I was surprised that I hadn't posted on this before because the difference between German and Anglosphere pillows was an immediate setback to developing a positive relationship with Germany. Falling into bed after a long day stumbling through another language should have just been a respite, but here it involved yet another cultural learning curve.
Pillows here are different. They are soft. They are fluffy. They are down-filled. You can squeeze round the middle of one with a single fist. They come in one shape: square; and usually two sizes: 80 by 80 or 40 by 40 cm. I'm sure this pillow system, like the A paper designation where each paper size is double the last, is very orderly and makes for especially pleasing production diagrams. However, it's hard to accustom a neck that is used to being supported by a nice thick pillow to what is essentially a mini duvet. Your head sinks through to the mattress, creating a pillow crater whose downy, quill-y walls envelop your mouth and face. Tickled noses and sleepless nights ensue. Sore necks follow.
And while IKEA may sell the same monochramatic set of strainers, throw rugs, and flat-pack chairs the world around, it does not sell proper rectangular pillows to the German market. Their one concession is an extra wide, very skinny, borderline tube-like pillow that, doubled-up, bears a passing resemblance to pillow normalcy (and is a perfectly regular 40 x 80 cm, or exactly half of a regular big fat square pillow. Yes, Germans are precise like that). Ultimately, the vote on (obnoxious) ex-pat forum Toytown Germany seems to be that people with English-speaking pillow habits should suck up the shipping costs and BYOP - bring your own pillow.
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