In November 2020, the survey Wissenschaftsbarometer asked 1,016 people in Germany about their trust in science. Sixty percent said they trusted science and research rather or fully. The survey then asked for reasons. The reason with the most agreement was “Weil Wissenschaftler Experten auf ihrem Feld sind,” because scientists are experts in their field. Seventy percent agreed. The most common reason for distrust was that scientists depend strongly on those who fund them. Forty-nine percent agreed with that.
The Laptop Coach
Julian Nagelsmann’s playing career ended early because of injury. In February 2016 he took over Hoffenheim at 28, the youngest head coach in Bundesliga history. A month later he finished the German Football Association’s course for head coaches as second-best in his year. The former player Mehmet Scholl coined a mocking word for coaches of this kind, Laptop-Trainer. It describes coaches who learned tactics in a course but never played at the top. In January 2018 Jürgen Klopp answered the criticism. The young coaches, he said, “haben alle ein Top-Ausbildung genossen.” They have all had top training. In September 2023 Nagelsmann became national coach.
Words for Depth and Its Absence
German has everyday words that sort people by how well they know a subject.
fachsimpeln
to talk at length about purely professional matters
der Laie
a person without specialist knowledge in a field
ein blutiger Laie
a complete beginner, literally a bloody layman
Da staunt der Laie, und der Fachmann wundert sich.
The layman is amazed, and the expert is puzzled.
das Halbwissen
half-knowledge, superficial knowledge, often in gefährliches Halbwissen, dangerous half-knowledge
das Fachchinesisch
specialist Chinese, the language of experts that laypeople cannot follow
The last word is a reproach. Knowledge that cannot be explained to a layperson also loses standing.
The Bouncer’s Exam
A bouncer at a German discotheque must pass an exam. Section 34a of the Trade Regulation Act covers security work. Staff who guard the entrance of discotheques, patrol public spaces or protect shops against shoplifters must pass a Sachkundeprüfung, a test of expert knowledge, at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Other security staff need a certificate from the chamber that they were taught the legal and technical basics. Section 34d sets a similar rule for insurance brokers. Their permit must be refused if they cannot prove the necessary expert knowledge by passing an exam at the chamber.
Theft of Advice
Germans have a word for taking a specialist’s advice in a shop and then buying somewhere else. It is Beratungsklau, theft of advice. In August 2025 the polling firm YouGov asked 2,009 people about it for the German Press Agency. About one in three said they had taken advice in a shop and then bought the product online after comparing prices. Almost half rejected the practice. Fourteen percent approved of it, and 34 percent were undecided.
The advice is valued enough that using it without paying has its own name. For many buyers, the price still decides.
The Professor Who Explains the Universe
Harald Lesch holds a chair of astronomy and astrophysics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He is also one of the best-known faces of science on German television. From 1998 to 2007 he presented the series alpha-Centauri on BR-alpha. Since 2009 he has presented Terra X: Faszination Universum on ZDF, and later his own series, Leschs Kosmos. In 2005 the German Research Foundation and the Stifterverband gave him their Communicator Prize.
Without Alternative
On 18 January 2011, the jury of the Unwort des Jahres, the non-word of the year, chose alternativlos, without alternative, for 2010. Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her government had used the word since 2009, for example for the bank rescue. The jury gave its reasons. The word suggests that a decision has no alternatives from the start, “und damit auch keine Notwendigkeit der Diskussion und Argumentation.” And therefore no need for discussion and argument. The linguist Horst Dieter Schlosser, who led the jury, called the word “das Basta der Merkel-Regierung.” It was the government’s way of saying basta, that is final.
A Health Minister From the Field
On 6 December 2021, Olaf Scholz presented the Social Democratic ministers of his new government. He named Karl Lauterbach health minister. “Viele Menschen haben sich in Deutschland gewünscht, dass der Gesundheitsminister vom Fach ist und dass der nächste Minister Karl Lauterbach heißt. Er wird es.” Many people in Germany had wished that the health minister would be someone from the field, and that the next minister would be Karl Lauterbach. He will be. Lauterbach is a physician and health economist. He had become known across the country through television talk shows during the pandemic. The medical journal Ärzteblatt called his obsession with detail his trademark. In the days before the announcement, the hashtag #wirwollenKarl, we want Karl, had spread on Twitter.
The Five Economic Wise Ones
Germans call them die Wirtschaftsweisen, the economic wise ones. Their official name is the German Council of Economic Experts. A federal law of 14 August 1963 created it. The law sets one main condition for its five members. They must have special knowledge of economics and experience of the economy. They may not represent a business association or an organization of employers or employees. Every year the council must deliver its annual report to the federal government by 15 November. A minority may publish a dissenting view. On 12 November 2025, the council handed its report to Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Experts Before the Vote
Before the Bundestag passes a law, its committees often hear experts. The rules of procedure allow a committee to hold public hearings of experts, representatives of interest groups and other informants. For a bill, the lead committee must hold a hearing if a quarter of its members demand it. If a minority demands the hearing, it must take place within ten sitting weeks. The informants named by that minority must be heard.