Some people who wake up on October 31st have to think first: “What time is it now?” The time was changed during the night, that much is clear to most of the people. But in which direction? An hour forward or back?
The same question twice a year
Jokers advise: “Buy yourself a radio-controlled watch.” They are not even wrong about that. Because on October 31st, punctually at three o’clock in the morning, the high-precision atomic clock at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig is switched to winter time.
The long-wave transmitter that all radio-controlled clocks receive then sends the “new time” to them, and the clocks jump back to two o’clock.
Donkey bridges help to change the clock
If you want to keep your old alarm clock, you can also make do with a donkey bridge:
“In summer you put the garden furniture ‘in front of’ the door and the clock is ‘put forward’ by an hour. In winter you put the garden furniture ‘back’ in the shed and the clock ‘back’ by an hour.”
That is why the changeover to winter time in autumn is also quite pleasant: the changeover day has 25 hours due to the delay – and many use the extra time for more sleep on Sunday morning.
The time change is controversial – especially among Germans
In 2018, the EU Commission started an online survey on the time change. A total of 4.6 million Europeans took part. Most of them, however, were Germans: around three million. In many other EU countries, the issue appears to be less of a concern.
The result was all the more clear: 84 percent of the participants called for it to be abolished. In March 2019, the EU Parliament also voted with a large majority for an end to the time change. However, the implementation could possibly cause a huge mess.
Time change: EU-wide regulation simplifies a lot
the Changeover from summer to winter time and back again has been standardized in the EU since 2002. This makes a lot of things easier: For example, if you take the train from one EU country to another, you don’t have to do the math. Everywhere, within the three European time zones, the time is the same, and the time change takes place simultaneously everywhere.
Should this be abolished in only a part of the countries of Europe, a time zone patchwork would threaten. That is why the EU Parliament and the EU Commission have decided to find a uniform regulation in any case.
But neither the citizens nor the parliaments agree on this issue. Some are in favor of introducing the “eternal” summer time – then it would be longer light in winter in the evenings. For example, many Poles would like that so that the long Polish winter nights start at least an hour later. In Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark, on the other hand, the majority are in favor of returning to the old normal time, which corresponds to winter time.
Sleep researchers against time change
The German Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine eV published a position paper in July 2018 that argues against the changeover.
“By switching to daylight saving time [kommt es] to a lack of sleep, which usually only affects the night from Sunday to Monday. In addition to difficulty in performing and concentrating, the consequences can be an increased frequency of accidents and errors. (…) The DGSM therefore advocates the constant maintenance of normal time (winter time, CET). “German Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine eV
There are also votes for the time change
Advocates of the time change argue that nobody in Germany complains when they are on holiday in Greece. The country is in a different time zone and the journey is therefore associated with a time difference of an hour.
In addition, winter and summer time ensure that the daily routine takes place in daylight at any time of the year. Light in the winter morning combined with hours of sunshine after work in summer – that only happens if people do without an hour of sleep once a year.