Miele: Why I would never give away my washing machine

We came to our first Miele like a virgin to a child: when we moved in, it was already in the basement. The previous tenant charged 100 euros for the replacement. But we were happy that we didn't have to come up with a lot of money to buy a washing machine for our first apartment after paying the rental deposit and moving expenses. Of course, we were clear: the thing is obviously quite old; there will probably be a new one soon.

The old Miele was already there when we arrived.

But we did the math without our Miele. She ran and ran and ran, day after day. Like a retiree who, in his old age, continues to attend fitness classes or go on hikes in the mountains. It was also a real “man washing machine” that I was even able to use myself after a brief introduction from my wife: few buttons, no questions.

One day, the laundry room suddenly flooded with water. Great, I thought, now we have to buy a new machine. But it wasn't Miele's fault, it was laziness: the lint filter was blocked because we (and apparently also the previous tenants) had never cleaned it. Water had leaked. At least you won't make this rookie mistake again later.

At some point a moan was heard.

After cleaning, the Miele once again ran like a clock. And that's another move and eight years. Our first child was born, then our second, and the machine had to swallow more and more clothes. She did it without complaint.

But at some point it all ended. The electric motor began to make squealing noises and eventually stopped working. An obituary in the newspaper would probably have written something like this: “After a long and full life, our Miele died after a short and serious illness. You will live in our hearts forever.”

A telex number was also included in the instruction manual.

When we looked closer at the tattered and incomplete instructions for use, our eyes opened: not only did we find a telex number, but also an old postal code (as we know, the change to the new five-digit postal code took place in 1993 ). I never found out how old the machine really was. Our previous tenant didn't know either: he himself had bought the old box from his previous tenant. After this obvious quality test, it became clear: we couldn't get anything but a Miele.

1000 great aunt marks – condition: “Buy a Miele!”

Apparently it is not an isolated case. Our colleague Gina Louisa Metzler also had her “her Miele moment” and says: “When she was nine years old, our washing machine broke down. I still clearly remember that shortly afterwards an envelope containing 1,000 German marks arrived at our door from my great-aunt Maria. She insisted that my mother use the money to buy a Miele washing machine. Because she trusted good quality. That was in the late '90s. My great aunt passed away about ten years ago. “My mother still washes with this machine today.”

Of course, in our basement there is also a Miele that often has to process the laundry of five people twice a day. I don't know if it will last as long as our machine back then. I also don't get along as well as I used to with digital screens and what seems like 100 different washing programs. But the feeling of having made a good investment remains: if you buy cheap, you buy twice. It somehow hurts that Miele, of all companies, is now turning its back on Germany, cutting jobs and producing abroad in the future. A piece “Made in Germany” is simply lost.