The Identity Card Act lists what the German identity card shows. First come the family name and birth name, then the given names. Third on the list is Doktorgrad, the doctoral degree. The Passport Act does the same for the passport. The degree is entered only on proof. A German doctorate is shown with the award certificate or a certificate of possession. A foreign one is entered only after the documents have been checked, with a translation. An honorary doctorate is generally entered only if a German university with the right to award doctorates conferred it.
Team Chief, Not National Coach
In 1984, Franz Beckenbauer took over the German national football team. He had won the World Cup as a player, but he had no coaching license. The German Football Association, the DFB, named him Teamchef, team chief, rather than Bundestrainer, national coach. Rudi Völler, who later led the team, had no coaching license either. In his first spell in charge, he was listed on the official match sheet not as coach but as Teamchef.
The Self-Taught Merchant’s Doctorate
Heinrich Schliemann, the excavator of Troy, spent only a quarter of a year at a Gymnasium. He became an apprentice and assistant in a shop in Fürstenberg and taught himself languages, Russian without a teacher. He made a fortune as a merchant. In 1869 he still applied for a doctorate, and the University of Rostock awarded it to him in his absence, on 27 April 1869. The examiner’s report suggested that the university might set aside the normal procedure, because Schliemann was an autodidact.
The Master’s Certificate Returns
In 2004, Germany dropped the requirement of a master’s certificate for more than 50 crafts. On 14 February 2020, it brought the requirement back for twelve of them. The twelve include tilers, screed layers, parquet layers, interior decorators, turners and wooden toy makers, coopers, glass finishers, and organ and harmonium builders. Anyone who wants to open a business in these trades again needs the Meisterbrief. Existing businesses were protected. When the Bundestag voted in December 2019, the stated aim was to improve quality and make training attractive again.
Words for How You Learned It
gelernt
Learned. Said of a person, it means with a completed vocational training. DWDS gives the example er fährt seit zwei Jahren zur See, ist aber gelernter Maurer. He has been at sea for two years, but he is a trained bricklayer.
angelernt
Taught on the job. A worker who has mastered certain tasks of a field without full training.
ungelernt
Unlearned. A worker without special training for the job he does.
studiert
Studied. Educated at a university. Der studierte Historiker, the historian by training.
Autodidakt
A person who acquired his knowledge by teaching himself. DWDS quotes a newspaper from 2025: Da Silva Ferreira ist gelernter Physiotherapeut und als Choreograf Autodidakt. Da Silva Ferreira is a trained physiotherapist and, as a choreographer, self-taught.
The Postman Who Became a Senior Psychiatrist
Gert Postel trained as a postal worker. From November 1995 to July 1997 he worked as a senior physician in forensic psychiatry at the Zschadraß clinic near Leipzig. His license to practice medicine was forged. When he was exposed, it turned out that he had previous convictions as an impostor. In 1999, the regional court in Leipzig sentenced him to four years in prison. Postel later said: Wer die Dialektik beherrscht und die psychiatrische Sprache, der kann grenzenlos jeden Schwachsinn formulieren. Whoever masters dialectics and the language of psychiatry can phrase any nonsense without limit.
For almost two years, the forged papers were enough.
Master Equals Bachelor
In March 2012, the federal government, the states and the social partners agreed on the German Qualifications Framework. It sorts qualifications into eight levels. Level 6 contains the bachelor’s degree and the German master craftsman, side by side. The framework was formally introduced on 16 May 2013. Since 1 January 2020, the Vocational Training Act has also given advanced vocational qualifications names taken from the university. A master craftsman may call himself Bachelor Professional, for example Bachelor Professional im Tischlerhandwerk, in the carpentry trade.
Doctors Must Keep Learning
A doctor who treats patients under statutory health insurance must prove continuing education. The rule is in the Social Code, § 95d. Every five years, the doctor must show 250 continuing-education points. A doctor who misses the target has his fees cut by 10 percent. From the fifth quarter, the cut rises to 25 percent. If the proof is still missing two years later, the association of insurance doctors is required, as a rule, to apply to withdraw the doctor’s admission.
Exams for Hobbies
In 2024, 21,104 people in Germany took the state hunting exam. More than a fifth failed at the first attempt. The exam is known as the Grünes Abitur, the green Abitur. To fish, a person generally needs to prove expert knowledge, usually in an official fishing exam. The states differ. Several issue tourist fishing licenses without an exam. Lower Saxony generally requires no state fishing license, but the holders of fishing rights usually ask for proof of knowledge. In Lower Saxony, dog owners must prove expert knowledge. Since 1 July 2013, they pass a theory test before getting a dog and a practical test within the first year.
Two Years to Sell in a Shop
The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training lists 324 recognized training occupations. One of them is selling in a shop. Under the training ordinance of 13 March 2017, training as a Verkäufer, a salesperson, takes two years. Training as a Kaufmann im Einzelhandel, a retail merchant, takes three years. Both end with an exam.