A study into the tipping habits of customers in the US and five European countries has brought Germany out on top on the continent. Is it time to add generosity to the bill of German characteristics?

Germans are generous tippers

Waiting tables in a busy restaurant is famously one of the jobs where sweaty stress versus wage remuneration is not so well balanced, but one perk is the tips - a little add-on that feels like free money to spend on your silliest desires; an obnoxiously fancy ice cream or an overpriced book you subconsciously know you will not read. It's called Trinkgeld for a reason.

According to a new poll by YouGov, wait staff in Germany can expect these deserved everyday joys to be a little better funded than many of their European counterparts. When asked if they typically tipped staff in restaurants, 72 percent of German poll respondents said “Ja”. Customers in the federal republic were superseded only by US customers in their enthusiasm for tipping, and even then, only by a few percentage points.

Of the four remaining countries included in the poll, Brits came in third in terms of their generosity to wait staff, with almost 60 percent saying they left some money after a restaurant meal. How likely diners are to tip fell to around 30 percent in France and Sweden. By contrast, in the land so lauded for delicious food, Italy, customers were less satisfied. Only 29 percent of Italians said that they typically tip staff after their dinner.

Haircuts and taxi rides: Germans love to tip everyone

The scenarios and services where poll respondents said they were likely to tip also varied across the countries. However, in almost all areas, Germans came out on top as those most likely to tip. Taxi driver? Tip them! Hairdresser? Tip them! Bartender? Tip them!

A whopping 56 percent of Germans said they usually tip their hairdresser, compared to just 32 percent of Britons, 25 percent of Spaniards and 21 percent of French people. Hotel staff and taxis too - 37 percent of respondents said they tipped the concierge or Uber driver. 

Unlike the recognisable glowing enthusiasm of American wait staff, many Kellnerinnen in Germany still live by the old saying, “Die Kunde ist König aber Deutschland ist eine Republik” (the customer is king, but Germany is a republic), but the demise of their crown doesn’t seem to have phased many customers.

Interestingly, the YouGov poll revealed that for the Germans, tipping is a matter of principle, rather than merit. Most tippers in Germany said they left money simply because “that’s the way it should be” and 17 percent, far more than in the other polled European countries, said they left a tip even if they thought the service was “terrible”. 

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