“Kehrwoche”

Sabotage
The discussion reminded me of my own life as a student in Heidelberg: for a time I lived with other students in a flat of an apartment building that was otherwise filled with elderly people. The complaints about “these students” were quite frequent. And there was Kehrwoche. For those unfamiliar with this term, it refers to a tradition in (southern) Germany where you have to take terms cleaning the stairs and the entrance area of the whole building once a week. Behind the door of the building was a sign that announced those in charge that week. For example: Kehrwoche – this week: Martin Paul. I can tell you that I typically ignored the sign until the last day when I realized that my name was up. But after coming home late, I wanted to sleep rather than clean the stairs. And because the stairs looked clean as always, I did not see the need. To avoid the “Hausmeister” getting on my case I simply put the doormats up to give the impression that somebody had indeed cleaned the stairs that day. And it worked. In the three years that I lived there, the stairs always looked super-clean, despite my sabotage of the Kehrwoche rule.

Enjoy life while you’re young
When I moved out I went to say good-bye to my neighbour, an elderly lady. She then told me that she knew all along that I was faking it and that she had actually cleaned the stairs on the days I was supposed to. She said: “I did not have a problem with this. I know you students have other priorities and you should enjoy life while you are young”. I was flabbergasted and thanked her by bringing her flowers. I have never forgotten this. I do not mind living next to a student house with all the noise and garbage problems that come along with it. Actually, if I come out of the house and find a bicycle lying on my sidewalk, I will quietly pick it up and put it back into its place in honour of my former neighbour.