Most German officers study. The Bundeswehr has two universities of its own, in Munich and Hamburg, both founded in 1973. In Hamburg, the first 300 officer candidates started on 1 October 1973. The initiative came from Helmut Schmidt as defense minister. According to the Ministry of Defense, the degree is an integral part of the training of career officers. The academic year has three trimesters of twelve weeks, so a bachelor’s degree takes three years and a master’s four.
The Healer Without Training
The Heilpraktiker, the non-medical practitioner, is the exception in German health care. The law that governs the profession dates from 17 February 1939. It sets no regulated training and no regulated exam. Formally, the law asks only for basic schooling, a minimum age of 25 and personal reliability. Before anyone may practice, however, the local health office checks the applicant’s knowledge and abilities. Permission is refused if the practice would be a danger to public health.
Paid Leave for Learning
Fourteen of the sixteen German states have a law that gives employees paid leave for further education, called Bildungsurlaub or Bildungszeit. Only Bavaria and Saxony have none. The usual entitlement is five days a year, as in Baden-Württemberg, or ten days in two years, as in Hamburg. Hamburg was the first state to introduce it, in 1974. In the 2022 Adult Education Survey, 58 percent of adults aged 18 to 64 had taken part in some continuing education in the previous twelve months.
The State Pays for the Master’s Course
The Aufstiegs-BAföG, widely called the Meister-BAföG, helps people in mid-career pay for an advanced qualification such as the master craftsman’s exam. In 2024, the state covered course and exam fees of up to 15,000 euros and paid half of that as a grant. The rest came as a loan. Whoever passes the exam has half of the outstanding loan for the fees cancelled. Whoever then starts a business can have the loan cancelled completely. In 2015, the grant had been 30.5 percent and the reward for passing 25 percent.
The External Exam
Someone who has learned a trade on the job, without an apprenticeship, can still earn the regular qualification. Under § 45 of the Vocational Training Act, he may sit the final exam as an external candidate. As a rule, he must show that he has worked in the occupation for at least one and a half times the prescribed training period. For a three-year apprenticeship, that means four and a half years of work. The minimum can be waived if certificates or other evidence show the skill. He then takes the same final exam as the apprentices.
Teachers Through the Side Door
In 2024, 12.7 percent of the teachers newly hired on permanent contracts in Germany came in as Seiteneinsteiger, side-door entrants, without teacher training. In March 2026, the Stifterverband published recommendations on this route. It called for basic courses before the new teachers take their first class, and for qualification and mentoring alongside the job.
Apprenticeship, Evening School, Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder trained as a retail salesman in a china shop in Lemgo, finishing in 1961. From 1962 to 1964 he went to evening school for the intermediate school certificate. In 1966 he passed the Abitur at the Westfalen-Kolleg in Bielefeld, a school for adults. He then studied law in Göttingen and passed the first state exam in 1971. His foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, took the other road. He left the Gymnasium in 1965 without a diploma and broke off an apprenticeship as a photographer in 1966. By his own account, he attended lectures in Frankfurt as a guest. Until 1981 he worked as a taxi driver.
Behind the Meter, Only the Registered Installer
In a German home, the electrical installation behind the house-connection fuse is not a job for a handy owner. Under § 13 of the low-voltage connection ordinance, apart from the grid operator, only an installation company entered in a grid operator’s register of installers may set it up, extend it or change it. Skill alone does not count. The firm must be on the list.