Germany: The discreet lives of the super rich | DW Documentary

I'm german. Born and raised. And the funny thing is that I grew up poor but in a wealthy neighborhood. People really don't show it. The only thing Germans like to be braggy about is their cars.

My father always said "Never discuss money with anyone, you'll either have more money than the other person or less, either way it makes for an uncomfortable conversation". Sage advice.

I'm just a German of average income, and I have nothing but respect for anyone who starts a business from scratch, creates countless jobs, pays his taxes within the country, tries to stay in touch with even his lowest employees and in return becomes incredibly rich as a reward, simply because everyone wins. Those on the other hand who became filhty rich working in the banking sector, making money out of money, didn't do anything to deserve my respect.

Very interesting documentary. The part when the rich German man says that inequalities are rising but they won't let them rise too much in order to avoid the social conflicts taking place in the USA and in Latin America particularly resonated.

Money talks, Wealth whispers. True Wealth is silent and it’s the same with Power.

I live in a town where one of the richest Germans live. He sponsors kindergarten for all kids above 3 years. He donates or finances a lot developing his hometown in the field of education , small businesses and infrastructure. And honestly I’ve never seen his face plastered on anything he does.

"To avoid envy" is a subtle way of saying "to avoid getting hanged in the streets in the inevitable revolt of the poor".

Never judge people by their money. I had a good friend at school who's father used to pick him up with some fancy car like a Ferrari because they owned a company. The struggle began when his parents were divorced, he and his little brother suffered a lot. He started drinking in school at 11th grade. His mother died in a car accident, he himself in a motorcycle crash. I'll never forget when he said "Most people have no idea what's going on. You may see it when people are rich, you see the cars or the house but their real problems are mostly invisible, just like in any other family."

I am from Germany and its so normal for me, that wealthy people are staying „unknown“. Its funny, how clearly this documentary tries to explain it, as if it is the strangest thing. Like: Look, there are people who actually like to live a normal life and dont want to be looked at differently by everybody.

One of the most wealthy Germans, Dieter Schwarz (founder of big the supermarkets Lidl and Kaufland) lives in my city. He is retired now, and there are no existing photos of him in the last 20 years. The newspaper doesn't write about him, because he wants to live a decent life. His house is in an area where the "upper class" of our city lives - many beautiful old houses, some very decent, some more luxurious, many "normal" houses for one family and even some houses with more apartments for people of all incomes. He has build a new campus with a special college/university where the students are part time in a company (Lidl/Kaufland) and part time at the college. He does much for our city, without telling everyone. Very likeable 😊

This is such a fascinating interview. The super-rich don't want publicity, while there are those who are not so rich but want all the publicity.

Rossmann doesn't mind getting out there because he earned his money honestly. He worked hard for it. It's a reason for pride.

As a german I am so confused by the voice-over. I am mixing up the german voice with the voice-over reeeee

Even in the German middle class, there is a saying: "You don't talk about money, you have it."

Very interesting, great respect for those interviewed to be open about the topic (to a certain extent) and to DW for reporting 👏

I went to boarding school with children of the rich. We socialized with kids at other boarding schools. My father flew for an airline in the Middle East. I was forced to go to boarding school as there were no schools after 9th grade. I was definitely the poor girl in school, lol. I received a great education. I learned how to speak properly. I didn’t know what a double negative was prior to my boarding school. Typically, we graduated in the top 1% in English. There is a definite difference in old money and new money. You’d never know your standing next to old money, but new money flaunts it. Heck, old money kids used duck tape on their dockside’s. One thing I can say is they always made me feel welcome in their homes. They don’t live in reality as kids. It’s just not normal to get a Beach house for your 16th birthday, but for them it is.

"The goal is to be rich and not to look rich" and these wealthy germans add justice to the proverb

Here in Moscow Russia, middle class act like millionaires... 😬 millionaires act like billionaires ... the billionnaires don’t pay their taxes, they are the gov’t officials 🤪 **Disclaimer: I haven’t lived everywhere so my comment is just my observation based on experience (8 years in Moscow). If you can speak for the world then good for you, because I can’t. 😁 If you disagree.. then let’s just agree to disagree. I am not trying to convince anybody taking my word for it, I’m just contributing info on this particular video, so don’t come for me with your salty attitude. 😂🤣

One downside of this „we don’t talk about money“ attitude is, that many people don’t know how money works. I wish there was more conversation on how to deal with money correctly in order to generate wealth and not end up or stay poor.

Thanks for the feature!❤