Seated urination

Seated urination refers to urinating in a sitting position. The opposite is standing urination, which is urination in a standing position. Both are possible for both men and women.

Typical hint

In Germany, the practice of men urinating while sitting was more strongly promoted in the 1990s, primarily for hygienic reasons. Regular toilets are not particularly suitable for standing urination, especially urinals.^[1][2][3] Similar discussions are held in other countries as well. In 2013, Tadd Truscott, a professor of mechanical engineering, and Randy Hurt published a study titled “Splashback” investigating how far urine droplets spread in a bathroom, concluding that they can spread several meters. While urine is sterile, the residue could potentially be colonized by E. coli.^[4] In 2014, urologists at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands published a study stating that sitting is the better position for urination, even for men with prostate enlargement problems.^[5][6]

In January 2015, the Düsseldorf District Court ruled on the appropriate use of rental property in a case regarding standing urination and the resulting damage to the floor: “Despite the increasing domestication of men in this regard, standing urination remains widespread. Someone who still practices this old habit must regularly deal with significant conflicts, especially with female housemates, but not with etching of the marble floor in the bathroom or guest toilet.”^[7][8]

Urologist Wolfgang Bührmann noted in 2017 that younger generations were increasingly willing to sit down, attributing this to changing gender roles, with men doing more cleaning of the bathroom.^[9] According to a 2023 study by the British market research company YouGov, Germany has the highest proportion of men (over 55 years old) who sit down to urinate. In this study, 40% of German men reported always sitting down, with Sweden following in second place with 22%.^[10][11] A survey in Japan from 2020 found that 70% of Japanese men urinate sitting down, up from 51% five years earlier.^[5][12] Among married men, the proportion was higher than among unmarried men.^[13]