German bureaucracy

Today is the day of confronting the German bureaucracy which is notorious around the world. Some say the Germans invented bureaucracy. However, compared to American government offices and workers, this bureaucracy is a breeze. Of course, Schwäbisch Gmünd is a small town of around 60,000 people and the government buildings are in walking distance from each other. However, each building is beautifully renovated. There are skylights and huge windows all over the place. The work areas are nicely designed and spacious with desks without cubicles. People share the space rather than being cubed up in rabbit hutches which is typical in so many offices.

We have to register our address in Gmünd, pick up 2005 tax forms, and I have to register with the Auslandsamt, the Foreigner Office. We are able to do this incredibly easily and on top of everything, the people are friendly and helpful.

At the Auslandsamt I spoke with the employee about my Aufenhaltserlaubnis, my Arbeitserlaubnis and taking integration courses, classes which the German government has organized for all new immigrants. The first is my residency permit and the second is my work permit. In contrast to the American bureaucracy, there is a one page form to fill out and I have to leave my passport for a week and a half and it does not cost anything. The person I spoke with was a little curious about my request to take integration courses, asking how good my German was, but said it was ok given my obvious difficulties still with the language.

I am curious though about why everyone in Germanyhas to register their address with the local government as soon as they move somewhere. You are supposed to do this within your first week and afterwards you receive a new identification document with your new address. You are supposed to have this document on you at all times in Germany and can be fined by the police if you don't have it on you. It is an internal document; you still receive a passport for external travel.

There is nothing like this in the United States. I also don't think people would stand for it there because it enables the government to know exactly where you are at all times. Here, they argue that it aids the statistical knowledge of the country, towns know the age and sexes of all inhabitants, they know how many schools and hospitals they need, people receive their voting papers without delay, etc. It enables towns and Landers (the German States) to identify the exact number and identities of inhabitants each and every day. The US can only do this once every 10 years when it does the national census that, although rife with inaccuracies, gives the most comprehensive identification of the populace of the country and the most accurate statistics. I would have thought that Germans would be more leery about giving this kind of information to the government given how the Nazis used census information.