Arbeitsvorbereitung, work preparation, is a fixed term in German manufacturing and construction. In construction, it is the planning stage that coordinates resources, tasks and work steps, so that the work on site runs efficiently and without disruption. The construction reference work Bauprofessor calls careful work preparation decisive for the success of a building project. It warns that leaving it out can cost five percent or more of the result on a site. In industry, Arbeitsvorbereiter, work preparer, is a job title of its own. One way into the job is a twelve-week course to become a REFA technician.
The General Staff
The Prussian General Staff existed unofficially from 1806 and was formally established by law in 1814. In peacetime, it was responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of war and for drafting and reviewing mobilization and campaign plans. Under Helmuth von Moltke, its chief from 1857, it studied the railway network and built it into its deployment plans. After the First World War, Article 160 of the Treaty of Versailles ordered: “The Great German General Staff and all similar organisations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form.” The army continued the work under a new name, the Truppenamt.
The Plan Approval
A new road or rail line in Germany goes through a Planfeststellungsverfahren, a plan approval procedure. The chambers of industry and commerce describe it as a strictly formalized procedure that makes a comprehensive decision on whether a project is permitted. The municipalities put the plan on public display for one month. Anyone whose own interests are affected can then raise objections, within a set period. At the end, the authority issues the Planfeststellungsbeschluss, the plan approval decision. This one decision includes and replaces all the separate permits, consents and authorizations that the project would otherwise need. The approved plan is the permit.
The Start-Up Grant
Unemployed people in Germany who start a full-time business can apply for the Gründungszuschuss, a start-up grant paid for up to 15 months. Under Section 93 of the Third Book of the Social Code, they must present a statement from an expert body on the Tragfähigkeit, the viability, of the business. A chamber of commerce, a chamber of crafts or a tax adviser can give it. The founder hands the expert body a set of documents. The Federal Employment Agency’s model letter lists them: a business plan, a plan of capital needs and financing, a forecast of sales and profitability, a CV and proof of qualifications. Whether the grant is paid is at the agency’s discretion.
The Nuclear Agreement and Its Price
On 14 June 2000, the federal government and the energy companies agreed on ending nuclear power in Germany. The agreement is known as the Atomkonsens, the nuclear consensus. It was signed on 11 June 2001, and in 2002 it was secured in law. In 2010, a new government extended the running times of the plants. This became known as the Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg, the exit from the exit. After the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, the government reversed course again. On 6 December 2016, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the new law was largely compatible with the Basic Law. But the companies had to be compensated. The court said that trust in the electricity quantities granted in 2002 deserved particular protection. Investments made in justified trust in the 2010 extension also had to be compensated. In 2021, the government and the four companies signed a contract. The companies received 2.428 billion euros, and in return they ended all lawsuits over the phase-out.
The state was free to change the agreement. The court made it pay for what the companies had relied on.
The Price of Public Broadcasting
Every German household pays the Rundfunkbeitrag, the broadcasting fee. Its amount is set in three steps. The public broadcasters report their financial needs. An independent commission, the KEF, checks whether the needs were calculated in line with the principles of economy and thrift. Then the state parliaments must adopt the figure. For 2021 the KEF proposed a rise of 86 cents, from 17.50 euros to 18.36 euros a month. Fifteen states approved it. Saxony-Anhalt did not. On 20 July 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that this violated the freedom of broadcasting, and the court ordered the fee of 18.36 euros to apply provisionally. A state may depart from the commission’s figure only with the agreement of all the states. In November 2024, ARD and ZDF went to court again, seeking 18.94 euros from 2025. The court heard the case on 23 June 2026. As of October 2026, it had not yet ruled.
Deals That Fall Through After the Show
In the television show Die Höhle der Löwen, the lions’ den, founders present their companies to investors. The show started on VOX in 2014. A deal is agreed in front of the camera within minutes. The investors check the company only after the recording, and many deals fail at this stage. Some companies did not pass the check because the founders had made false statements on air. The counts differ. The site deutsche-startups.de counted 11 failed deals out of 16 in the first season and 15 out of 21 in the second. The film site Filmstarts counted 35 deals in the first two seasons, of which 26 failed. A technology blog, citing Business Insider, gave a much lower figure: about 40 percent.
The Diaries Bought in Secret
In 1983 the magazine Stern presented what it said were the diaries of Adolf Hitler. The publisher’s management had bought 62 volumes for 9.34 million marks. Only a few members of the management and of the contemporary history desk knew about the purchase. On 25 April 1983, Stern held an international press conference. On 6 May 1983, news agencies reported that the diaries were forgeries. Experts of the Federal Criminal Police Office and of a federal materials testing institute had shown it beyond doubt. The German Wikipedia article names the editors’ greatest failure. The diaries vorschnell veröffentlicht wurden und man das BKA-Gutachten nicht abwartete. They were published too hastily, and the editors did not wait for the police report. In 1992 Helmut Dietl turned the affair into the satirical film Schtonk!.
Two Weeks With the Draft
A German who buys an apartment from a developer signs the contract in front of a notary. The Notarization Act, the Beurkundungsgesetz, sets a waiting period before that appointment. The consumer should have ausreichend Gelegenheit …, sich vorab mit dem Gegenstand der Beurkundung auseinanderzusetzen, enough opportunity to study the deed in advance. The notary should send the draft to the consumer. Dies soll im Regelfall zwei Wochen vor der Beurkundung erfolgen. As a rule, this should happen two weeks before the notarization. If the period is shorter, the notary should write the reasons into the deed. The rule is a response to the so-called Mitternachtsnotare, midnight notaries. These notaries worked inside the sales networks of property agents. A sales agent called a potential buyer and praised an apartment. At the next meeting, the agent took the buyer to the notary to sign. Since October 2013 the notary must send the draft himself.
Fourteen Days to Change Your Mind
A salesman rings the doorbell, and the customer signs a contract in the living room. German law gives the customer 14 days to undo it. The Civil Code grants a right of withdrawal, the Widerrufsrecht, for contracts concluded outside business premises. Die Widerrufsfrist beträgt 14 Tage. The period of withdrawal is 14 days. Der Widerruf muss keine Begründung enthalten. The withdrawal does not need to give a reason. The rule goes back to the law on doorstep sales, which came into force on 1 May 1986 and gave the customer one week. Today the period is set by EU law. Since 2014, the German law also names Kaffeefahrten expressly, the bus outings on which the organizer sells goods to the passengers. The reason for the rule is surprise. The EU directive on doorstep sales of 1985 spoke of an Überrumpelungseffekt, an effect of being taken by surprise. The customer closes the deal ohne ausreichende Überlegung, without enough thought.