What does “Solidarität” mean in German?

A baker explains the pension system like his shop: you pay now, and that money makes rolls for the people who came before you. Later, people after you pay for yours. The baker uses Solidarität to name this deal: everyone pays in now so others get help, trusting future people will do the same. It is the plain word for “we all carry each other.”

In the clip the baker walks a customer through how pensions work using his bread shop as the model. When he names the principle behind it — that strangers trust each other to keep paying — he reaches for Solidarität. More examples: “Aus Solidarität haben alle gespendet” (Out of solidarity, everyone donated). “Die Solidarität in der Gruppe war groß” (The sense of solidarity in the group was strong). The word often appears around money, work, or hard times, wherever one person’s contribution keeps another afloat.