Beaches on lakes in Germany - security aspects
I usually travel alone, which raises security issues. The most serious they are on beaches near lakes - when I want to swim, I have to leave all belonging on the beach.
I've never experienced anything to be stolen neither from me nor from anyone nearby or anyone I know. It is common for people to leave their things. However, are there any statistics or general reports about things stolen from people bathing in Germany? How often that happens? Are that single incidents, as rare as shootings in USA?
In Poland or Slovakia I would never leave a thing unobserved. But Germany is known from the culture of respect for private property.
Best Answer
As German I can second the opinion of Paul, thieves could be everywhere, I know people from my circle of acquaintances who lost belongings. To protect my belongings:
a) If I am completely alone (ok, this will be seldom the case in Germany), I will hide them, put them in a spot hard to see or, if not possible, put them in a spot where I will see people near them.
b) If there are many people, I choose to put them near the most trustworthy looking people and ask them to have a look at it. You can also buy little waterproof containers to put the most valuable stuff in it and take it with swimming.
From my experience thieves in Germany are really looking for valuables, such stuff as sunmilk etc. are not interesting.
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Answer 2
I am German and would not trust the German respect for private property. Thieves are everywhere also in Germany but thieves are not very smart most of the time so maybe this could help:
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