Credibility Archives - understand-culture

Pieces of the Stasi Files

In 1989 and 1990, staff of the Stasi, the East German secret police, tore up files by hand. The Stasi Records Archive holds about 16,000 sacks of these torn papers. Its staff have since pieced together about 1.7 million sheets by hand, from just over 600 sacks. A computer-assisted trial was stopped because it could not be continued in its form. Since the end of 1990, the archive has received more than 7.5 million requests and applications.

The care that went into the files once served the secret police. Today it serves the people they were kept on.

The Judge Who Was Too Thorough

Thomas Schulte-Kellinghaus, a judge at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, decided far fewer cases than his colleagues. He completed 48 cases in 2010 and 37 in 2011, against an average of about 71 and 75. The court’s president reprimanded him. “Sie arbeiten weniger als eine Teilzeitkollegin.” You work less than a part-time colleague. He argued that he worked especially thoroughly, and that his pace was part of judicial independence. In May 2020 the disciplinary court at the Federal Court of Justice ruled that the reprimand was lawful. A superior may remind a judge of the proper and timely handling of his work. In November 2021 the Federal Constitutional Court declined to hear his complaint.

Thoroughness did not protect him once others had to wait too long for it.

Time Comes First

On 26 April 2023, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius issued an order of the day on faster procurement for the armed forces. “Oberste Priorität ist für uns alle künftig der Faktor Zeit.” From now on, time is the top priority for all of us. He told staff to buy products that are available on the market whenever possible. “Gehen Sie mutig an die Neuerungen heran.” Approach the changes with courage. In August 2025 a ZDF report on bureaucracy carried the heading “Deutsche sind zu perfektionistisch,” Germans are too perfectionist.

Words for Checking, and for Checking Too Much

die Gründlichkeit
thoroughness. The Duden defines it as conscientiousness and care.

akribisch
meticulous, extremely thorough, as in akribisches Quellenstudium, meticulous study of sources

auf Herz und Nieren prüfen
to test someone or something thoroughly, literally on heart and kidneys. The Duden traces it to Psalm 7.

unter die Lupe nehmen
to examine closely, literally to put under the magnifying glass

German also has words that mock checking that has lost its purpose.

der Erbsenzähler
the pea counter, a petty and stingy person

der Korinthenkacker
a crude word for a petty and pedantic person, literally a person who defecates currants

die Haarspalterei
hair-splitting

A Sworn Statement at the End of a Term Paper

At TU Dortmund, a term paper ends with a signed declaration. The student declares “an Eides statt,” in lieu of an oath, that the work was done independently and without improper help from others. The student also declares that no sources or aids other than those listed were used, and that all literal and paraphrased quotations are marked. The form warns that deception can be fined up to 50,000 euros. A false declaration in lieu of an oath can be punished with up to three years in prison or a fine.

Work That Stands Up to Every Test

The company book Fünfzig Jahre Bosch 1886–1936, Fifty Years of Bosch, opens with sayings of its founder, Robert Bosch. One reads: “Es war mir immer ein unerträglicher Gedanke, es könne jemand bei Prüfung eines meiner Erzeugnisse nachweisen, daß ich irgendwie Minderwertiges leiste.” It was always an unbearable thought to me that someone testing one of my products could prove that I deliver anything inferior. “Deshalb habe ich stets versucht, nur Arbeit hinauszugeben, die jeder sachlichen Prüfung standhielt, also sozusagen vom Guten das Beste war.” I have therefore always tried to send out only work that would stand up to every objective examination, that is, so to speak, the best of the good.

The Urtext Edition

In 1948 Günter Henle founded the G. Henle Verlag. It publishes Urtext editions. These are scores prepared by scholarly and philological methods for musicians to play from. They are based on the composer’s manuscripts, copies and early prints. The dove-blue covers have stayed the same since the early years.

By Stroke and Thread

Nach Strich und Faden means thoroughly, completely, in every respect. Sie hat ihn nach Strich und Faden betrogen. She deceived him thoroughly. The Duden traces the phrase to the language of weavers. When a journeyman’s piece was examined, the examiners checked the woven thread, the Faden, and the direction of the weave, the Strich.

The everyday word for thoroughly comes from the examination of a weaver’s journeyman piece.

What Is Not Recorded Is Presumed Not Done

Every doctor and therapist in Germany must keep a patient record. Section 630f of the Civil Code requires it. Entries must be made in direct connection in time with the treatment. A later change is allowed only if the original entry stays readable and the date of the change is visible. The record must contain all medically essential measures and their results, from the history and diagnoses to consents and explanations. It must be kept for ten years after the treatment ends. Section 630h adds the consequence. If a medically necessary measure was not recorded, the law presumes that it was not carried out.

Not Documented, Not Done

Was nicht dokumentiert ist, ist nicht gemacht! What is not documented has not been done. Nursing staff in Germany know the rule. In 2014 the magazine of the substitute health insurers reported what it costs. The Federal Statistical Office put the cost of nursing documentation at 2.7 billion euros a year, or 13 percent of a nurse’s working time. The magazine blamed a documentation practice driven by fear of legal liability and by assumed demands of quality inspections. In December 2014, the federal government’s commissioner for nursing, Karl-Josef Laumann, set up a project office to spread a simpler model of documentation. He spoke of “sinnentleertes Kästchenankreuzen,” meaningless box-ticking.

Here the state stepped in to reduce documentation, not to increase it.