German ‘summer time’ starts Sunday

Petra Lessoing
Kaiserslautern American


***image1***Clocks must be reset from 2 to 3 a.m.

Daylight savings time in Germany starts Sunday. Clocks have to be set forward one hour, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.
Germans call the period from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October “summer time.”
The official introduction of summer time in Germany took place in 1980.
It was started in order to save energy and fully use daylight.
The reason for energy saving dates back to the fuel crisis in 1973, when fuel supplies were low.
Germany also wanted to adjust the time to the other European countries, which introduced summer time earlier.
According to the Federal Environmental Office, energy consumption increased during summer time.
This is contrary to initial intentions and hopes. In the evening, there are savings in electrical light, but in the morning, more heat is needed since it still is cool.
But most people wanted to stick to summer time after a probation period because they liked the longer daylight in the evenings.
Actually, changes of the clock took place before. The first time took place from 1916 to 1918, and then again from 1940 to 1949. In 1947, clocks were even reset by two hours.
Today, summer time in Central Europe always starts the last Sunday in March and “winter time,” which is also considered normal time, begins the last Sunday in October, when clocks are turned back from 3 to 2 a.m.
Daylight savings time in the United States starts a week later than in Europe, the first Sunday in April.