What the Germans really want can not be bought

If the Germans were to make a great wish come true on Christmas Eve, then ideal things would have a far higher status than material ones. This emerges from a Forsa survey commissioned by the initiative "7 Years Longer".

Not even one in four expresses material wishes Right at the top of the wish list of Germans is health - for themselves, for the family or friends (28 percent). Second, with 24 percent, is the improvement of social or political conditions; most (18 percent) spontaneously want peace for the world. Another 21 percent named other non-material things, from good wishes for their own family (five percent) to the hope of a beautiful Christmas (one percent). Only just one in four Germans (23 percent) has concrete material wishes, according to the survey.

What would the Germans do with a gift of time??
If you could just wish for more time at Christmas, three-quarters of Germans (76 percent) would prefer to spend them with friends and family. In second place, at 68 percent, is the desire to travel. This longing is especially pronounced in the 14 to 29 year olds (82 percent). But even among over-60s almost two-thirds (63 percent) would use the time they spend traveling.

In addition, Germans would like to learn new things (61 percent), volunteer (47 percent), play sports (46 percent), rest and relax (42 percent) or discover a new hobby (35 percent). After all, 38 percent would still like to live on the whole as before.

We actually get time "given"
The good news is that these wishes can be fulfilled by the Germans themselves. Because most people underestimate their life expectancy significantly. On average, according to a study by the Max Planck Institute in Munich, we live seven years longer than we think.

The Forsa Institute interviewed 1,002 people, ages 14 and up, on 8 and 9 December. To the question, what one would wish for Christmas, only one answer was allowed. When asked what one would do with time, multiple answers were acceptable - the sum of the answers is therefore more than one hundred percent. (Pm)