Everybody, open your mouths like you’re about to say the word: “don’t.”

With your tongue right where it is behind your teeth, instead now say: “luf-ten.”

Congratulations! You have mastered the German umlaut “ü” AND learned an important German word: “lüften.” This sensible German custom means: to air out.

Everyone in Germany who believes in the benefits of “lüften” does this year-round. At home AND at work. In Bavaria, when I was little, neighbors opened their lace curtains and tossed their puffy, checkered featherbeds onto their windowsills or balconies every morning. Charming!

Today there’s less featherbed-airing - the advent of synthetic fibers and blankets, you know - but German bakeries and pharmacies and groceries and retail stores still start the day by propping open doors for a few moments to let breezes waft through. And at offices the first person to arrive walks around throwing open sashes until colleagues come and help to close them.

“Lüften” seems so much more important now, during cold season, during flu season, during coronavirus season. I know, the coronavirus travels in expelled droplets and can evidently live for nine freaking days on surfaces, but even so, I’m a believer in the benefits of fresh air. This natural way to exchange stagnant indoor air for something new seems especially timely.

Opening doors and windows for a few minutes on a daily basis HAS to be a good thing.

Every morning, without fail - winter, spring, summer and fall - I walk into our bedroom and open up to let fresh air in and the night air - ugh, rebreathed a gazillion times - out. 

Ideally, if my German-ness were going full bore, I would open up two windows - one on either side of the room - to create a draft or “Durchzug.” (Another time, we’ll learn how to say the German “ch” sound, a little like gently clearing your throat....) But since I’ve lived here in the States for a very long time, I practice a truncated version of my childhood culture. My mom still aired out our house the old-fashioned way and scolded us if we made our beds before the wind had blown through our rooms.

So today, count your blessings, wash your hands, and do some “lüften.”

Thumbnail photo by nchenga.