More than 50 books on the shelf
News News blog
In the 1980s, some teachers at school often said "there is a tendency to own a second book" if you could answer a question well or got a particularly good grade. Because at that time, statistics were circulating that Germans on average owned only one book.
Today, things are obviously different. More than half of Germans have more than 50 books on their shelves, and almost one in three even owns more than 100 books. And among Germans over 55, it is even 40% who own more than 100 books.
Despite all the technical advances, Germans still prefer to read on printed paper, 46 per cent even exclusively.
But are the books just gathering dust on the shelf or are they actually read?
The majority of Germans have also read at least one book in the past twelve months - one in five fiction fans even reads more than 11 books a year.
When do Germans prefer to read?
59% of those surveyed read on holiday, 55% in the evening on the sofa and 53% at the weekend - in other words, when they have a little more time for leisure and hobbies. Millions of Germans also read on the train (30%) and 13% even read in the bathroom.
