“What is said, counts.” Once something has been said and agreed upon, it stands and is valid.
The Crime Scene Cleaner
Der Tatortreiniger (The Crime Scene Cleaner). Overview: This dark comedy follows Heiko “Schotty” Schotte, a crime scene cleaner who encounters a wide variety of people and situations. Each episode centers on Schotty’s interactions with clients and bystanders, exploring how personal backgrounds, social norms, and unspoken expectations affect communication and problem-solving in professional encounters. The show cleverly uses these encounters to highlight the importance of understanding context in any professional service role.
“Gesagt, getan.”
“Said and done.” What has been promised is immediately acted upon; no further discussion is needed.
“Vertrag ist Vertrag.
“A contract is a contract.” Agreements-whether formal or informal-are binding and must be honored as such.
Zuverlässigkeit
Germans plan far into the future. This only makes sense, though, if all involved are reliable in sticking to the plan. Zuverlässigkeit – dependability, reliability, soundness, trustworthiness – delivering what you promised by the date you agreed to.
Zuverlässigkeit is so critical to Germans that it is considered a virtue, as a matter of personal character developed over time. Zuverlässigkeit, therefore, needs to be demonstrated from the very beginning of a working relationship. It is the basis for trust.
Auf Wunder ist kein Verlass. Don’t depend on miracles. Eines ist sicher: Die Rente. One thing is for sure: social security. Und er rollt und rollt und rollt – Der VW Golf. And it goes, and goes, and goes – the VW Rabbit.
Ways to say No in German
Nein, it’s a very popular word in Germany. The Germans use it all the time. So much so, that they have all sorts of nuanced ways to say it.
Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt
Postwar German Collective Guilt and the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt (1945): After World War II, German leaders and intellectuals grappled with the nation’s responsibility for Nazi crimes. The Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt by Protestant church leaders was only issued after deep reflection and extensive discussion about the nation’s past and the context of its actions. This public admission of guilt—and the broader culture of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past)—demonstrates the German tendency to seek full understanding and context before making a binding moral or political commitment.
The Wave
Die Welle (The Wave, 2008). Plot: Based on a real-life experiment, a high school teacher demonstrates to his students how easily society can slip into autocracy. The project spirals out of control as students commit to the movement without fully understanding its implications. The film serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of commitment without adequate context. It contrasts the German value of careful deliberation with the risks of impulsive agreement.
“Pacta sunt servanda.”
(Latin) “Agreements must be kept.” This legal principle is often cited in German business and legal contexts to emphasize the binding nature of agreements.
Nibelungentreue
A German with extensive experience living and working in the U.S. made this comment about entering into and maintaining agreements:
“I more observed that you make easier commitments in some cultures, and somewhere it takes more time. Then, in some cultures you can adjust when the boundary conditions dramatically change. And in others you stick to your word whatever happens. I guess that probably is the concept of Nibelungentreue, which has both positive and negative implications.”