Wetten, dass..?, ZDF’s big Saturday-night show, was famous for running over its airtime. Frank Elstner overran the very first show by 43 minutes, and overrunning became a hallmark of the program. Thomas Gottschalk set the record in December 1996 in Hanover, with 73 minutes. Up to the summer show of 2011, the overruns added up to 3,851 minutes. Gottschalk’s last show, on 25 November 2023, ran only five minutes over the planned end.
The Wedding Slot
The registry office of Hagen gives couples a sheet before their wedding. It asks them to arrive about 20 minutes before the ceremony, and it asks the couple and their guests to be punctual. The reason is the next couple. In most cases further weddings follow, and every couple wants to keep its own time that day. Verspätungen verkürzen ansonsten leider Ihre eigentliche Zeitspanne der Trauung. Otherwise, lateness unfortunately shortens the time of your own ceremony.
Finished by Midnight
The articles of a German stock corporation may allow the chair of the shareholders’ meeting to limit how long shareholders speak and ask questions. In 2010 the Federal Court of Justice upheld such a clause. Under it, the chair may limit speaking time so that the meeting lasts no longer than six hours when only routine items are voted on, and no longer than ten hours otherwise. Each contribution may be limited to 15 minutes, or to 10 minutes if at least three more speakers are waiting. At 22:30 the chair may close the debate. The court explained the timing. In the legislator’s view, an ordinary meeting should be completed in four to six hours. And a meeting called for one day, the court added, regelmäßig um Mitternacht des Einberufungstages beendet sein sollte, should as a rule be finished by midnight of that day.
No Extra Time
In Saxony-Anhalt, the written papers of the first state exam in law should begin as exactly as possible at 9 a.m. The working time ends exactly five hours after the supervisor starts it. Dies gilt auch für Prüflinge, die erst nach dem Beginn der Bearbeitungszeit eintreffen. This also applies to candidates who arrive after the start. Writing after the end is not allowed and is noted in the record. A paper handed in late is marked ungenügend, insufficient, with 0 points. If this happens again in another paper of the same exam period, the whole exam counts as failed.
Thirty-Seven Seconds
In the Bundesliga, a late kickoff is a case for the DFB sports court. A club whose team causes the delay is fined for verspätetes Antreten, late appearance for a match. The fine follows a fixed table, by the number of offenses and the length of the delay. According to ZDF, a third offense of 30 to 120 seconds costs 15,000 euros, and the highest fine in the Bundesliga table is 80,000 euros. On 26 April 2025, Bayern Munich played Mainz. The team finished the equipment check at 15:27:00 instead of 15:25:30, and the kickoff was 37 seconds late. It was the seventh late kickoff for which Bayern was responsible. The fine was 35,000 euros.
Running Over
überziehen — to run over the agreed time. Die Redezeit überziehen, to run over one’s speaking time. Das Meeting hat überzogen, the meeting ran over. It is the same verb as overdrawing a bank account.
auf den letzten Drücker — at the very last moment.
Kommen Sie bitte zum Schluss — please come to the end. This is the chair’s standard phrase in parliaments and meetings.
Ihre Redezeit ist abgelaufen — your speaking time is up.
Late on the Report Card
Hamburg’s school rules require reports to list the days and lessons a pupil missed, marked excused or unexcused. Some schools also count lateness. At the Gymnasium Eppendorf in Hamburg the rule is short: Unentschuldigte Verspätungen werden im Zeugnis vermerkt. Unexcused lateness is noted on the report card. At the city’s Wilhelm-Gymnasium, teachers record every late arrival the pupil is responsible for. Delays in public transport do not count. More than three such cases appear on the report.
What Schools Should Teach
In a study published in 2019, the Allensbach Institute asked Germans for the Roland Berger Foundation what secondary schools should teach. Spelling and grammar came first, with 80 percent, and general knowledge second, with 76 percent. In third place came Pünktlichkeit, Zuverlässigkeit, punctuality and reliability, with 66 percent. English followed with 63 percent.
Ready for an Apprenticeship
In 2006 the partners of Germany’s national pact for vocational training approved a list of criteria for Ausbildungsreife, readiness for an apprenticeship. The Federal Employment Agency published it, and career advisers use it to judge whether a school-leaver is ready to start training. Under the criterion of reliability, the first sign is this: Sie/er erscheint pünktlich zum vereinbarten Termin (Unterricht, Praktikum, Beratungsgespräch). He or she arrives on time for the agreed appointment, whether a class, an internship or a guidance interview.
Knigge on Keeping the Hour
Adolph Knigge’s Über den Umgang mit Menschen, On Dealing with People, first appeared in 1788. In the first chapter of later editions, Knigge tells his reader: Sei streng gegen dich selbst, pünktlich, ordentlich, arbeitsam, fleißig in Deinem Berufe! Be strict with yourself, punctual, orderly, hardworking, diligent in your profession. He gives a reason. Everyone likes to deal and do business with a person whose punctuality in word and deed can be relied on. Then he goes further. Be exactly where you mean to appear, at the set and proper hour, und wärst Du auch der einzige, der diese Ordnung beobachtet, even if you are the only one who keeps this order.