In 1954 Leica brought out the M3. It was the first camera of the M series and the first Leica with a bayonet mount for the lens. Leica still builds M cameras with this mount. According to the technology site Notebookcheck, even 70-year-old Leica lenses can be used without restrictions on modern M cameras.
The Organ of 1693
Arp Schnitger built the organ of the Church of St. Jacobi in Hamburg in 1693. It is the largest surviving Baroque organ in northern Europe. It has more than 4,000 pipes, and some of them are older than Schnitger’s work. A thorough restoration was completed in 1993, and the organ is played regularly.
In December 2017 UNESCO recognized German organ building and organ music as intangible cultural heritage. More than 50,000 organs are in use in Germany. About 400 workshops with about 2,800 employees build and care for them.
4.6 Million Kilometers
In 1981 the Greek taxi driver Gregorios Sachinidis bought a Mercedes 200 D that already had 210,000 kilometers on it. He drove it as a taxi until it reached 4.6 million kilometers. According to Mercedes-Benz, it is the highest known mileage of any Mercedes. Over the years it received two replacement engines, and the engine was overhauled eleven times.
In 2004 the car went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Mercedes gave Sachinidis a new C 200 CDI in return.
The H on the Number Plate
Since 1 January 1997 a car in Germany can carry an H on its number plate, for historisch, historic. It must have first been on the road at least 30 years ago. It must be largely in its original condition and well preserved. The car tax is then a flat 191.73 euros a year.
On 1 January 2025, 790,439 vehicles carried the H. The most common classic model was the Volkswagen Golf, followed by the Mercedes-Benz W123 and W124. According to the ADAC, about 54 percent of the cars that qualify carry the H, and the share is falling.
The Breaker for the Bathroom
Since 1984, new buildings in Germany must have a residual-current circuit breaker for wet rooms. Since 2007, every newly installed socket circuit of up to 20 amperes needs one. The usual trip current is 30 milliamperes. Year after year, people die when electrical appliances fall into full bathtubs.
Germans still usually call the device the FI-Schalter, although the trade now says RCD. When it trips, they say der FI ist rausgeflogen, the FI has flown out. Older private installations need not be retrofitted, except after certain renovations or where there is an obvious danger.
Twenty-Four Hours Without Failing
On 14 June 1970 Porsche won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall for the first time, with the 917 KH. The winning driver Richard Attwood recalled that the race was then more an endurance drive than a race. Le Mans ist ein Rennen, das klappt oder das klappt nicht. Le Mans is a race that either works out or does not.
By the company’s count in June 2021, Porsche had 19 overall wins and 108 class wins at Le Mans, both records.
In Case of a Case
Im Falle eines Falles klebt UHU wirklich alles. In case of a case, UHU really glues everything. According to one press report, the advertising line of the glue maker from Bühl dates from the 1930s. In 1932 the pharmacist August Fischer presented UHU, which a pharmacy trade report calls the world’s first ready-to-use, synthetic, crystal-clear all-purpose glue.
Im Falle eines Falles has become a set phrase in German. It means when the emergency comes.
What Used-Car Buyers Want First
The DAT, the Deutsche Automobil Treuhand, surveys what matters when people buy a used car. In the results reported in February 2024, Zuverlässigkeit, reliability, came first. On a scale from 1 to 4 it had an average of 1.22, compared with 1.30 the year before. It came clearly ahead of freedom from accident damage and ahead of price.
Dropped From Nine Meters
Since 1978 the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, the BAM, has checked the safety of transport casks for nuclear waste with drop tests. A cask falls nine meters onto an unyielding foundation. It falls one meter onto a steel punch aimed at its most sensitive part. Then it burns for half an hour in a fire of 800 degrees. The cask must stay safe in a serious accident.
The institute goes back to 1871, when Prussia founded a royal laboratory for mechanical testing.
Boats Built to Come Upright Again
The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service, the DGzRS, designs all of its boats as Selbstaufrichter, self-righters. On the newer rescue boats, extra buoyancy chambers bring the boat upright again after it has capsized. About 20 rescue cruisers and 40 rescue boats stand ready at 55 stations from Borkum to Usedom, in any weather, around the clock.
The service was founded in Kiel on 29 May 1865, and it takes no tax money. About 13,000 small collection boxes shaped like ships stand on counters across the country. They bring in up to a million euros a year.