Erbstück. German households pass down furniture, tools, kitchenware and machines across generations, and the word for such a piece marks it as inherited rather than merely old. The object was bought once, by somebody else, and is still working.
The master’s workshop
Die Meisterwerkstatt. German repair businesses are led by a Meister, registered with the chamber, and the qualification is a condition of operating independently in many trades. The person who mends the thing is certified to the same standard as the person who made it.
The right to repair
European right-to-repair legislation, strongly supported in Germany, requires manufacturers to make spare parts, tools and repair information available to independent repairers for specified periods. Repairability became a legal property of the product.
Repair
German towns sustain repair trades — cobblers, watchmakers, appliance technicians, tailors — and taking a thing to be mended is ordinary rather than eccentric. The object is assumed to be worth more than the repair costs.
Spare parts supply
Ersatzteilversorgung. German manufacturers commit to supplying spare parts for long periods after production ends, and EU ecodesign rules now require it for several product categories with minimum durations specified. The product is expected to outlive the production line that made it.
The vocabulary of reliability
Zuverlässig — reliable, from sich verlassen auf, to rely upon. The same word is used of a machine and of a person, and it is among the strongest compliments in German for either.
Es läuft — it runs. Said of a machine, a process or a business, and it means everything is as it should be.
Da kann nichts passieren — nothing can happen there. The German assurance, and it is stated absolutely.
Maintenance
Wartung. German equipment comes with a maintenance schedule, and service contracts covering it are normal for machinery, lifts, heating systems and vehicles. Reliability is not treated as a property of the object. It is treated as something maintained.
The rating plate
Das Typenschild. German products carry a rating plate: manufacturer, model, serial number, technical values, standards met. The object identifies itself, permanently, so that it can be traced back long after the paperwork is gone.
The testing foundation
Stiftung Warentest. A foundation established by the federal government in 1964 that tests consumer products and publishes comparative results with numerical grades. It takes no advertising. A poor grade is commercially serious, and a good one appears on packaging for years.
The recall
Die Rückrufaktion. German recalls are published by the Federal Motor Transport Authority and by the market surveillance system for consumer products, with the defect named. The failure becomes a public record attached to the manufacturer.