Pauca sed matura, few but ripe, was the motto of the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. His seal showed a tree loaded with fruit, with the motto around it. Gauss offered nothing to the public until it had received its last finishing touches. In 2005, the Tagesspiegel estimated that he published only about half of his ideas.
Words for Unfinished Work
Murks
Work done improperly, with faults, badly. Duden’s definition.
Pfusch
Work done carelessly and untidily.
Schnellschuss
Quick shot. Something produced at short notice, without longer planning and without thorough preparation.
nachbessern
To improve afterwards. Duden’s example is einen Gesetzentwurf nachbessern, to rework a draft law.
Montagsauto
Monday car. A car that has relatively many defects from the start, as if it had been built on a Monday.
Bananensoftware
Banana software. Software delivered unripe, which ripens at the customer. The idea behind it is called the Bananenprinzip, the banana principle.
First Weigh, Then Dare
Erst wägen, dann wagen. First weigh, then dare. The motto is associated with Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, the Prussian chief of staff. In 1891, the year of his death, a cast-iron wall relief of Moltke was made in the Harz with the words on it. The sources do not say whether Moltke coined the phrase.
The Engineer Who Checks the Engineer
For many large or risky buildings in Germany, a second structural engineer checks the first one’s calculations. In Bavaria, for special buildings with difficult structures, this Prüfingenieur, inspecting engineer, is an especially qualified structural engineer who checks the proofs of stability for correctness and completeness on behalf of the building authority. During construction, the inspecting engineer then checks that the building matches the checked calculations. The profession calls it the four-eyes principle.
Students Who Studied the Opponent
For about seventeen years, students of the German Sport University Cologne helped prepare the German national football team for its opponents. The Spielanalyse-Team Köln, the game analysis team, began as a pilot project. It supported the coaching staff with systematic computer and video analyses of each opponent. About 1,000 students were trained in the program. The cooperation ended at the turn of the year 2022–23.
Three Readings for Every Bill
No bill becomes law in the Bundestag in a single debate. Under the Bundestag’s rules of procedure, bills are dealt with in three readings. The Bundestag’s research service set this out in 2017. The three readings come from the rules of procedure, not from the Basic Law. The Bundestag can depart from them in a single case only with a two-thirds majority of the members present.
A Teacher of Slow Reading
In the preface to Morgenröte, Daybreak, Friedrich Nietzsche calls himself ein Lehrer des langsamen Lesens, a teacher of slow reading. Philology, he writes, is a venerable art that asks one thing of its admirer above all. He calls it a goldsmith’s art and connoisseurship of the word. He ends with a request to his readers to learn to read him well.
Three Years Before a Judge Is Appointed for Life
Passing both state law exams qualifies a German lawyer to be a judge. It does not make him a judge for life. Under the German Judges Act, a judge can be appointed for life only after at least three years in judicial service. Until then, he usually serves as a judge on probation. Within five years at the latest, a judge on probation must be appointed either a judge for life or a public prosecutor for life, unless he has been dismissed.
Inspected by the Book, and Still It Fell
In the night to 11 September 2024, part of the Carolabrücke, a bridge over the Elbe in Dresden, collapsed. An expert report found hydrogen-induced stress corrosion in the prestressing steel. Damage to many tendons had most likely gone undetected despite regular and proper inspections. In July 2026, the public prosecutor closed the investigation and found no sign of a criminal offense. Engineers then asked a new question. Could the inspection methods in use detect this kind of damage at all?
The Longest-Serving Member Opens Parliament
The first sitting of a new Bundestag is opened by the Alterspräsident, literally the president by age. Until 2017 that was the oldest member. On 1 June 2017, the Bundestag changed its rules. Now the member who has belonged to the Bundestag longest opens the sitting. Age decides only when two members have served equally long. The stated reason was parliamentary experience. The change also had a political background. Under the old rule, a member of the AfD, which was about to enter the Bundestag, would have opened the 2017 session. On 25 March 2025, Gregor Gysi opened the new Bundestag after thirty years and nine months as a member. The title is still Alterspräsident.