A German who promises to pay another person’s debt must give that promise in writing. Section 766 of the Civil Code says: Zur Gültigkeit des Bürgschaftsvertrags ist schriftliche Erteilung der Bürgschaftserklärung erforderlich. For the guarantee to be valid, the guarantor must give his declaration in writing. An e-mail is not enough. The same section excludes the electronic form. In a judgment of 17 February 2000, the Federal Court of Justice described the purpose. The form requirement soll den Bürgen warnen und vor nicht ausreichend überlegten Erklärungen sichern. It is meant to warn the guarantor and to protect him from a declaration he has not thought through. Merchants are the exception. Under Section 350 of the Commercial Code, a guarantee that is part of their business is valid without the written form.
The Members Decide
In April 2025 the SPD put its coalition agreement with the CDU and CSU to a vote of its members. Of those who voted, 84.6 percent approved. Turnout was 56 percent. The party had done the same before. In 2013, 76 percent approved. In 2018, 66 percent approved, despite a campaign against the coalition organized by the head of the party’s youth wing, Kevin Kühnert.
Working Toward Agreement
In German custody and contact cases, the court is to work toward agreement between the parties at every stage of the proceedings, unless this is against the child’s welfare. The section of the law is headed Hinwirken auf Einvernehmen, working toward agreement. If the parents agree on contact and the court approves it, the agreement becomes a gerichtlich gebilligter Vergleich, a settlement approved by the court.
The reform of 2009 drew heavily on the Cochemer Modell, a practice developed in Cochem. Publications from Cochem reported no contested decisions on custody and contact there between 1996 and 1999. A 2009 presentation hosted by the German Youth Institute notes that there is no valid evaluation of the Cochem model, only the court’s own publications.
Union by Decree, Fellowship by Consent
In 1817 King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia called for a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches. In February 1822 he ordered a common liturgy. The Old Lutherans rejected both. Pastors were suspended, and in 1834 the minister Altenstein asked for military help. In 1837 and 1838 nearly 2,000 Old Lutherans emigrated. Only in 1845 did the next king allow them their own congregations.
On 16 March 1973 Lutheran, Reformed and United churches agreed on the Leuenberg Concord. They granted each other fellowship at the pulpit and at the Lord’s Supper. Die Konkordie lässt die verpflichtende Geltung der Bekenntnisse in den beteiligten Kirchen bestehen. The concord leaves the binding force of each church’s confession in place.
Dictate Instead of Compromise
On 26 June 2023 Germany’s minimum wage commission decided to raise the minimum wage twice by 41 cents, to 12.41 euros in 2024 and 12.82 euros in 2025. For the first time, the commission did not decide by consensus. The union side voted against. The chair, Christiane Schönefeld, used her vote, and her mediation proposal passed.
Steffen Kampeter of the employers’ federation BDA regretted that for the first time a decision had not been made im Konsens. The union federation DGB headed its article Mindestlohn: Diktat statt Kompromiss. Minimum wage: dictate instead of compromise. In June 2025 the commission decided unanimously again.
The Crucifix Ruling
In a decision dated 16 May 1995 and published on 10 August, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that Bavaria’s rule on crucifixes in classrooms was incompatible with freedom of belief under the Basic Law, and void.
On 23 September 1995 a crowd protested against the ruling on Munich’s Odeonsplatz. Sources put it at anywhere from 20,000 to more than 30,000 people. Bavaria’s premier, Edmund Stoiber, said: Kreuze gehören zu Bayern wie Berge. Crosses belong to Bavaria like mountains.
In December 1995 Bavaria passed a new law. Angesichts der geschichtlichen und kulturellen Prägung Bayerns wird in jedem Klassenraum ein Kreuz angebracht. In view of Bavaria’s historical and cultural character, a cross is put up in every classroom. Parents may object on serious grounds of belief. The head teacher must then seek a gütliche Einigung, an amicable agreement.
A Peace of Understanding
On 19 July 1917, during the First World War, the Reichstag passed a peace resolution. Der Reichstag erstrebt einen Frieden der Verständigung und der dauernden Versöhnung der Völker. The Reichstag seeks a peace of understanding and of lasting reconciliation between the peoples. Mit einem solchen Frieden sind erzwungene Gebietserwerbungen und politische, wirtschaftliche oder finanzielle Vergewaltigungen unvereinbar. Forced gains of territory and political, economic or financial coercion are incompatible with such a peace.
The resolution came from the Centre Party, the Progressive People’s Party and the Social Democrats. Chancellor Michaelis accepted it only wie ich sie auffasse, as I understand it.
No Majority in Matters of Faith
The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 set a rule for religious disputes in the Holy Roman Empire. In matters of religion, and whenever the Catholic and the Protestant estates separated into two groups, soll allein gütlicher Vergleich die Streitigkeiten schlichten, ohne Rücksicht auf die Stimmenmehrheit. Only an amicable settlement shall decide the disputes, without regard to the majority of votes. The Latin text calls it amicabilis compositio.
The separation into two groups was called itio in partes. As a result, the Protestant minority could not be outvoted at the Imperial Diet in religious questions.
Compensation for Delay
In September 2010 the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case Rumpf v. Germany. Mr. Rumpf’s case before German courts had taken 13 years and 5 months. The court saw a structural problem and found similar violations in 70 further cases.
Germany responded with a law in force since 3 December 2011. Anyone who suffers a disadvantage from the unreasonable length of a court case receives compensation. For non-material harm it is, as a rule, 1,200 euros for each year of delay. First the party must complain about the delay to the court itself, with a Verzögerungsrüge.
The law treats this kind of waiting as a harm to be paid for.
Wait and See
Abwarten und Tee trinken. — Wait and drink tea. Be patient and let things develop.
Es wird nichts so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird. — Nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked. Things calm down before anyone has to act.