Germany - Home of Volkswagens and Kinderwagens

You don't have a kinderwagen yet? - Finding a kinderwagen

One of the first things our new neighbor, Kristin, offered to help us with when we first moved into our apartment in Munich (8 weeks before Kaanosaurus was due) was to bring us to a baby store to get a stroller. She didn't just offer once, but nearly every time we saw her. At that point, we were still sleeping on a borrowed air mattress (not recommended for very pregnant women) and eating off of borrowed plates. A stroller was not at the top of the priority list. The second week, our things arrived from the States, and we spent every waking moment trying to unpack everything and find places for them in the apartment-without-closets (see previous entry about apartments in Germany). Two weeks after moving in, she was starting to get a little anxious. I had other things in mind - we didn't have a crib yet, I was trying to register for German classes and we were still unpacking. Not knowing her very well, her kind quesitoning came across as, well, an odd stroller obsession. A stroller was simply not a priority for us still. In part so she wouldn't think we were rude for continual refusals to go to the baby store, and in part so that she would stop asking, I went to Baby Reinartz with Kristin and her then 10-month-old baby, Felix. And there I learned that in fact Kristin is quite normal and is just so gentle that she didn't know how to tell me that I needed to order a stroller ASAP because it takes six weeks to get a stroller in Germany. There are some strollers you can get immediately, but many take *gasp* a month and half to receive. I ordered ours that very first time we went, and it arrived three days before Kaan.

You will push a baby in THAT? In Munich? In the winter?!

The day we went to Baby Reinartz, Levent was at work. After much research in the US, we had decided to get the Inglesina Zippy stroller. It was convertible to a pseudo-pram, was lightweight, easy folding, and had small wheels. Ok, I admit it, I chose it, Levent went along with what I said. I really wanted this stroller. It was a bit on the pricey side at over $200, but I had my heart set on it. And I was in luck! They had it at Baby Reinartz. So, off we went on what I thought would be a straightforward journey. I quickly located the Zippy, and that was the beginning of the end of my plans. When I mentioned that I wanted to buy it, Kristin seemed... uncomfortable. She politely and gently suggested to me that there were many other optoins at the store. It took the salesperson's more direct intervention for me to question my choice...

"You're going to put your baby in that? In Munich? In the winter? Do you know how cold it is in Munich in the winter?" Of course I did. I had, after all, lived in Minneapolis (Minnesota, home of -40 degree windchills in the winter and the inside of your nose freezing if you stand outside for one minute waiting for a bus). I could handle cold. After some discussion, it became clear to me that they were not going to let me purchase the Inglesina Zippy.

"Kinderwagen' versus Buggy (Buggy is also capitalized because in German, they capitalize all nouns. It is freaking out the English teacher in me). Kinderwagens are large, much larger than American strollers. They are more like small SUVs. They are like the old-fashioned prams, but with tons of cool new features. Buggies are basically what Americans call strollers. But this was a pretty big purchase, and I didn't really feel comfortable making it without Levent being able to see the strollers, too. "Maybe I'll come back later, with Levent," I said. That made Kristin very nervous...

6 weeks...
It takes around 6 weeks to get a stroller here. Yep. No hopping down to Babies 'R Us and picking up a stroller on your way to the delivery room. You have to plan ahead here. So I had to make my decision without Levent, and there were so many choices I had never considered.

Wheels
We had thought we'd get a stroller with small wheels because they looked lighter and easier to maneuver. WRONG! Small wheels, apparently, don't go well in the snow. And there is a lot of snow here. As a compromise, I chose a kinderwagen with double medium wheels in the front and large ones in the back. I also had a choice of pneumatic versus rubber, and I chose the rubber ones because then we wouldn't have to worry about inflating them. Fortunately, we didn't have to choose any hub caps!

Color
For the kinderwagen we chose, there was a choice of fabrics. All were fairly dull for this model, so we chose a classic navy. The kinderwagen was feeling more and more like a car...

Accessories
And yes, there are accessories, too. I have read in a number of places that one of the main complaints of Americans who buy European strollers is that they don't have cupholders. There are, in fact, many Starbucks shops here in Munich but indeed you rarely see Germans walking around with a paper cup of coffee in their hand. Starbucks here actually have ceramic mugs! You can get your cup of coffee to go in a paper cup, but you won't have a place to put it in your Kinderwagen.

