Germany, once a lagging industrial empire
The German nation started industrialization very late. When Britain and France had completed the Industrial Revolution, Germany was still an agricultural country. After entering industrialization, the Germans went through a "copycat phase" similar to China's today: learning from Britain and France, stealing their technology, and imitating their products. For this reason, the British Parliament specifically passed an amendment to the Trademark Act on August 23, 1887, requiring all German imports entering the British domestic and colonial markets to be marked "Made in Germany." At that time, "Made in Germany" was actually a symbol with a derogatory connotation.
At the beginning of Germany's industrialization, university scientific research was completely disconnected from the production sector. Although the "world center of science" was in Germany at that time, the Americans were very clever: after obtaining degrees in Germany, they did not simply go to universities to do research work, but instead entered the market to start businesses.
In the early 1890s, German scientists went to the United States and saw that American industrial products had the highest technological content. Only then did they clearly propose the policy of "combining theory with practice" and begin to vigorously promote the development of applied science. Because Germany had a solid foundation in basic science, it quickly established a connection between scientific theory and industrial practice, thereby combining a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and skilled workers within half a century, leading the "internal combustion engine and electrification revolution," which enabled Germany's industrial economy to achieve leapfrog development.
Since then, German machinery, chemicals, electrical appliances, optics, and even kitchen utensils and sporting goods have become the highest-quality products in the world, and "Made in Germany" has become synonymous with quality and credibility. Almost all of Germany's most famous companies grew up from that era. They still maintain worldwide reputations today.
Valuing "posthumous reputation" over "immediate profit"
The Germans are not a people who "love the new and hate the old." Germans like things with experience, historical memory, and cultural memory. I know a German professor whose home still has a wooden-box-sized vacuum tube radio from the 1960s, and because of its good quality, it is still in use. I asked him, "Are you still using such an old thing?" He said, "Yes, whenever I see it, I think of the stories that happened around this radio when I was a child. To me, this is more precious than anything else!"
Ballpoint pens made by Germans can be dropped on the floor more than ten times and still work when picked up. Residential houses built by Germans will not collapse for 120 years, and even if destroyed by war, the Germans will definitely rebuild them exactly as they were.
There is a photo of German buildings called "Unchanging Germany" , showing houses built by Germans after World War II, entirely in the style of the late medieval Baroque and Rococo eras.
Why? After the end of World War II, almost all German cities lay in ruins, and the old houses were basically destroyed by the war. The Germans were heartbroken because they love their culture.
What did they do? The Germans desperately searched for old photos and original design drawings, and insisted on rebuilding each building exactly as it was. Today, if you go to Germany, you will see that most cities have few modern buildings; almost all are in Baroque or Rococo style.
There is a royal opera house in Germany that was completely destroyed by American bombers during World War II. The Germans were extremely distressed because that opera house had taken 200 years to build and was destroyed in an instant. What did they do? After the war, the Germans fenced off the ruins and brought together a team of scientists, cultural scholars, archaeologists, architects, and skilled workers—about a hundred people—and spent 35 years putting the broken bricks and tiles back together. Now, when you look at this royal opera house, you cannot tell that it was rebuilt after being bombed. This building has become a "World Cultural Heritage" site. UNESCO officials said, "This action itself belongs to world cultural heritage."
It is precisely because the Germans love and respect their culture to such an extent that it is called 'Unchanging Germany.'
Because Germany's economic development does not rely on the real estate market, it is difficult for a German architect to get a construction project. When they finally win a bid, they will definitely design it carefully, make it an artistic masterpiece, and ensure it will be remembered for generations. Therefore, in Germany, you will never see two buildings that are the same. That is why people say German architects value not "immediate profit" but "posthumous reputation."
▲ Robot production line for washing machines at Bosch in Germany.
Only doing business with a person once in their lifetime
At a press conference, a foreign reporter asked Peter von Siemens:
"Why does Germany, with a population of 80 million, have more than 2,300 world-famous brands?"
The president of Siemens answered:
This relies on our German work attitude, on the attention to every detail of production technology. Our German employees bear the obligation to produce first-class products and to provide good after-sales service.
The reporter then asked, "Isn't the ultimate goal of a company to maximize profits? What about obligations?" The Siemens president replied, "No, that is Anglo-American economics. We Germans have our own economics. German economics pursues two points:
First, harmony and safety in the production process; Second, the practicality of high-tech products.
This is the soul of corporate production, not profit maximization.
Business operations are not only for economic benefit. In fact, adhering to corporate ethics and manufacturing products with meticulous craftsmanship is the innate duty and obligation of German companies!" He even mentioned "vocation"—what does "vocation" mean? It means "what God wants you to do."
In Germany, no company becomes a global focus overnight. They are often "small companies" or "slow companies" that focus on a specific field or product, but there are very few "bad companies" and absolutely no "fake companies." Most are world-famous companies with over a century of history, highly focused on product quality and value, also known as "hidden champions."
There is a German wine workshop that is almost 400 years old. It survived World War II by chance, lucky not to be bombed by American planes. Germany's Continental tire company was founded in 1871, and now it has branches in almost every prefecture-level city in China. Germany's Adidas company was founded in 1920 and has a history of over 94 years. You can see that German companies of this type all have a long history.
