I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say perhaps it’s a deep freezer that is only opened occasionally, and I guess is pretty well sealed as long as it’s closed.
The kitchen appears to have one of those built-in fridges that matches the cabinets:
Is this that much weirder than the widespread British practice of putting washing machines in kitchens?
We have to. Have you seen the size of flats over here?
Where else would you put it? Might as well just place it next to all the other appliances. We do it in Germany too, pretty sure it’s just a European thing.
I think in the US we typically prefer for them to be out of sight. Houses here often have a small laundry room specifically for the washer and dryer. Barring that, they are usually tucked away in a closet (apartments or smaller houses) or in the garage or basement.
I wonder if this is one of those things the US benefits from having most of our homes built after indoor plumbing. A not insignificant portion of European homes were built before prolific indoor plumbing, no? So when homes were retrofitted for plumbing, it made sense it keep it all located in one place and then it became the style for all homes.