On 10 July 2025 the Bundestag decided to set up a commission of inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic. It was constituted on 8 September 2025, with 14 members of parliament and 14 experts. Its task is to build an overall picture of the causes, course and consequences of the pandemic and of the state’s measures, and to draw lessons for future pandemics. Its final report is due by 30 June 2027. Its 28th session was scheduled for 21 September 2026.
Words for the Cause
der Grund — the ground, and also the reason. Aus welchem Grund? means for what reason, literally from what ground.
einer Sache auf den Grund gehen — to go to the ground of a matter, to investigate it to the bottom.
die Ursache — the cause. Ur means original, and Sache means the matter.
die Ursachenforschung — cause research, the investigation of why something happened. Die Ursachenforschung läuft, the search for the cause is under way, is a common line in news reports.
das Übel an der Wurzel packen — to grab the evil by the root.
Words for Working Without a Diagnosis
die Symptombekämpfung — fighting the symptoms. Das ist reine Symptombekämpfung, that is pure symptom-fighting, is a standard charge in political and business debate.
herumdoktern — to doctor around. DWDS: to try to heal with amateur methods, and more widely to try everything to get something working again.
an den Symptomen herumdoktern — to doctor around at the symptoms.
im Dunkeln tappen — to grope in the dark, to have no clear knowledge.
im Nebel stochern — to poke around in the fog.
auf gut Glück — on good luck, at random.
Words for Defining the Problem
der Ist-Zustand — the actual state, literally the is-state.
der Soll-Zustand — the target state, literally the should-state.
der Soll-Ist-Vergleich — the comparison of target and actual.
die Ausgangslage — the starting situation.
die Aufgabenstellung — the definition of the task.
das Thema abgrenzen — to delimit the topic, to state what lies outside it.
After the Ice Rink Roof Fell
On 2 January 2006 the roof of the ice rink in Bad Reichenhall collapsed. Fifteen people died, twelve of them children and young people. In September 2006 the conference of state building ministers adopted guidance on checking the structural safety of buildings. The engineering guideline VDI 6200 grew out of it and appeared in February 2010. It covers buildings of all kinds except transport structures. It requires operators to keep a building logbook, and certified experts must carry out the inspections. Each building is placed in a class according to the consequences its failure would have.
Smoke Alarms, One State at a Time
In 2003 Rhineland-Palatinate changed its state building code to require smoke alarms in homes. The other states followed one by one. Berlin was the last, on 9 June 2016. Its rule applied to new and converted buildings from 2017, with a transition period for existing homes until 2020. From then on, the duty was written into the building law of all 16 states. At that time Saxony was the only state without a duty for existing apartments.
The Deposit That Started Itself
In 1991 Environment Minister Klaus Töpfer put the packaging ordinance into force. It contained a rule designed to act on its own. If the share of reusable drink containers fell below its 1991 level of 72 percent, and a second count confirmed it, a deposit on one-way containers would follow. Germans call this the Pfandautomatismus, the deposit automatism. In 1997 the share fell just below 72 percent. After the confirming count and a long political fight, the deposit applied from 1 January 2003.
Containment First, Then the Permanent Fix
In its rules for 8D reports, Hella, a German supplier of lighting and electronics for cars, sets out how its own suppliers must answer a complaint about a defective part. The 8D report first asks for Sofortmaßnahmen, immediate measures. These apply to the part under complaint, they are temporary, and the supplier must check their effectiveness constantly. Corrective measures come next. They must ensure that a defect does not occur a second time, and the long-term measures should stop the problem permanently and reliably. A final check confirms that the measures were carried out for good. The German verb in Hella’s rule is abstellen, to remove a defect, and here it must be removed dauerhaft und verlässlich, permanently and reliably.
A Rule That Was Provisional From the Start
In March 2015 a Germanwings plane crashed, and all 150 people on board died. On 27 March the German aviation association BDL announced a provisional procedure. From then on, two authorized crew members always had to be in the cockpit. The airlines introduced the rule as a Sofortmaßnahme, an immediate measure. In April 2017 the association reported the result of its evaluation. The two-person rule had brought no gain in safety, and opening the cockpit door more often created additional risks. From June 2017 at the latest, a pilot could again be alone in the cockpit. Instead, the airlines pledged that doctors examining pilots would pay closer attention to psychological and psychiatric aspects.
The Constructive Vote of No Confidence
In the Weimar Republic, extreme forces on the left and the right could bring down a government together without agreeing on a successor. The authors of the Basic Law wanted to avoid exactly this error. Under Article 67, the Bundestag can express its lack of confidence in the chancellor only by electing a successor with the majority of its members. Forty-eight hours must pass between the motion and the vote. The procedure has been used twice. In April 1972 it failed against Willy Brandt. In October 1982 it succeeded, and Helmut Kohl replaced Helmut Schmidt.