There are, however, other accessories you never knew you needed. For example, a rain cover. How many Americans that you know bother with rain covers on their strollers? Well, in the US of course kids spend more time in car seats than in strollers, so rain covers are not a requirement. But here, where even if you have a car, there is no parking where you are going, so you end up walking everywhere with your kinderwagen, rain or snow or shine. And if you don't have a rain cover, then your baby has no protection from the snow, rain, and very cold wind. Then there is the mosquito net. We have one, but haven't used it yet because we haven't been in mosquito territory much. It is a nice idea, though. Then there is the polar fleece sleeping bag and the sheep fleece kinderwagen pram bag liner. Those are to protect your baby from the cold. Even though the pram bag - which is like a soft-sided bassinet that goes onto the fully-reclined seat - is often padded, it's still not warm enough. I decided not to go for either one, figuring that we could use blankets or dress Kaan really warmly instead (or get one later) but the shopkeeper was so worried at that point about me and my crazy ideas that she threw the polar fleece liner in for free!

There are lots of different kinderwagens available here that you may have never heard of. Here is a quick description of them:

The Hesba

The ferarri of kinderwagens. Or perhaps the Rolls Royce. It is rubber and chrome, with excellent suspension. It is very retro and can be spotted in the classy parts of town. From my uneducated observation, it seems to be driven by mothers who are either wealthy but not flashy Hollywood types, or have wealthy parents, and have a high degree of education. The Hesba doesn't fold, so its owners need to have another kinderwagen, or a buggy for traveling. Learn about the Hesba here. If Hesbas were in the US, I think their owners would shop at The Banana Republic and Ann Taylor and would drive upscale SUVs. At 500 to 600 Euros for the base model, you are buying yourself a status symbol. There are knock-offs available for 200, but putting Lexus paint on a Ford Focus doesn't make the Focus a Lexus, now does it?

The Teutonia

This is what we have. There are many models of Teutonias, and you can see them here. Teutonias are very sturdy, lighter weight metal than Hesbas, and somewhat more sporty. They can fold up, but once folded are still not incredibly small so you couldn't fit one in a Mini - or even in a VW Golf probably. Teutonias have been around for a long time, and have the reputation of being passed down from generation to generation. I am not sure who drives them. Definitely an assortment of people. If they were in the US, their owners would likely shop at Eddie Bauer, the GAP, and drive Subarus - hey, that's us. We got the right stroller. We like it. The price of Teutonias varies, but the base model of ours was around 300 Euros. Not cheap, definitely, but I figured since we weren't getting a cool car here, at least Kaan would travel in style and comfort.

The Bugaboo

I like our stroller, but Bugaboos win for design, if you ask me. Hesba drivers probably do not like Bugaboos because they are so NOT classic (see photo). They are all over the place here, and when I first noticed them on the street (after having bought our Teutonia) I wondered why I hadn't paid more serious attention to them in the store. Then I found out that the base frame - not including anything but the basic toddler seat - goes for around 700 Euros - and I realized that after seeing that price tag, I probably didn't bother looking any longer. I happen to know that these are very popular in the Hollywood baby boom right now (I admit to reading People magazine online daily) and if you click on the "Hollywood Baby Boom" link, you are likely to find pictures of stars driving their black Bugaboos, presumably with their babies inside. Apparently, the princess of Spain also has one for her newborn. What's amazing is how many of them there are here, considering the price, and considering that their teensy-weensy front wheels are not practical in the snow. It would be like roller-blading on a frozen lake, but to each his own. Red and orange are more popular in this part of Munich. You can learn more about Bugaboos here.

Summer Buggy

Where there are kinderwagens in the winter, there are buggies in the summer. We decided that we needed a stroller that was actually portable when we traveled, so before going to Paris for a weekend, we bought a buggy. Levent was so excited to have a lightweight stroller. He couldn't wait until Paris to use it, he wanted to go to the biergarten with it that night. "We can put away the kinderwagen for the summer and just use this one!" he said. "Are you serious?" I said (or thought - not sure). So off we went to the biergarten. 10 seconds out of our apartment, on our way down the hill, Levent said, "Wow, you can really tell the difference between these two!" The buggy has no suspension, no large wheels to get up and down stairs and through gravel smoothly. It's actually work to push. And, important to me, it didn't have space to put the groceries. Like not having much of a trunk. So, the buggy gets used now and then when I don't have grocery shopping to do and don't plan on strolling through the park, and it's great when we travel. But we definitely have come to appreciate our kinderwagen.

Social Statement - choose your stroller wisely

In the home of BMW and Volkswagen, it's more convenient (in the city) to drive a kinderwagen than a car. So, rather than looking at your car and making judgements (true or not) about who you are, people look at your kinderwagen and do the same. A friend has told me to mention in this blog that she can look at other people's kinderwagens and tell whether or not she could be friends with that person. Whew - glad she likes our kinderwagen!

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