In Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Economy and Society), Max Weber described the features of modern bureaucracy. In principle, he wrote, the modern civil service separates the bureau from the private residence of the official. Bureaucracy sets official activity apart as something distinct from the sphere of private life. German summaries of Weber list this feature as Trennung von Amt und Person, the separation of office and person.
Christ-Person and Office-Person
In 1523 Martin Luther wrote Von weltlicher Obrigkeit (On Secular Authority). In it he separated what a Christian does for himself from what he does for others. An dir und an dem Deinen hältst du dich nach dem Evangelium und leidest Unrecht für deinen Nächsten. In your own affairs, you keep to the Gospel and suffer injustice. An dem andern und an dem Seinen hältst du dich nach der Liebe und leidest kein Unrecht für deinen Nächsten. In the affairs of others, you keep to love and do not let injustice be done to your neighbor. This became known as the Lutheran distinction between the Christ-person and the world- or office-person, the Amtsperson.
Here I Am Human
In the scene Vor dem Tor (Outside the Town Gate) in Goethe’s Faust, the people of the town walk out into the countryside on Easter Sunday. Faust watches them come aus Handwerks- und Gewerbesbanden, out of the bonds of craft and trade, and aus dem Druck von Giebeln und Dächern, out of the pressure of gables and roofs. Faust, the learned doctor, says: Hier ist des Volkes wahrer Himmel, / Zufrieden jauchzet groß und klein: / Hier bin ich Mensch, hier darf ich’s sein! Here is the people’s true heaven. High and low cheer, content. Here I am human, here I may be.
Weiberfastnacht
On Weiberfastnacht, the women’s day of carnival, women storm the town halls in many towns in the Rhineland and Westphalia. Since the middle of the 20th century it has also been the custom for women to cut off men’s ties, als Symbol der männlichen Macht, as a symbol of male power. In the office, this includes the boss’s tie. Legal advice columns point out that cutting off a tie without consent is in principle a criminal offense. If the boss has only recently moved to the area, his silent consent may not be assumed. The season ends with a carnival song from 1953: Am Aschermittwoch ist alles vorbei. On Ash Wednesday it is all over.
The Du From the Christmas Party
In December 2010 the Tagesspiegel answered a reader’s question. The boss had offered the du at the company Christmas party. How should the reader address him now? The newspaper advised caution. Ihr Chef hat diese Entscheidung vielleicht nur aus einer Feierlaune heraus getroffen. Your boss may have made this decision only in a party mood. At the next meeting, wait and see. Bleibt Ihr Chef beim Duzen oder siezt er Sie wieder? Does your boss stay with du, or does he go back to Sie? If you have to speak to him first, use Sie.
Mail on Holiday
In August 2014 Daimler announced Mail on Holiday for its roughly 100,000 employees in Germany. Employees can have incoming e-mail deleted automatically while they are on holiday. The sender receives an automatic reply that names a contact person, and then the system deletes the mail. According to a Daimler spokeswoman, every employee, up to the level of manager, could use it.
The Ministry’s Own Rule
In August 2013 the Federal Ministry of Labor agreed new rules for its more than 1,100 employees. They may be disturbed in their free time only in begründeten Ausnahmefällen, in justified exceptional cases. Im Urlaub dürfen die Chefs ihre Untergebenen grundsätzlich nicht in Anspruch nehmen. During holidays, bosses may in principle not call on their subordinates. Employees who are not reachable in their free time are not to be disadvantaged. The year before, the minister, Ursula von der Leyen, had said: In der Freizeit sollte Funkstille herrschen. In free time there should be radio silence.
Eleven Hours of Rest
The Working Hours Act says that after the end of the working day, employees must have eine ununterbrochene Ruhezeit von mindestens elf Stunden, an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours. In 2023 the Federal Labor Court decided the case of a paramedic who was expected to read a text message about his next shift during his free time. The court held that an employee can have a duty to take note of instructions even in free time. Briefly reading such a message is not working time under the Working Hours Act. A general right to be unreachable is not written into German law.
Days of Rest and Spiritual Uplift
Article 139 of the Weimar Constitution of 11 August 1919 says: Der Sonntag und die staatlich anerkannten Feiertage bleiben als Tage der Arbeitsruhe und der seelischen Erhebung gesetzlich geschützt. Sundays and the public holidays recognized by the state remain protected by law as days of rest from work and of spiritual uplift. Through its Article 140, the Basic Law made this article part of today’s constitution.
A License to Lie
In a German job interview, questions about a pregnancy are not allowed. Questions about membership in a party or a union are not allowed either. Questions about a criminal record are allowed only in exceptional cases and within narrow limits. If an employer asks an inadmissible question anyway, the applicant may answer it untruthfully. The legal news site LTO calls this eine Lizenz zum Lügen, a license to lie. It rests on decisions of the European Court of Justice and the Federal Labor Court.