Every autumn since 1973, the Bund der Steuerzahler, the Taxpayers’ Association, has published its Schwarzbuch, its black book of public waste. The 2026/27 edition lists 100 cases. The city of Stuttgart put up sails and parasols for 350,000 euros, some of them under a huge plane tree. The town of Hadamar in Hesse built a toilet block on a fairground for 355,700 euros. In Schleswig-Holstein, 6.7 million euros of public money went into technology that is not used.
The soldiers’ commissioner
Any German soldier may write directly to the Wehrbeauftragte, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, without going through the chain of command. The office was created in 1956 under Article 45b of the Basic Law. Every year the commissioner writes a full report for the Bundestag. In March 2024, Eva Högl presented the report for 2023. She said that the armed forces were shrinking and aging, and that recruitment was not satisfactory. Many barracks, she said, were in a state she called erbärmlich, miserable.
The restaurant tester
From 2005 to 2013, and again in 2017, RTL broadcast Rach, der Restauranttester. In each episode the chef Christian Rach tested a restaurant that was in trouble. Then he confronted the owners with his analysis, which was usually worded drastically.
Where the jury crossed the line
The RTL talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar first aired on 9 November 2002, with the producer and composer Dieter Bohlen on the jury. In February 2008, the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media demanded a fine of 100,000 euros from RTL over daytime repeats of the show, which it judged harmful to children. It cited the degrading nature of the jury procedure and the editing of the casting sessions, which made a laughing stock of the candidates in front of millions of viewers. Erich JooĂź, head of the council of the Bavarian media regulator, spoke of inszenierte Infamie, staged infamy.
The judge must point it out
Under § 139 of the German Code of Civil Procedure, the judge must, where necessary, discuss the facts and the law of a case with the parties and ask them questions. The second paragraph goes further. The court may not base its decision on a point that a party has clearly overlooked or considered unimportant. First it must point the problem out and give the party a chance to respond.
The force of the better argument
The philosopher JĂĽrgen Habermas wrote of der zwanglose Zwang des besseren Arguments, a phrase that is now much invoked in Germany. It means the unforced force of the better argument. In a discussion, the better argument should win. The phrase belongs to his theory of communicative action.
When the criticism comes back
On 6 September 2003, the German national team drew 0:0 in Iceland in a qualifier for the European Championship. On ARD, Gerhard Delling called the match a new Tiefpunkt, a low point, and Günter Netzer joined in the criticism. National coach Rudi Völler answered live on air. He accused the interviewer Waldemar Hartmann of having had drei Weizenbier, three wheat beers. After the 2014 World Cup match against Algeria, a ZDF reporter asked Per Mertesacker critical questions. He replied: Glauben Sie, unter den letzten 16 ist eine Karnevalstruppe?! Do you think there is a carnival troupe among the last 16? Then he said he would lie in the ice bath for three days.
Both answers turned on the questioner. Völler later apologized for his wording, but he kept his criticism of the coverage.
Able to take criticism
The German word kritikfähig has two meanings in Duden. It means able to criticize, and it means able to accept and bear criticism. One word covers both sides of the exchange.
Let Your Yes Be Yes
In the Luther Bible, Matthew 5:37 reads: Eure Rede aber sei: Ja, ja; nein, nein. Was darüber ist, das ist vom Bösen. (Let your speech be yes, yes, and no, no. Anything beyond this comes from evil.) The verse asks for no oath and no extra assurance.
Not Scolded Is Praise Enough
Nicht geschimpft ist gelobt genug — not scolded is praise enough. A magazine for mayors places the saying in Hesse, where it is often said in strong dialect. It uses the saying to describe how many bosses treat their staff.
Nix gsagt isch globt gnuag — nothing said is praise enough. The Swabian version. The Schwäbische Zeitung calls it a common cliché in Swabia.