedly there is even a competition at Jarasch to see who can finish the job the fastest. She has two sons, so they probably have fewer problems than daughters, who, according to the cliché, block the bathroom until the steam seeps through the crack in the door.
This practice, which is now recommended to all of us, ultimately also means a renaissance of the washcloth or soapcloth. That’s the faded thing at the bottom of the drawer whose reputation has actually been ruined by the insult “You wimp”. But now he’s back, driven by the lack of water: moisten, lather, and clean and rinse those parts of the body that tend to have a bad feeling, it’s that simple.
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The current consumption figures of the water companies show no increase despite the heat, something is happening there; the old expert advice to flush the pipes with as much water as possible is no longer valid.
Happy are those who have a shower with very fast water! If there is only one tub in the milieu-protected apartment, the Biermann principle should possibly be heeded again. Note: A bit of stinking is no longer poor, but solidarity.
