Feierabend: the secret of efficiency
In the prospect of a society overwhelmed by automation, we discuss the reduction of working hours and search for alternative socio-economic models. Let's start with the closest ones.
Germany and northern European countries are the continent's strongest economies (at least until very recently), with a workforce rewarded by high wages and high productivity.
Proverbially, Germans are indefatigable workaholics, but in reality, statistical data show that the Eastern and Southern European countries work a lot more In terms of daily and annual hours worked.
So where does this productivity come from? What is the magic recipe? Is it political, economic, social or cultural factors that make German work more effective?
Certainly German industries employ machinery more intensively and the state is better organized, but there may also be a cultural factor: the so-called Feierabend.
To explore the psyche and culture of German labor Menerva interviewed Alessia Castelli, interpreter, translator (German-English), Germanist, language trainer for experienced multinational companies.
Menerva: Good morning Alessia, working in any German company or even just contacting them after a certain hour you can guess that they closed their doors even for urgent matters
Castles: If we greet a German-speaking person in the late afternoon, more or less from 5 p.m. onward, it is likely that our "Auf Wiedersehen, Tschüss, Bis morgen etc.," i.e., "Goodbye, see you tomorrow," will be answered with "Einen schönen Feierabend." But that person is not inviting us to a happy hour or to a party. No party planned, not in the traditional sense of the word.
Menerva: What does Feierabend mean in the etymological sense?
Castles: In the etymological sense word Feierabend is composed of "Feier" (feast) + "Abend" (evening), but the meaning of the word Feier originally stood for the eve of a holiday and not a festive evening as the compound noun would lead us to think.
Today this expression has abandoned its original meaning, and many Germans use this formula to wish each other a good evening after a long day at work, but it is actually very profound!
This word encapsulates the time between the end and beginning of the workday, a break held sacred by German workers. Try bothering a German on business matters after Feierabend, you will get a decidedly piqued response!
Menerva: Germans have a reputation as disciplined and tireless workers, don't they?
Castles: Absolutely, the very Germans, stereotyped as indefatigable workaholics, protect their leisure time almost maniacally. But it is precisely this protection of leisure time that is their secret, for it is the provision of rest that makes them productive and efficient.
According to the German mentality when there is work to be done, you work, even hard, but once you've done your duty you pull the plug completely."
Menerva: How then could we translate the word Feierabend?
Castles: The word Feierabend, like many expressions in the German language, is untranslatable. It refers to the ineffable feeling of fulfillment when one has completed all the tasks planned for one's workday, or still being able to implement a tactic to get away from work even if one has not been able to finish everything in our plans for whatever reason.
Feierabend means to do with one's time what one wants since one has earned it. It is a neat closure, signifying the end of one cycle of the day, work, and the beginning of another, free time.
Menerva: Could we call it a kind of rite of passage between the secular area of work and the sacred area of private life? What does it teach us
Castles: definitely. If we think about it, the commute from the office to home marks a rite of passage between before and after. One needs a mental boundary line, however, precisely to maintain a balance one's own mental and physical well-being and also one's productivity.
Menerva: Do smartworking workers, a phenomenon that was cleared during the pandemic, though now receded, or freelancers have a Feierabend?
Castles: With smart working, it is arduous to mark this boundary. Workers who are struggling with smart working, and freelancers like me, know how important but difficult it is to create a clear line between work and leisure. Freelancers, even when they are literally not working because they may no longer be in front of their PCs or in the studio, continue to be dedicated to their work even after seemingly taking off from work.
Menerva: What lessons can we learn from Feierabend?
Castles: It is certainly very fulfilling to have a totalizing profession and to devote body and soul to one's work, but in order to give one's mind and body some respite and to avoid blurring the boundaries between private life and work, we should all start introducing the concept of Feierabend into our daily routine, precisely to preserve the sacred time in which to think about oneself, one's private life regardless of whether one has (or does not have) many or few hobbies, a family with or without children, a partner, a pet or whatever.
Productivity at work would probably benefit as well.
Menerva: Thank you very much Alessia, where can one find information about your business?
Castles: All my activities are presented on my personal website !
Menerva: Then Happy Feierabend!
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