On Monday, May 12, 2014 9:03:29 AM UTC-4, Tim R wrote:
On Saturday, May 10, 2014 1:33:24 AM UTC-4, wrote:

I later got a German D-I-Y wiring book and one of the things I think it



was trying to tell me is that "switch loops" are verboten - the feed



always comes to the switch first, then goes to the fixture. This might



explain why it's easy to have a receptacle at the switch.







Matt Roberds



We lived in Germany a few years courtesy of the Army, renting a house in a small farm village.



Our house wasn't wired like that. All the switches seemed to be wired back to the panel on each floor, which was full of change-of-state relays. When you hit a light switch you'd hear a clunk in the hallway. Most rooms had multiple switches in convenient locations.



One thing that was very nice (and probably accounts for the outlet being below the switch you mentioned) was that electrical wiring was required to travel ONLY vertically or horizontally. When you see an outlet, don't drill anywhere on a vertical or horizontal line, but everywhere else is safe.

Something I didn't mention that may have relevance: when you move into an apartment in Germany, normally there are no ceiling fixtures, just wires hanging. Everybody buys their own and installs it.