Historic risk aversion. The two wars, the DDR, the Eurozone. Germans have experienced over and over again that they can't count on the government to make good

Historic risk aversion. The two wars, the DDR, the Eurozone. Germans have experienced over and over again that they can't count on the government to make good decisions for their money. I know quite a few who try to keep their bank balance always around a zero and invest the money they have in other forms of storage they feel more ownership about (i.e. real estate).