German rent law measures rents against a derived figure, the ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete, the local comparative rent. Section 558 of the Civil Code defines it. It is formed from the usual rents agreed or changed in the last six years for housing of comparable type, size, equipment, condition and location. Towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants must publish a rent index, a Mietspiegel. A qualified rent index must be prepared according to recognized scientific principles. In areas with a tight housing market, the rent for a new lease may exceed the local comparative rent by no more than 10 percent. This Mietpreisbremse, the rent brake, may apply until the end of 2029. A landlord who exploits a shortage to charge more than 20 percent above the comparative rent commits an administrative offense. The fine can reach 50,000 euros.
Goethe on Double-Entry Bookkeeping
In the first book of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, published in 1795 and 1796, the young merchant Werner praises the account book. Welche Vorteile gewährt die doppelte Buchhaltung dem Kaufmanne! Es ist eine der schönsten Erfindungen des menschlichen Geistes. What advantages double-entry bookkeeping gives the merchant! It is one of the finest inventions of the human mind. Werner adds that every good householder should use it in his own household. Wilhelm answers with irony. People busy with Addieren und Bilanzieren, adding and balancing, forget das eigentliche Fazit des Lebens, the real sum of life.
Prices for Public Contracts
Since 21 November 1953, a federal regulation has governed the prices of public contracts in Germany. It is called Verordnung PR Nr. 30/53. Its first rule is that market prices come first. Where no market price can be established, or where competition among suppliers is restricted, the state and the supplier may agree a cost-based price, a Selbstkostenpreis. Such a price must be based on the supplier’s appropriate costs. An annex sets out how to find them, the Leitsätze für die Preisermittlung auf Grund von Selbstkosten. Its chapters list the parts of the price one by one: materials, wages and other personnel costs, depreciation, interest, risks, and finally a calculated profit. The price authorities of the states may audit the price and inspect the supplier’s documents. A revised version took effect on 1 April 2022.
The Time Study
On 30 September 1924, the Reichsausschuß für Arbeitszeitermittlung, the Reich Committee for Determining Working Time, was founded. It is known by its initials, REFA. Its early task was to measure working time for cost calculations and for piece-rate work. REFA trained Zeitnehmer, time takers. By 1929 REFA had trained 1,650 time takers, and by 1943 about 12,000. The association still exists and still trains people in work-time study.
What a Craftsman’s Hour Costs
In 2023 the Chamber of Crafts in Mannheim published a flyer on what a craftsman’s hour costs. Its business adviser Rolf Koch encouraged craftsmen to hand it to their customers. The flyer takes apart the hourly rate of a metalworking shop. The journeyman’s gross wage is 21.50 euros. Then come social costs set by law and by collective agreement, operating overhead, the owner’s own pay, and a surcharge of 3.59 euros for the owner’s risk and profit. With 19 percent VAT, the hour costs 76.58 euros. The flyer calls this the lower price limit. Koch’s comment was blunt: Darunter kann der Betrieb nicht, sonst muss der Chef weniger essen. The shop cannot go below this, or the boss has to eat less.
What the Car Is Worth
A German who sells a used car often asks first what the car is worth nach Schwacke. The Schwacke list first appeared on 15 November 1957. It gives the residual value of used vehicles by model, year, equipment and mileage, independent of the condition of the single car. People call it simply Schwacke. Banks use it to decide how much they will lend against a car. The Deutsche Automobil Treuhand, the DAT, was founded in 1931 by the associations of the car industry and the car trade. It also publishes used-car valuations and forecasts of residual values.
Penny’s True Prices
For one week from 31 July 2023, the discount supermarket Penny charged wahre Preise, true prices, for nine of its more than 3,000 products. Scientists from the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg and the University of Greifswald had calculated the prices. They added the costs that food production causes for soil, climate, water and health. Maasdamer cheese became 94 percent more expensive. Vienna sausages became 88 percent more expensive. A vegan schnitzel rose by only 5 percent. Penny said it would give the extra revenue to a project for climate protection and family farms in the Alpine region.
Pain by the Table
Section 253 of the Civil Code gives an injured person eine billige Entschädigung in Geld, fair compensation in money, for pain and suffering. To find the amount, German lawyers and judges consult Schmerzensgeldtabellen. These are published collections of earlier judgments, sorted by injury. One legal journal calls them an indispensable aid. They help courts treat similar cases alike, but they do not bind them. The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt once went further. It calculated the sum day by day, at about 150 euros for each day in intensive care and 60 euros for each day in a rehabilitation clinic. It reached 200,000 euros for a driver who had lost his lower leg. On 15 February 2022, the Federal Court of Justice set the judgment aside. Such a count, it said, leaves out essential circumstances of the case. Pain and suffering need a view of all the circumstances together.
Fees That May Not Exceed Costs
German towns charge their residents fees for water, wastewater and waste collection. These fees are calculated, and the law limits the result. The municipal levies law of North Rhine-Westphalia says the expected fee revenue should not exceed the expected costs of the facility. The costs are those that may be counted under business accounting principles. If a town collects more than its costs, it must offset the surplus in the fees of the following years. Kostenüberdeckungen am Ende eines Kalkulationszeitraumes sind innerhalb der nächsten vier Jahre auszugleichen. A surplus at the end of a calculation period must be balanced within the next four years. The principle is called the Kostendeckungsprinzip, the cost-coverage principle.
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.