The German case against air conditioning

Heatwaves are becoming more frequent, yet politicians and environmentalists remain deeply sceptical of the technology most people reach for first.

Dear Reader,

Last autumn I moved to a part of the country that I’ve heard locals variously describe as “Germany’s California” and “Germany’s Tuscany.” Home to rolling Riesling vineyards – the largest in the world, I’m told – the Palatinate is one of Germany’s most beautiful regions.

Its location in the Rhine Valley, far from the coast, also makes it one of Germany’s hottest regions.

As temperatures soared to 40°C last week, I was glad to live on the ground floor of an early 20th-century house with thick sandstone walls. Our apartment is a man-made cave. In May, we often left in thick jumpers only to realise it was spring outside. Now we have the payoff. It offers precious relief from the baking heat outside.

Not everyone has been so lucky, though.

Our top-floor neighbours resorted to ad hoc measures to keep the heat at bay. They shuttered their living room window with a piece of plywood, with a hole cut for the exhaust hose of a mobile air conditioner. For two weeks, they took refuge in a …