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:
I think that might be one of those fancy steam appliances to steam/press clothes, especially with it being next to the washing machine. I've seen them around Costco.
Yes, putting an electrical appliance in the bathroom is weirder than putting an appliance that requires both power and plumbing in the room that always has both power and plumbing.
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.
The houses I grew up in were both Victorian so bathrooms were built in only the 80's or sometime like that, so they were on the ground floor and quite large. Both had the washing machines in the bathroom and not the kitchen due to this. The bathroom acts as part utility room.
More modern places I've lived lack any form of utility rooms. In my current flat the washing machine is in the kitchen, there isn't plumbing and space anywhere else for it.
I'm in the USA in a house built pre-1900s. Our washing machine is in a nook off the kitchen (as in the same room, but in the corner). Growing up our washing machine was in the bathroom. From a plumbing standpoint it makes a lot of sense to have the washing machine in the same area as other plumbing.
Sorry everyone but you're all missing the obvious. You see that APPARENTLY there's no WC in the bathroom? Well there you go. When you're done, close the door, and it's nicely mimetized as a drying cabinet 😎
Or else, it's a civilised country when WC have their own space. And it's one of this house where, when you have the unfortune to live with your SO, you don't wait for WC because the bathroom is occupied.
Maybe it's for freezing the clothes after cleaning them in the washing machine to make sure they stay fresh and don't go bad. Either that or freeze-drying. jk