Concert coat etiquette

We are back in Germany, in Dusseldorf, and now I know what to expect when I go to a concert. You must check your coat. It seems to be a big infringement if you do not, although so far I have not been arrested. I had my coat on my chair in Frankfurt and Munich, and I did get a few glares. One man even sneered something to me about "sein mantel" -- your coat. So when I got to Vienna, I asked Tina Breckwoldt with the Vienna Boys' Choir -- what's the deal?

Fire laws, she said. She thinks it is a federal law in Germany and Austria. Furthermore, you must look for the right coat check to match your row and seat. Achtung!

So, imagine how relieved I was to get to Amsterdam, and see that people just threw their coats on a rack. My friends there, Dr. and Mrs. Sten Drop, said it's not the law, but "it's just not done" to sit on ones coat.

In Paris, they could care less. The Parisians sat on their coats, dropped things, coughed and were generally noisy but very enthusiastic and engaged. I loved them.