A popular question to be asked when talking to someone who does not live in Germany, is “is it the same”?

“Is it the same where you live?”

“Is it the same in Germany?”

Sometimes it is the assumption, that something that happens in one country or is defined by laws there must be the same or at least similarly defined in another, and people are often surprised when this is not the case.

One of the stranger questions recently was “is it illegal to kill a swan in Germany?”  from @johnusher.  Quite why you might want to do this to such a beautiful bird is beyond me, and I am sure that even if you did you would need permission and – this being Germany – pay tax for it.

But how did the question come about?  Quite simply, it’s one of those bits of general knowledge about life in the United Kingdom that people know – wild swans belong to the Crown and it’s illegal to kill them.

So the assumption I guess it that they must belong to someone in Germany too.

Well I’m not aware that they do, and I’m not aware of any similar tradition here.  Unless someone else knows otherwise?

If you do, please leave a comment!