Tipping in Germany
 

Going to Germany in a couple of weeks and would like to know what is proper when it comes to tipping for services. Do you tip your housekeeper at hotels like we do in USA?
What is the usual % amount for tipping at restaurants?
Any other infomation people have on the proper tipping etiquette would be helpful.
Thank you.

Here's a link to a good article that matches what my German friends have told me when I visited.

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/resta...any-59081.html

Restaurants 10%. How it is done is up for debate (see below) but it is considered "rude" to just leave it on the table.

From talking to locals and fellow expats, these are all "acceptable" ways to give a tip.

1. When the server gives you the bill, mentally add 10% to the bill and when they say 22 Euro, tell them 24 Euro.

2. When the server gives you the bill and you give them cash, ask for the amount you want back (if the bill is 25 and you give them 30, ask for 2 back).

3. When the server gives you the bill and you give them cash, after you get your change, hand them their tip.

If you pay with a credit card then you have option 4:

4. Hand them their 10% from the loose change in your pocket/purse.

I think it's funny that it is supposedly "rude" to leave it on the table. What difference does it make, it's the same amount of money. IN fact, it seems a little more discreet than literally handing it to someone in their hand (which also kind of makes it seem like you are trying to make sure they understand you are giving them money, kind of putting them in their place). I would think putting it in someone's hands would be considered more rude or gauche, it is so obvious, after all.

I'm not disagreeing that this may indeed be the way some people feel in Germany, I just wonder why as usually it is considered more polite to not publicly flaunt your money and rub it in someone's face that they are the server or something and you are paying them.

I am also intersted to know why it's rude to leave it on the table, this is the first I'm hearing of that.

Hell if I know. I'm just passing on what I was told by people, including my first German instructor.

As an aside, if you toast a German and don't look them in the eye as you say "Prost!" then they think you're shifty. Source: colleagues, fellow expats, and German language instructor.

You have to realize that tipping in Germany isn't like in the U.S.

U.S. tipping: "here use this to pay your electric bill and rent because legally the restaurant does not have to pay you a living wage"

Germany tipping: "here have some fun money to buy a drink or whatever later because I know the restaurant pays you a living wage and you don't need a handout but I wanted to show appreciation for good service"

Also, the German word for tip is Trinkgeld. So that should give you some insight.

<i>I think it's funny that it is supposedly "rude" to leave it on the table. What difference does it make, it's the same amount of money. IN fact, it seems a little more discreet than literally handing it to someone in their hand (which also kind of makes it seem like you are trying to make sure they understand you are giving them money, kind of putting them in their place). I would think putting it in someone's hands would be considered more rude or gauche, it is so obvious, after all.

I'm not disagreeing that this may indeed be the way some people feel in Germany, I just wonder why as usually it is considered more polite to not publicly flaunt your money and rub it in someone's face that they are the server or something and you are paying them.</i>

You're making a lot of cultural assumptions.

When I posted earlier today I did not have a chance to click the link provided above but I did just now and the article does say it's rude to leave it on the table.

I have learned something new and I will try to be more sensitive to this cultural difference next time I'm in Germany.

Sparkchaser is spot on.
Don't leave the tip (or the full amount of your bill) on the table. Period.

By the way, it's not exactly rude. It's just not done that way.

Another way to tip if you pay with cash is to give the larger amount and say thank you or "Danke".
Which means "keep the change" in this context.
A typical situation would be if you had a check of e.g. 18.40 euros and handed the waiter a 20 euro bill.

Usually you tip to a full euro or 50c amount.
Don't get too anal about 10pct. As is sparkchaser's first example with a 22 euro check, 10pct would have been 2.20. But noone would do that but give 24 euros altogether IF you want to tip.

If service had been slow or grumpy, don't tip.

And super touristy places like downtown Berlin, you find more and more establishments which print "tip not included" (in English!) on their checks.
The purpose is to confuse visitors that maybe a service charge is not included to make them tip at least 10pct.
Caveat: Service charge and tax MUST be included in both the prices on the menu and the check. Anything else is illegal business practises over here.
Legally, the "no tip included" statement is correct. But since the intention is bad you should not tip a cent there, avoid further visits, and give those places a bad review.

"I think it's funny that it is supposedly "rude" to leave it on the table."

As Cowboy said, rude is probably the wrong word but it's very strange. A German waiter not used to different customs assumes that he gets no tip if you let him hand back the exact change to a bill of 67.30 and of course thinks that you're a cheap bastard.

They won't mind at all the ten euro bill you leave on he table as tip.

There are cultural differences and the American system of tipping drives me crazy as a customer. When I ask for the bill, I'm used to settle the thing when the waiter arrives. The idea that he disappears after handing me the bill or handing me exact change and expecting me to leave the tip feels incredibly wrong. (And goodness, how do you leave an intended 8$ if you have only five and tens?)

Certainly there are good reason why it's done that way but I always feel like wanting to tackle the waiter and prevent him to disappear.

And before I forget it, Laurie Ann's link is a very good summary.

Personally I always tip at least 10% since I've worked as a waiter as a student and know that tips are appreciated. But lower tips are absolutely acceptable in Germany especially in less affluent areas and when tipping large bills.

abram797: tipping housekeepers in hotels isn't required in Germany. I often leave an euro a day but I think I'm a minority. The German mentality is rather that the bill should include cleaning.

Restaurants is about 10%.

Taxi is rounding up to the next euro or next euro plus one(for example for 17.80 I'd give 19).

For all other services I think I only tip if I want to because it offered me a real benefit beyond what I expected.

You just should not follow that link at the bottom of that (good) website Laurie Ann mentioned.

That "German-Way" site is 80-90% complete nonsense and misinformation - at least their "local info" on dining.

No tips are ever "required", but they are given when you like the service. Housekeepers really should get a couple of euro per day, not at the end of your stay, as they may change each day. I would much rather give the housekeeper a tip than the bartender who only poured my drink into a glass. They work 100 times harder.

Wait staff tips can be between 5-10%, but if the service was crappy, don't tip anything. Servers are probably also tipping out to the kitchen and bar staff at the end of their shift.

Do not mistake the service charge for a tip, this sum goes to the owner and not to the server.

It isn't so much considered rude to leave money on the table, it is just that it might get stolen. In the US, you wait to be seated and during that time the server or busser has cleared your table and gotten your tip. In Germany, you seat yourself, so as soon as someone gets up, the next person may sit down with the table not being cleared. There goes your tip into their pocket. Well, maybe not, but why risk it. You aren't waving money around when you tell the server how much change go give you. This is what they are used to because this is how everybody does it.

My advice comes from my experience working as a manager in German restaurants.

(Being German) I do not observe a percentage rule at all. If the bill is 22.30 Euro I might give 24 Euro. If it is 46.40 Euro I might give 48 Euro. Depends on the quality of the service. I might even give a higher tip even though the bill is lower.

I do give the housekeeper a couple of Euros in Hotels - when/if I see them. It also happened that I handed the receptionist a 20 Euro bill at check out saying "for the staff" - when the service was really, really good. But that was a big exception. Usually I do not tip much.

So if you pay by credit card, can you just add the tip onto the bill?

So if you pay by credit card, can you just add the tip onto the bill?