German products do not engage in price wars or compete with peers. One reason is industry protection, and another is that price is not the only factor; price wars may drag the entire industry into a vicious cycle. German companies do pursue profits, but as long as they can ensure basic profits and make money, Germans are not so greedy as to endlessly pursue profit. Instead, they consider longer-term and sustainable development. Therefore, Germans prefer to "convert part of the profit into higher-quality products and more complete services while ensuring basic profits."
I once chatted with the manager of a Fissler cookware store in Berlin. I said, "You Germans make pots that can last 100 years, so every time you sell one, you actually lose a customer, because they won't need to come back to you. Look at the Japanese pots—they last only 20 years, so customers have to come back every 20 years. Think about it: is it worth it for you? Why do you make things so sturdy? If you shortened the lifespan, wouldn't you make more money?"
The manager answered me:
That's not true. Everyone who buys our pots never needs to buy a second one, so word of mouth spreads, and more people come to buy our pots. We are so busy now! Our cookware factory was converted from a former munitions factory after World War II. In just a few decades, we have sold over 100 million pots. Do you know how many people there are in the world? Nearly 8 billion. There is still a market of over 7 billion people waiting for us!
You see, Germans think differently, and their marketing strategy is also different. They do business with you only once in your lifetime, and let you say good things about their products. This will influence another person, who will become their customer, and then influence a third person. That's what they do.
Seeking the essence, considering the long term
Today, Germany has only three cities—Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt—designated as "international cities," which would be declared "open cities" in case of war. All other cities are small or medium-sized. The vast majority of Germans live in cities with populations of 50,000, 100,000, 150,000, or 200,000. Even a city with 500,000 people is considered too big by Germans. The scenery of German cities almost always has this feature: the highest point of the skyline is the spire of a church, and no building can exceed it.
I once discussed this issue with a German professor: Why can Germans be so punctual?
He said:
Small cities make it easy to be punctual. To be punctual, you also have to design the city to be small. To avoid traffic jams in the era of mass motorization, you need two conditions. The first is that no building should exceed five stories. In Germany, if you want to build a building higher than six stories, you must get it approved by parliament. The second is that half of the city's space must be roads. If you meet both conditions, the city will not have traffic jams.
Today, Germans generally build high-rise buildings only in Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt, and those are world-class skyscrapers. But there is a condition: if such a building falls in any direction, it must not hit another building. So the taller the building, the more open space around it. This is called "seeking the essence of things and determining long-term strategy." When Germans build a house, they must consider what would happen if it collapsed.
Germany does not believe in "cheap and good"
The advantage of "Made in Germany" is not in price. Even Germans themselves admit that "German goods are good but not cheap." You can negotiate prices with the Japanese, but with Germans, you cannot cut a single cent. Germans do not even acknowledge the concept of "cheap and good."
The advantage of "Made in Germany" lies in its quality, its proprietary technology for solving problems, and its excellent after-sales service. The general products developed by German companies are world-leading, highly difficult, and cannot be manufactured by other countries in the short term. More than 30% of Germany's exported goods are unique products with no competitors in the international market. German industrial products, from tunnel boring machines for subway construction to staplers for office work, are world-class in quality.
All products for children under 3 years old in Germany must not contain any artificial additives and must be natural. All milk powder is regulated as a pharmaceutical product. All maternal and infant products are only allowed to be sold in pharmacies, not in supermarkets. All chocolate is required to use natural cocoa butter as raw material. All health and skincare brands must have their own laboratories and botanical gardens to ensure natural and organic quality.
German non-industrial chemical products, such as detergents, hand soaps, and dishwashing liquids, in addition to cleaning and disinfecting functions, mostly use biodegradable technology, which uses microorganisms to break down chemical components, minimizing the harm of chemicals to the human body. German water filter jugs can filter both inorganic and organic harmful substances and are rich in magnesium. Water filtered through a German filter jug has a slightly sweet taste.
German cookware has natural antibacterial and high-temperature resistance properties, is energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and has excellent heat conduction, so much so that people say, "With this German cookware, you can make a delicious meal with just one candle." A pot made by Germans can last 100 years, so many Germans use pots passed down from their grandmothers. For Germans, any kitchen utensil only needs to be bought once in a lifetime, because you will never wear it out.
German soup pots are made entirely of cast iron, so heavy that even men find them hard to lift. The inside of the lid has strange patterns. I asked a German salesperson, "Why these patterns?" He said, "When you put it on, the steam circulates naturally up and down, so it doesn't dry out easily. This is a technology." German pots fit perfectly when covered; if it says three minutes to boil, it boils in three minutes, saving you a lot of gas.
I also asked a German entrepreneur why German products often "last 100 years." He answered:
There are two reasons. One is that Germany has no resources; almost all important industrial raw materials are imported from abroad, so we must make the best use of everything and extend the service life as much as possible. This is the greatest saving of raw materials. The other reason is that we Germans believe that the quality of a product is mainly reflected in whether it is 'durable.'
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