The shoes thing, seems to vary from place to place, I have been to many places where people have racks outside their flat for shoes. Once I did not understand when visiting & my friend moved from one rack to her.
Have seen other places where no shoes racks, guess it depends on contract & space etc.
Did have a problem with neighour under us complaining about something we were not guilty to the HausLord, we assisted to get it sorted quickly. We continued to be our normal polite self and now the neighbour Can hardly believe their luck to have us as good neighbours.
Although that sounds like the sort of thing he'd do, no it wasn't him. He had the fire brigade called out because of his cheesy 80's faux fire effect on his tv
Worry not, that bi-annual inspection by the Schornsteinfeger and keeping the windows closed from drafts prevents all ills from affecting die Eidgenossen, accidental or medical.
In my old place nothing except the specifically chosen welcome mat was allowed outside, the amount of times the landlady complained was ridiculous, in the end she gave up we were in the top floor with loads of space to escape incase of fire(it was just to keep her house looking tidy) though she didn't even live there. A friend who used to live there before once put a welcome mat of her choice, she came back from work one day and it had been removed and replaced by the welcome mat of the landlady's choice! Funny woman.
Now i live in the ghetto, I wouldn't leave any shoes outside, in fear they'd get stolen. Heh
Edit: but my friend used to live in a building and the family beneath had about 15 pairs of shoes just thrown outside the door. You had to make a huge step to get past. Personally I think that's taking the mick!