Germans focus on so-called Knackpunkte – literally snap or break points – those areas, which if they fail, all fails. The German yes is often given conditionally or with a warning: “We can do that, assuming that ….”, or “That would be possible, but only if ….”, or “At the moment we cannot give you a 100% guarantee, because ….”. By stating there is inherent risk involved, Germans are sharing the risk with the other party to the agreement.
Wort halten
Wort halten – keeping your word – is understood literally by the Germans. It means holding firmly to an agreement, whether verbal or written. Commitments made out of kindness are considered empty and are unsettling for Germans – they promise what might not be delivered.
Words are so concrete for Germans that they can be broken – to break your word. Those who do not keep their word commit Wortbruch – literally word break. Agreements in the German context are like stairs. Keeping your word allows you to move up quickly and securely. Weddings are often referred to as giving each other the Jawort, literally the yes-word.
Wortbruch – no laughing matter. In December 2012 the German archeologist Hermann Parzinger accused the Turkish government of breaking their word for not adhering to an agreement made in the 1800s. For Germans, agreements don’t lose their validity over time.
The German Federation of Trade Unions accuses German companies time and again of breaking their word by not creating the amount of apprenticeships they promised. Wortbruch is the accusation. “Those who don’t keep their word, have lost our trust and support.”
Every political party in Germany, large and small, claims in their campaigns Wort gehalten, word kept. Germany’s largest companies are proud to keep their word without even haven given it. German products are known for their quality, for delivering what they promise.
Verlass or Verlässlichkeit – two other terms for keeping your word – mean dependability, reliability. Verlässlichkeit is the foundation for any business relationship. In Friedrich Schiller‘s work Die Bürgschaft (The Bond or The Pledge) Damian keeps his word by returning to the tyrant in order to give his life by hanging for his friend.
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.
Nibelung Loyalty
Nibelungentreue is a German compound noun, literally Nibelung loyalty, expressing the concept of absolute, unquestioning, excessive and potentially disastrous loyalty to a cause or person.
It is derived from the Medieval chivalric ideal of loyalty, Middle High German triuwe, as exemplified in the second part of the Nibelungenlied, where the Burgundian kings Gunther, Gernot and Giselher refuse to hand over to Kriemhild their loyal vassal Hagen of Tronje, who is guilty of murdering Kriemhild’s husband, Siegfried. The brothers place the loyalty to their friend above their obligations to their sister or to justice, leading to disaster and the complete destruction of the Nibelungs.
The modern term Nibelungentreue was coined by chancellor Bernhard von Bülow in his speech before the Reichstag on 29 March 1909. Addressing the Bosnian Crisis, von Bülow invoked the absolute loyalty between the German Empire and Austira-Hungary to their Alliance of 1879against the threat by the Entente Cordiale:
Meine Herren, ich habe irgendwo ein höhnisches Wort gelesen über eine Vasallenschaft gegenüber Österreich-Ungarn. Das Wort ist einfältig. […] aber die Nibelungentreue wollen wir aus unserem Verhältnis zu Österreich‐Ungarn nicht ausschalten. Die wollen wir vor aller Öffentlichkeit Österreich‐Ungarn gegenüber wahren.
“Gentlemen — I have somewhere read a scornful word regarding a [German] vassalage to Austria-Hungary. This is fatuous. […] but we will not eliminate the Nibelung loyalty from our relation to Austria-Hungary. This we want to preserve towards Austria-Hungary in full public view.”
The term is adopted by emperor Wilhelm II of Germany as the German Empire declared war alongside Austria-Hungary on 1 August 1914. After the defeat of the Central Powers in 1918, the notion of th Dolchstoß (“Stab in the back”) also invoked the Nibelungen legend, invoking the cowardly murder of Siegfried.
Nibelungentreue was later, in East Germany during denazification and by the 1980s also in West Germany, applied (derogatively) to Nazi ideology, especially in connection with the Schutzstaffel motto, Meine Ehre heißt Treue. Used in this sense by Marxist commentators, the term describes a fanatical Germanic military loyalty associated with fascism and militarism.
Franz Führmann in 1955 wrote a poem called Der Nibelunge Not (“the plight/distress of the Nibelungs”, the Middle High German title of the Nibelungenlied) in which he portrays the Nibelungs as a Germanic Töterdynastie (“dynasty of killers”) who brought a curse on their descendants. The term is also occasionally found in English-language literature about Nazi Germany; thus, Steinberg (1990) describes Goebbels’ suicide as “a paroxysm of Nibelungentreue“.
Source: Wikipedia
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.”