Tip – ‘Trinkgeld’ – literally drinking money

To tip or not to tip?

If you were happy with your food and service you can leave a tip, if you weren’t happy with either you don’t have to tip at all. The choice is yours.

How do I tip in Germany?

Do not leave change on your table, give your tip direct to your waiter.

What is normal for Germany?

5-15 percent depending on how generous you feel or what you can afford to pay.

That being said for smaller amounts (under 50 euro) and services like hairdressers etc it is acceptable to round up to the nearest Euro, or the nearest note size. If your lunch came to 7.45euro, when you hand over your money (or card) say 8 or 9 and your waiter will give you the correct change, if change is necessary.

A simple ‘Stimmt so’ when handing over money for a bill means that you don’t want any change back, the tip is included in the amount you have given the waiter. If your meal came to 4.78 and you hand over a 5 euro note with a ‘Stimmt so’ and you won’t receive any change.

Top insider tip – Be aware that handing over your money to your waiter and saying ‘Danke’ means ‘keep the change’, I sometimes think this is a trick to see just how integrated you are. I’ve known people get stung by it and then be too embarrassed to ask for their change.

These tips on tips 😉 are written with expats in mind, Happy tipping people