Whats it like in Germany?

[Deleted]

Quick questions about Germany work policies.

First question - is it true that every german citizen, from the newly-hired janitor to the CEO of a megacorp, gets 6+ weeks vacation?

Second question - how's the medical care there? I'm not only asking if it's excellent, but I'm simply curious if it's also a universal healthcare system like England and Canada.

Third question - how's the weather there? What are the high/lows one could expect during winter/summer?

1) 24 days a year is the legal minimum
2) it's okay, quality-wise, and yes it's universal, the system is that you either can't avoid insurance or, if you are a freelancer, are legally required to take one. Sounds forced, but that is supposed to make it affordable for everyone. Let's not go into too much detail.
3) the weather is quite nice at times. Compared to the US, there is much more variety and much less extremes (like hurricanes or tornadoes). The weather strongly depends if we get it from the east or the west (more often the latter). West means oceanic, mild mostly nice summer, mild rainy winter - east means continental, hot summer, cold winter. That way, in winter you can get -20°C, but more usually around 0°C, and in summer it's around 25°C I'd say, going up to 34°C<, if we get it from Siberia. (Yeah Siberia is huge and gets 40°C in summer regularly).

[Ravenblade]

[...]
First question - is it true that every german citizen, from the newly-hired janitor to the CEO of a megacorp, gets 6+ weeks vacation?

There's a legal minimum as has been stated by one of the previous posters but above that it depends on treaties between you/union and your company.
I myself get 28 days per year. But we also have a special ruling that you can take special vacations like for wedding or funeral and the company even continues to pay during that time.

Second question - how's the medical care there? I'm not only asking if it's excellent, but I'm simply curious if it's also a universal healthcare system like England and Canada.

It's universal, yes, and its quality is varying regionally. I personally can't complain. Although if you are self-employed then it can be very expensive.

Third question - how's the weather there? What are the high/lows one could expect during winter/summer?

Generally Germany's weather is classified as temperate with humid winds but it depends where you are located.
If you are living in the South, say Alps or in some mountainous region then you may encounter very cold and snowy winters and hot summers.
If you are living in the more North-Western region then climate is dominantly oceanic with cool winters and moderate summers and overall higher humidity.
If you are living in the East (Central-East) then climate is going to be dominantly more continental with cold winters which may have snow (or not) and warm if not hot summers but usually altogether more dry.
I am living in a central-south(ish) region and in a fairly mountainous region which also has several wintersport resorts nearby, so we usually get snowy and cold winters but not every year and hotter summers but again not every year, we've also had snow-free and humid winters followed by cool and rainy summers.