Germany Archives - Page 3 of 319

Advice Before the Insurance Policy

Before a German insurance contract is signed, the insurer must ask and advise. Section 6 of the Insurance Contract Act says that the insurer must question the customer nach seinen Wünschen und Bedürfnissen, about his wishes and needs. It must advise him. It must also state die Gründe für jeden zu einer bestimmten Versicherung erteilten Rat, the reasons for each piece of advice about a particular insurance. How much advice is needed depends on how hard the product is to judge and on the customer and his situation. The effort should also be in reasonable proportion to the premium.

The duty continues during the contract when the insurer can see a reason to ask. A customer can give up the advice only in a separate written declaration. The insurer must warn him that this can weaken a later claim for damages. An insurer that breaks the duty must pay for the damage, unless it is not at fault.

The Bond Ruling

In March 1989 a married couple sat down with an adviser at their Volksbank. They had been customers for more than 20 years. Their savings of about 55,000 marks were in safe products such as fixed deposits and federal savings bonds. A bonus savings contract of 20,000 marks had just matured. The adviser showed them a list from the bank’s own program. On 16 March 1989 they bought 20,000 marks’ worth of bonds of Bond-Finance Ltd., a company of the Australian Alan Bond group. A rating agency had already downgraded the bond to B. It became practically worthless.

On 6 July 1993 the Federal Court of Justice ruled for the couple (XI ZR 12/93). No one had signed an advice contract. The court found that one existed anyway. The bank had accepted it stillschweigend durch die Aufnahme des Beratungsgesprächs, tacitly, by starting the advice meeting. The advice had to be anlegergerecht, suited to the investor, and the product had to suit him as well. German lawyers call the case the Bondurteil, the Bond ruling.

The End of the Servant Laws

For a long time German household servants and farm hands lived under special laws, the Gesindeordnungen. In Prussia a royal decree of 29 September 1846 introduced the Gesindedienstbuch, the servant’s service book. A servant who changed employers had to buy the book from the police for 10 Silbergroschen. He had to show it to each new employer. A servant who refused could be dismissed, fined up to 2 Reichstaler or jailed. When he left, the employer wrote into the book ein vollständiges Zeugnis über die Führung und das Benehmen, a complete report on his conduct and behavior. A book issued on 17 November 1858, now in a district archive in Saxony-Anhalt, shows that its holder worked four times as a maid.

On 12 November 1918 the revolutionary government, the Rat der Volksbeauftragten, published an appeal to the German people. One point read: Die Gesindeordnungen werden außer Kraft gesetzt, ebenso die Ausnahmegesetze gegen die Landarbeiter. The servant laws are repealed, and so are the special laws against farm workers.

The Bow Called a Servant

Duden lists four meanings for Diener. The first is a man who works for pay in a private household. Duden’s example is ein livrierter Diener bediente die Gäste, a servant in livery served the guests. A stummer Diener, a silent servant, is a serving table.

The second and third meanings are marked as elevated language. A Diener can hold a public office, as in ein Diener der Kirche, des Staates, a servant of the church, of the state. He can also place himself freely under a cause and work for it, as in ein Diener der Wissenschaft, der Kunst, a servant of science, of art.

The fourth meaning is a bow, especially by boys. Einen Diener machen means to bow when greeting someone. Duden marks this meaning as veraltend, going out of use. It traces the bow to the old polite formula gehorsamster Diener!, most obedient servant.

We. Serve. Germany.

In summer 2011 the Bundeswehr started a large recruitment campaign. Its motto was Wir. Dienen. Deutschland. We. Serve. Germany. Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière had presented the slogan in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

In March 2013 the Schwäbische Zeitung reported on a panel with de Maizière and Archbishop Robert Zollitsch. The paper wrote that the word dienen sounds old-fashioned and suggests servility. De Maizière gave his own definition. Dienen ist der Einsatz für andere. To serve is to commit oneself for others.

The word is also part of the oath in Section 9 of the Soldiers Act. Ich schwöre, der Bundesrepublik Deutschland treu zu dienen und das Recht und die Freiheit des deutschen Volkes tapfer zu verteidigen, so wahr mir Gott helfe. I swear to serve the Federal Republic of Germany faithfully and to defend bravely the rights and the freedom of the German people, so help me God. The religious ending is optional.

On its 66th anniversary in November 2021, the Bundeswehr published a video under the same motto.

Servants of the Whole People

Section 60 of the Federal Civil Service Act lists the basic duties of a German civil servant. It begins with one sentence. Beamtinnen und Beamte dienen dem ganzen Volk, nicht einer Partei. Civil servants serve the whole people, not a party. The next sentence explains what this means. Sie haben ihre Aufgaben unparteiisch und gerecht zu erfüllen und ihr Amt zum Wohl der Allgemeinheit zu führen. They must carry out their tasks impartially and fairly, and they must conduct their office for the good of the general public.

The idea is older than the Federal Republic. Article 130 of the Weimar Constitution of 1919 said: Die Beamten sind Diener der Gesamtheit, nicht einer Partei. Civil servants are servants of the whole, not of a party.

The ID.3 Without Its Software

Volkswagen began delivering its electric ID.3 in September 2020. The first cars went to buyers in the ID.3 1st Mover Club. Some digital functions were not ready. App Connect, the link to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, was not active. Nor was the far range of the head-up display. According to Der Spiegel, the module for updates over the mobile network was also missing. VW promised a software update for the two missing functions early the next year. The update would require at least one visit to a workshop. For this reason, VW waived the first three lease payments for these buyers.

When the Date Is Essential

If a German supplier delivers late, the customer usually cannot withdraw from the contract at once. He must first set a reasonable further period. Section 323 of the Civil Code makes an exception. No further period is needed if the contract fixed a date or a deadline, and the customer told the supplier before signing that delivery on time was essential to him. The same applies if the circumstances of the deal made the date essential. Lateness alone does not end a German contract. The parties must have made clear in advance that the date itself matters.

No Right to Deliver in Parts

Section 266 of the German Civil Code has one sentence. Der Schuldner ist zu Teilleistungen nicht berechtigt. The debtor is not entitled to perform in parts. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the creditor may refuse a partial delivery and wait for the whole. The starting point of German contract law is that what was agreed is delivered complete.

Not Before the Agreed Time

Section 271 of the German Civil Code governs the time of performance. If no time has been set, the creditor can demand performance at once. If a time has been set, the second paragraph applies. Ist eine Zeit bestimmt, so ist im Zweifel anzunehmen, dass der Gläubiger die Leistung nicht vor dieser Zeit verlangen, der Schuldner aber sie vorher bewirken kann. If a time has been set, it is to be assumed, in case of doubt, that the creditor may not demand performance before that time, but the debtor may perform earlier. Once the date is agreed, the creditor waits. The debtor may deliver early.