Many Kinds of Noise – “vielerlei Lärm”

Germans don’t mind noise — as long as you don’t make any

I have no solid comparative data to back it up, but I would rate the German tolerance level for noise (Lärmempfindlichkeit) as among the lowest in the world. This is especially true for Germans living next door to you! German ears tend to be highly tuned to noise (hellhörig), especially what they consider LOUD: loud radios, loud walking, loud talking, loud music, loud lawn mowing, loud children, loud partying, loud sneezing, loud dogs, loud engines, or loud anything. Of course, almost anywhere, one person’s music can be another person’s noise. But in Germany, your music is much more likely to be noise to your neighbor than anywhere else.

To quote the wonderful German author Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935):

Es gibt vielerlei Lärm, aber es gibt nur eine Stille.
There are many kinds of noise, but only one silence.