Why German Cities Look Ugly

Why do German cities look so ugly?

Sources:

Music:

Artlist:
Yoed Nir - Cello Suite No1 in G Major BWV 1007 - I Prelude
Maya Belsitzman & Matan Ephrat - Once Upon a Time

EpidemicSound:
Dream Cave - Chasing the Truth; Confidentiality
Amber Glow - Slow Solitude
Hampus Naesekiu - Hostages in Love
Phello - Caipirinha
Lotus - H-thirteen
Gabriel Lewis - Cold War Games
Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen - Ghosting
Michael Rothery - Chain of Events
Lupus Nocte - Rescue Mission
Silver Maple - particle Emission
Franz Gordon - Togetherless

_____

Armchair documentaries, almost weekly

[marcom]

As a German I agree with almost everything.
But when you leave the big citys like Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin etc. you will find an endless amount of small citys which still have the pre war architecture. This citys and the vilages on the countryside show the beauty of medieval design.

[tf]

As a person living in germany I need to add something. When you go in a train station even at night you are all alone but you also have that familiar voice calling out train delays and cancelations that makes you even more suicidal

[m-a-s-e-y]

German cities might be ugly, but your graphics are beautiful fern

[randombystander]

While some deregulation of the housing code might help to increase the number of new buildings, it wouldn't make them prettier. Private developers will always (with rare exceptions) only pay for the bare minimum. As long as there is a housing shortage in the cities, tenants will move into ugly houses. From a developers perspective that means that aesthetics are optional.

[krebsmar]

It’s fascinating to see how urban design has evolved, but there’s also an interesting counter-example from East Germany. Many historic buildings that were heavily damaged during WWII remained largely untouched during the GDR era, almost as if frozen in time. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, these buildings were beautifully restored, and now city centers like Stralsund shine in their former glory. It’s a remarkable transformation that highlights the value of preserving and revitalizing historic architecture.

[Dumb-gq]

While not a German city anymore Kaliningrad (or Königsberg prior to WWII) is a perfect example of how cities went from beautiful to horrible looking after WWII

[hans]

Beauty is objective, no matter what people tell you. Depressing housing leads to depressed people.

[mitschnel]

Aber waren sie schon mal in Baden-Württemberg?

[guydreamr]

"Public restroom" is the most accurate description of Bauhaus architecture that I've ever heard.

[SweatyVatican]

Thankfully people have enough, the newer generation are fed up with everything looking the same, everything being so utilitarian and minimalist, they can see what citites used to look like, and what others still look like with the internet, the architectural revival movement is gaining more and more traction, and it’s evident with the increased amount of opposition and protests to demolitions of beautiful historic buildings in cities like Vienna, the 20th century was like the dark age in many ways, rejection of the past, ideologies became the new religion, both promised a utopian existence but they only led to destruction and suffering, but every dark age ends with a renaissance, I believe that in like 30 years the new architectural renaissance will come, and I’m studying hard to become an architect just to help that happen

[TommyCrosby]

5:30 I can't believe how great your 3D model of the miniature street. The lights looks really as they were miniatures ones, basically a led bulb at the end of a stick.

[Schleicher.]

Honestly, as far as I know, German cities aren't as ugly as they show it

[Just-Tibflibus]

Feeling like i got premium when fern makes a video

[ACM]

As an American who has recently relocated to Germany full time, I find this video incredibly timely! Me and my wife have spent the better half of this year looking for a flat which is the catalyst that made me wonder and discuss this very topic. It exists, and will vary by location, but it is actually quite challenging to find a place that is newer & modern, or, older but has some charm and character to it (never mind the fact that finding a place, in general, is quite difficult at the moment).

Thank for this incredibly informative and well presented video!

[ziv_vy]

Kinda shoked that you didn't explain WW2 to increase watch time like other YouTubers

[friddevonfrankenstein]

"... five story buildings..."
"...stretch the buildings up to 30 stories..."
Well, that escalated quickly.

[Blumenkohlbob]

8:58 - "in other countries" - literally showing a frame of the German City Rostock with the tram - just a 3 minutes walk from my apartment :D

Great video, as always!

[johan]

Very insightful and educational video, Fern!

Describing them as 'ugly' and 'Angstraum' is spot-on!

I lived in Apolda, near Weimar where the Bauhaus school started.
In the northwestern part of town, there are these 'Bauhausen' buildings that have a dry, almost docile atmosphere.
During the day, walking through these areas it makes you feel isolated from the world around you, as if the buildings are completely empty.
At night, there's you can almost feel the eyes as they follow, which is unsettling.

It was quite a gnarly experience overall.
However, the contrast brought by the lively pubs, cozy cafes, and lush town center made the place truly feel like home.

[Youbetternowatchthis]

As a German I can tell you that my home town of Augsburg was almost completely destroyed by allied areal bombing.
There are regular bomb findings during construction to this day. Sometimes the bombs are so large that huge areas need to be evacuated for safe disposal.

And yet cars have done far more damage over the decades.

Only the city center remains mostly intact and is still pretty, but everything in the periphery is a car centric mess almost as bad as the US

Modern architecture and car centric city planning is a plague.

[Tutormax]

WWI: Wrong turn
WWII: Angry man gets rejected from art school
WWIII: YouTuber insults German cities.