The Tagesschau is credited with keeping a sober, informative format since 1960. As a rule, its newsreaders read the reports from a teleprompter. The journalist Willi Winkler described the news as delivered “im amtsmännischen Ton der reinen Sachlichkeit,” in an official’s tone of pure objectivity. When the program turned 70 in December 2022, its editor-in-chief, Marcus Bornheim, named what it values most. “Der größte Wert, den wir haben, ist unsere Glaubwürdigkeit.” The greatest asset we have is our credibility.
What Decides Is on the Pitch
Grau is’ im Leben alle Theorie – aber entscheidend is’ auf’m Platz. All theory in life is gray, but what decides is on the pitch. The saying is credited to Adi Preißler, who won the German championship with Borussia Dortmund in 1956 and 1957. Its first half echoes Goethe’s Faust: Grau, teurer Freund, ist alle Theorie. The second half, entscheidend is auf’m Platz, is in everyday use. It means that talk and plans count for little until the performance shows what they are worth.
The Corrected CV
In June 2021, the Greens’ candidate for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, had to correct her CV on her website. The heading Mitgliedschaften, memberships, became Beiräte, (Förder-)Mitgliedschaften, regelmäßige Unterstützung, advisory boards, supporting memberships and regular support. “Ich habe da offensichtlich einen Fehler gemacht und das tut mir sehr, sehr leid,” she said. I obviously made a mistake there, and I am very, very sorry. The taz noted that her party’s poll numbers were falling again. It named two likely causes, the late reporting of special payments from her party and the inaccurate details in her CV.
Words for the Self-Promoter
der Selbstdarsteller
a person whose actions serve to present himself
der Angeber
a show-off
Mehr Schein als Sein.
More appearance than substance.
Wer schreit, hat Unrecht.
Whoever shouts is wrong.
The words do not always win. In 2003 the Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted someone who said: “Ich bin kein Selbstdarsteller, aber leider kommt es darauf mehr an, als ich gedacht habe.” I am not a self-promoter, but unfortunately that matters more than I thought.
Self-Praise Does Not Stink
Eigenlob stinkt, self-praise stinks, is a common German proverb. In November 2012 the IT magazine Computerwoche ran a career article under the opposite title, Eigenlob stinkt nicht. Its subtitle said that only those who draw attention to their performance get ahead at work. “Fachwissen ist wichtig, aber wer heute beruflich weiterkommen will, muss auf sich aufmerksam machen.” Specialist knowledge is important, but anyone who wants to get ahead today must draw attention to himself.
The title only works because every reader knows the proverb.
Hard on the Matter
The president of the Bundestag can call a speaker back to the subject. This is the Sachruf. A speaker called back to the subject three times in one speech can lose the floor. The president can also call a member to order by name when the member violates the order or the dignity of the house. This is the Ordnungsruf. Three calls to order within three sitting weeks bring a fine of 2,000 euros, and 4,000 euros in a repeat case. In November 2025 the Bundestag rejected objections by AfD members to calls to order they had received. Vice President Andrea Lindholz explained the line. Members may “hart in der Sache diskutieren,” argue hard on the substance. They may not give up decency and a dignified manner toward one another.
Criticism of the Matter, Not the Person
German constitutional law protects sharp criticism. It does not protect Schmähkritik, abusive criticism. The Federal Constitutional Court defines this narrowly. A statement is abusive criticism only when “nicht mehr die Auseinandersetzung in der Sache, sondern die Diffamierung der Person im Vordergrund steht.” The debate about the matter is no longer in the foreground, and the defamation of the person is. Even exaggerated and abusive criticism is not Schmähkritik for that reason alone. In August 2020 the court overturned the conviction of a man in preventive detention. During a dispute over late pocket money, he had called a social worker at the prison a Trulla, a disparaging word for a woman.
A Poem Called Abusive Criticism
On 31 March 2016, the satirist Jan Böhmermann read a poem about the Turkish president on his ZDFneo show Neo Magazin Royale. He introduced it as an example of what is not allowed in Germany. “Ich habe ein Gedicht, das heißt ‚Schmähkritik’.” I have a poem, and it is called abusive criticism. Prosecutors in Mainz closed the criminal investigation in October 2016. In the civil case, the courts in Hamburg banned the defamatory lines. On appeal, 18 of the 24 lines stayed banned. In January 2022 the Federal Constitutional Court declined to hear Böhmermann’s complaint. Long before that, in June 2017, the Bundestag had voted unanimously to abolish Section 103 of the Criminal Code. It was the offense of insulting the organs and representatives of foreign states.
Vanity, the Enemy of the Matter
In his 1919 lecture Politik als Beruf, Politics as a Vocation, Max Weber named three qualities a politician needs. “Leidenschaft – Verantwortungsgefühl – Augenmaß.” Passion, a sense of responsibility and a sense of proportion. Then he named the danger. It is ordinary vanity, “die Todfeindin aller sachlichen Hingabe und aller Distanz,” the deadly enemy of all devotion to the matter and of all distance. Vanity tempts the politician to become an actor and to ask only about the impression he makes. In politics, Weber wrote, there are in the end only two kinds of deadly sin. One is Unsachlichkeit, losing sight of the matter. The other, often though not always the same, is irresponsibility.
Lawyers Must Keep to the Matter
Section 43a of the Federal Lawyers’ Act says that a lawyer may not behave unsachlich, without regard to the matter, in practicing the profession. The law names two examples in particular. One is the deliberate spreading of untruths. The other is disparaging remarks for which the other parties or the course of the proceedings gave no cause.
The rule does not forbid sharp argument. It forbids attacks that the case itself does not justify.