In Goethe’s Faust I, a new student comes to ask for advice. Mephisto, dressed as Faust, tells him to take careful notes in lectures, as if the Holy Spirit were dictating. The student answers: Das sollt Ihr mir nicht zweimal sagen! / Ich denke mir, wie viel es nützt / Denn, was man schwarz auf weiß besitzt, / Kann man getrost nach Hause tragen. (You need not tell me twice! I can see how useful it is. For what you have in black and white, you can carry home with confidence.) Schwarz auf weiß, in black and white, is still a common phrase for in writing, in a form that counts as proof and leaves no room for doubt.
The Vocabulary of Settled Things
Beschlossene Sache — a decided matter. It is no longer open.
Unter Dach und Fach — under roof and in its compartment, that is, safely inside the building. The work is finished.
In trockenen Tüchern — in dry cloths. The matter is safely concluded.
Festschreiben — to write something down so that it is fixed.
Nägel mit Köpfen machen — to make nails with heads. Do it properly, so that it holds.
Der Drops ist gelutscht — the sweet has been sucked. It is over and decided.
Ein Paket wieder aufschnüren — to untie a package again. In politics, it means reopening an agreed compromise, and it is almost always said as a warning.
Rolle rückwärts — a backward roll. The press uses it, usually with mockery, for a politician who reverses a decision.
The Duty to Keep the Peace
German labor law speaks of peace here. While a collective wage agreement is in force, neither side may take industrial action, strikes or lockouts, over the matters it settles. This is the Friedenspflicht, the duty to keep the peace. It does not have to be written into the agreement, because it is considered inherent in every collective agreement. Strikes over matters the agreement does not cover remain allowed. Inside a company, the law goes further. Industrial action between employer and works council is not allowed at all, and both must avoid anything that disturbs den Frieden des Betriebs, the peace of the workplace.
When an Agreement Expires
A works agreement between employer and works council must be decided jointly, written down and signed by both sides. The employer must display it in a suitable place in the workplace. It applies directly and is binding. German labor law also says what happens when such an agreement ends. On matters where the conciliation board can decide if the two sides do not agree, its rules continue bis sie durch eine andere Abmachung ersetzt werden, until they are replaced by another agreement. A similar rule applies to collective wage agreements. When one expires, its rules continue to apply until they are replaced by another agreement.
The Referee’s Decision Is Final
German football has a word for a decision that cannot be reopened: Tatsachenentscheidung, a decision on the facts. On 18 October 2013, Stefan Kießling’s header for Leverkusen went into the Hoffenheim goal through a hole in the side netting, and the referee gave the goal. On 28 October 2013, the DFB sports court rejected Hoffenheim’s protest, because it was a decision on the facts by the referee, die nach dem Regelwerk endgültig sei, which is final under the rules. The famous exception came on 23 April 1994. Thomas Helmer of Bayern Munich was credited with a goal against Nürnberg although the ball had not crossed the line. The match was replayed, because the court found that the referee had not made a decision on the facts himself. He had relied, by eye contact, on the linesman, who wrongly believed the ball was in the goal.
The Debt Brake
In 2009, Germany wrote a limit on new public debt into its constitution, the Schuldenbremse, the debt brake. The Bundestag passed it on 29 May 2009, and the Bundesrat followed on 12 June. From 2016, the federal government could borrow no more than 0.35 percent of economic output in structural terms, and from 2020 the states could not borrow at all in structural terms. A change now needed two-thirds of the members of the Bundestag and two-thirds of the votes in the Bundesrat. On 18 March 2025, the outgoing Bundestag changed it with 512 votes to 206. Defense spending above one percent of economic output was exempted, and a special fund of 500 billion euros was created for infrastructure and climate neutrality. The Bundesrat approved on 21 March 2025 with 53 votes, where 46 were needed.
The Eternity Clause
Most of the German Basic Law can be changed with two-thirds of the Bundestag and two-thirds of the Bundesrat. Some of it cannot be changed at all. Article 79(3) says that an amendment is unzulässig, not permitted, if it touches the division of the federation into states, the participation of the states in making laws, or the principles laid down in Articles 1 and 20. Article 1 protects human dignity. Article 20 defines Germany as a democratic and social federal state under the rule of law. The clause answers the experience of the Nazi era, and above all the Enabling Act of 24 March 1933.
The Provisional Constitution That Stayed
In 1948 and 1949, the heads of the West German states avoided the word Verfassung, constitution, because they wanted to stress that the new order was provisional. They called it the Grundgesetz, the Basic Law. Its preamble said it would give dem staatlichen Leben für eine Übergangszeit eine neue Ordnung, a new order to the life of the state for a transitional period. It came into force in May 1949. In 1990, Article 146 offered the option of a new constitution for all of Germany. It was not used. East Germany joined the area where the Basic Law applied, and the reform efforts after unification ended with marginal changes in 1994. The provisional order is still in force. It has been amended about sixty times.
The Integration Course
A new immigrant in Germany may be required to take an Integrationskurs, an integration course. The Residence Act states its principle in three words: integration wird gefördert und gefordert, is supported and required. The course has a fixed structure. It consists of a language course of 600 lessons and an orientation course of 100 lessons on the legal order, culture and history of Germany. The orientation course ends with a test called Leben in Deutschland, life in Germany. The courses were introduced in 2005. The orientation course was 45 lessons at first. It was extended to 60 lessons in 2012 and to 100 in 2016.
Five Years to Switch Over
On 10 April 2018, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the rules for valuing property for the German property tax in the former West German states were unconstitutional. It did not stop them at once. It gave the legislature until the end of 2019 to pass new rules. After that, the old rules could still apply für weitere fünf Jahre ab der Verkündung, längstens aber bis zum 31. Dezember 2024, for five more years from promulgation, but no later than 31 December 2024. The court explained that revaluing all property needed an extraordinary effort in time and staff. About 36 million properties had to be revalued. The new tax has been levied since 1 January 2025.