The German Platter Toilet Bowl.

It is not unusual for people to dismiss the platter toilet as an invention which allows the Germans to indulge in their allegedly stereotypical habit of examing their own stool.

I use to think this but I no longer believe it is the case, as it is my (second-hand!) observation that they never do this and in fact are so keen on hygiene and cleaning and healthy, wholesome activities that I doubt the thought of looking at their stool ever enters their head.

I am convinced that this is another fine example of sophisticated German Engineering.

• Firstly the platter provides a much lower velocity of impact for the stool and this has the advantage of reducing smear and sticking.
• Secondly the wide platter allows the water to flow over the total surface area of the pan.
• Thirdly because the water wells up behind any substantial deposit, it floats it free and clean of the platter.
• Fourthly the platter makes a smaller cistern of water move faster and shift more material more economically.
• Last but not least, the platter makes almost no sound on impact and there is no distinctive "plop" or splash. Any normal German would not be happy about being splashed by contaminated water.
  

To avoid splashing and noise, British people have a habit of putting extra sheets of toilet paper on the surface of the water before use so there is a greater waste and disposal problem with the modern style of pan.
The modern UK style toilet bowl is more common than the platter toilet these days so I should imagine this is another stereotype which will eventually fade from memory.