Not perfect, but achieved with your own two hands: why DIY is so popular in Germany

According to a recent survey, around 70 percent of Germans can regularly be found wielding a hammer or drill. Germany’s DIY culture is far more than just a hobby. DIY stores are like hubs of innovation at which the next project is meticulously planned. Whether the balcony really needs its eighth solar-powered lamp is secondary. What matters is that we are going to install it ourselves. Wonky tiles and wobbly table legs are a tribute to the DIY enthusiast’s best efforts - and laugh in the face of furniture store precision.

DIY has long since entered the virtual domain. In videos that generate millions of hits, do-it-yourself influencers reveal how a “super amazing” garden bench can be conjured up out of old pallets “in just ten minutes”. Three days, two plasters and one call to the emergency services later, and it’s clear just what the job really involved. 

Incidentally, the little mishaps and epic fails are also posted online - be it as a warning or for humorous effect: shelves hung at an angle because a spirit level was viewed as an optional extra. Toilets installed behind doors that no longer open. Or converted attic spaces in which some additional daylight came courtesy of a spirited hammer blow. 

Sometimes, a building site can even reveal hidden treasures. Like for a couple in Bavaria who discovered cash and letters from the 1920s while renovating their house. Every opened-up wall offers the promise of treasure - turning DIY enthusiasts into archaeologists.

Meanwhile, the DIY community comes up with innovations that confirm Germany’s reputation as a land of engineering skill. The latest example is a wall plug remover set to revolutionise the lives of all DIY aficionados. A real potential money-spinner! After all, it’s worth any amount of money to be able to get rid of a particularly recalcitrant wall plug. 

Even if the living room wall ends up more “mud grey” than “elegant taupe”, this does nothing to dent the DIY enthusiast’s pride in having done it with their own hands. Until they hit a waterpipe during a bout of particularly intrepid drilling, that is. In such cases, even Germans will call in the professionals.