I'm a US born and raised engineer that worked many years for a German company both in the US and in Germany. We lived just shy of 3 years in Germany. I've read this thread and wanted to weigh in with my experiences. We had two boys, 9 and 4 at the time we moved there. They both would move back to Germany in a heartbeat. I cherished the experience, it was a life dream fulfilled for me. I would sum up living in Germany is like going back in time in the US to maybe pre 1950's. What I mean is that we shopped for bread at the bakery, meat at the butcher, medicine at the drug store, etc. The big supermarkets had arrived but not caught on so much. The social aspect was fantastic. With one son in the local Kirchekindergarten we were soon invited to peoples homes in the neighborhood. My wife never felt lonely. She had tea somewhere with someone almost everyday. In Germany, their living rooms are the outdoors. People gather together everyday at parks, pubs, restaurants. Stores closed at noon on Saturday and didn't reopen until Monday morning. Focus on the weekends was socializing, not shopping. Hard at first but we got used to it. We missed the socializing as soon as we moved back to the US. My wife learned minimal German but got along just fine. She loved it there. Food was excellent and actually cheaper than in the US. We learned to shop every few days as the milk would spoil and the bread turn green by the 3rd or 4th day- ie. no preservatives. Cheeses and fruits were the best. Medical care was top notch and very reasonable.
Working: First, regarding the socialist side of things. My take home pay was less than half after taxes. VAT was 16% and that was on everything- even if you bought a house! An engineer with <5 years experience had a slightly better standard of living vs. an unemployed person. That's what the other engineers told me anyway.
As for technology: My opinion is that German companies are world class at manufacturing and quality. Their culture, their desire to organize and plan everything (including vacations) to the nth degree and their desire to maximize efficiency in everything they do makes them tops in their industries. One the other hand, because of that culture, they are not so great at creativity and design. We Americans are the best at that. I showed them a thing or two about design and development while working there. I also learned a lot about planning and organizing. We Americans are at an elementary level regarding planning and organizing as compared to the Germans. That tried my patience at first but eventually I caught on. One thing that frustrated me was that once a plan was established, it was nearly impossible to change it. Even when testing showed issues, deviation from the plan was not allowed. It took a huge effort to change directions. I learned to plan well up front.
Working: First, regarding the socialist side of things. My take home pay was less than half after taxes. VAT was 16% and that was on everything- even if you bought a house! An engineer with <5 years experience had a slightly better standard of living vs. an unemployed person. That's what the other engineers told me anyway.
As for technology: My opinion is that German companies are world class at manufacturing and quality. Their culture, their desire to organize and plan everything (including vacations) to the nth degree and their desire to maximize efficiency in everything they do makes them tops in their industries. One the other hand, because of that culture, they are not so great at creativity and design. We Americans are the best at that. I showed them a thing or two about design and development while working there. I also learned a lot about planning and organizing. We Americans are at an elementary level regarding planning and organizing as compared to the Germans. That tried my patience at first but eventually I caught on. One thing that frustrated me was that once a plan was established, it was nearly impossible to change it. Even when testing showed issues, deviation from the plan was not allowed. It took a huge effort to change directions. I learned to plan well up front.