Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow
A changing relationship between a nation and its clocks
RISING bright and early on a Saturday used to be a matter of survival in Germany. Until the 1990s most shops closed for the weekend at 2pm. Today you can shop into the wee hours every day except Sunday. In most German states shop hours are, or are about to be, fully liberalised. That should lay to rest the myth that Germany is irredeemably anti-consumer (although quality of service still leaves much to be desired). But it also reveals a change in attitudes to time.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow”
From the January 6th 2007 edition
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Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
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