Mark Brader wrote:
This is now off-topic for both newsgroups,

Well, you might not *like* the topic, but I don't think it's
*off*-topic.

I'm quite sure that they have "German toilets" in (some
parts/locations/whatever of) Oz, and I'm quite sure I've seen a few
"German toilets" during our recent trip in the US (California). Whether
one *calls* them "German toilets" is another matter, but they are of
*essentially the same design*.

I promise, next time I will pay special attention, make notes and
report back! :-)

but in the hope of ending the subthread quickly...

Mike O'Sullivan:
"Not so the German toilet. The excrement lands on a bone-dry horizontal
shelf, mere inches beneath one's posterior. Repeated flushings are
required to slide the ordure off the shelf ..."

Frank Slootweg:
I still don't understand it! The "shelf" is a little hollow, not flat.
Do the Germans use special water which magically flows *up*hill?

When you flush, the flush water is dumped onto the "shelf", moving
fast enough to overcome the slight slope of the hollow and wash it
(hopefully) clean.

Yes, of course. But *after* that, the last bit of water is supposed to
*stay* in the hollow area. At least that's what our (Dutch) toilets do,
and - while we travel a lot in Germany (and Austria) - I've never
encountered the mentioned shelf-is-totally-dry problem with German
toilets.

So all in all, I think the whining is about *broken "German toilets"
or/and from people with a dietary (sp?) problem.

[...]