You might guess from its size and shape that it’s our hotel key, but it’s completely anonymous. Following the repression and surveillance of most of last century — first by the Nazis, and then by the communists — Germany has become a model of protecting privacy. Even something as innocuous as a hotel key could give out personal information that you may not want to share. Of course the hotel name or brand might indicate how well off you are, but it could say more, such as if you were at a hotel that caters to gays. Also, if you lose your key, anyone that finds it would have no chance of finding your hotel where they might otherwise be able to socially engineer their way past the front desk staff.

I didn’t get pictures, but there are a couple of things about the hotels that impressed me. First, both the Hamburg and Berlin hotels had shoeshine machines in each floor’s elevator lobbies, and they included multiple brush types for different shoe types. Additionally, there were shoeshine kits (both brown and black) and brushes in the rooms. No shoe shines in Munich, but the room has a disposable glove for removing lint.

All three hotels had in-room safes, which is becoming standard in the US. What was unusual was the notices that the hotels actually had some liability should the safe’s contents be stolen. Robin and I both thought this was remarkable. In the US if someone manages to steal your valuables from the in-room safe then tough luck, even though it was most likely a hotel staff member that took them.

The Berlin hotel in particular was very space efficient —the whole room looked like it could have come from an IKEA showroom. No bureau, but the alcove between the bathroom and the bedroom had plenty of shelving. (This also makes it harder to accidentally leave something behind because nothing is out of sight.) No nightstand, but instead we had a shelf of appropriate height with a cubby hole underneath. The one bathroom door was hinged in such a way that it could close off the entire bathroom, or just the separate toilet, leaving the sink and bath available for use. Of course this means that the shower/bath would be open to the bedroom, but at least it’s possible to share the bathroom and maintain some privacy.

In the US our pedestrian lights tell people how much time they have left to cross the street. Here they tell people how much longer they have to wait to cross the street. It’s a subtle but important difference — the American version is implying that the pedestrian is interrupting the cars, while the German version is the other way round.

Here’s another example of using technology to enforce courtesy, which anyone who has tried to push their way off a London or New York subway car while everyone else was trying to push themselves on will appreciate: some German subway trains use both sides of the car. You exit to the right and people enter from the left. You even get a few seconds head start when exiting, which subtly encourages you to use the correct side and generally ensures that everyone gets on and off more quickly.

This last item isn’t Germany-specific, but common across Europe. I’m writing this while riding a train at 125mph, which isn’t even as fast as it will go. For some distances this is a very efficient and civilized way to travel. Robin and I are facing each other, with a table in the middle and some leg room. There’s also a dining car we can visit, or we can order food right from our seats from a porter. Either way the prices are reasonable and not the usurious rates charged by most airlines. There’s also wifi onboard. You can pay for internet access, or just use the free info such as the real-time map and updates on arrival times, or read the news and stream free content provided by Deutsches Bahn. I don’t know that I would do this for more than a day at a time, but it would certainly be a great option from Phoenix to Las Vegas.

So there you go. It hasn’t been all beers and brats (though there’s certainly been a fair amount of both). The Germans have a great deal of thoughtful design, which I really appreciate, and I hope I’ve inherited a little of.