German office paper follows a standard set in 1922. Walter Porstmann proposed it, and the standards committee founded in 1917 adopted it. Size A0 is exactly one square meter. The sides stand in the ratio of 1 to the square root of 2. Every smaller size comes from halving the one before, so a sheet of A4 is one sixteenth of a square meter. In everyday German, DIN A4 simply means an ordinary sheet of paper. The German standard later became the basis of the international standard ISO 216.
The Vocabulary of Correct Work
in Ordnung — in order. The everyday word for acceptable, fine, all right.
Das passt. — That fits. It means that something is right.
haargenau — exact to the hair.
auf den Millimeter genau — exact to the millimeter.
mehr schlecht als recht — more badly than rightly. Barely adequate, said with disapproval.
alle fünfe gerade sein lassen — to let all fives be even. To let something slide and not be strict. People say it of an exception they allow.
Not Yet a Swimmer
The entry-level swimming badge in Germany is the Seepferdchen, the seahorse. The requirements are fixed. The child jumps in from the edge of the pool and swims 25 meters, brings up an object from shoulder-deep water with the hands, and knows the pool rules. The German Life Saving Association, the DLRG, adds a warning. Das Seepferdchen ist noch kein Nachweis des sicheren Schwimmens. The seahorse is not yet proof of safe swimming. Only with the bronze badge does a child count as a sicherer Schwimmer, a safe swimmer.
Legal Time
In Germany the time of day is a matter of law. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, the federal institute of metrology in Braunschweig, is responsible for distributing the exact legal time. A long-wave transmitter at Mainflingen near Hanau broadcasts its signal, DCF77, about 2,000 kilometers. It sets radio clocks, station clocks and many clocks in industry. According to a 2007 report, the most accurate of the institute’s clocks deviates from an ideal clock by at most one millionth of a second in a year. After the clock change in October 2025, the institute said: Wir haben alles kontrolliert, es ging reibungslos. We checked everything, it went smoothly.
When Goods Are Free of Defects
Section 434 of the German Civil Code defines when goods are free of defects. Since January 1, 2022, they must meet three sets of requirements. The subjective requirements are those agreed in the contract. The objective requirements apply unless the parties have validly agreed otherwise. The goods must be fit for ordinary use and have the quality that is üblich, usual, for goods of the same kind. The third set covers assembly. Delivering the wrong item also counts as a defect. The new wording implements an EU directive. It is the legal rule behind a Reklamation, a complaint about faulty goods in a shop.
A product can match the contract and still be defective.
Minor Defects Only
Every German car must pass the Hauptuntersuchung, the main inspection, at regular intervals. Section 29 of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulation sets the rule. The inspection sticker may be issued only if the car meets the requirements. The one exception is a car with geringe Mängel, minor defects, if prompt repair can be expected. If defects are found, the old sticker stays valid for one more month so that they can be repaired. The inspectors place every defect in a class: geringe, erhebliche or gefährliche Mängel, minor, significant or dangerous defects. A car can also be found verkehrsunsicher, unsafe for traffic. The best result is ohne Mangel, without defect.
Sufficient, With Defects
German report cards use six grades. Their definitions are written into state school law, for example in North Rhine-Westphalia. Each grade measures the work against die Anforderungen, the requirements. Sehr gut (1) means the work meets them to a special degree. Gut (2) means it meets them fully. Befriedigend (3) means it meets them in general. Ausreichend (4), sufficient, is the lowest pass. It is work that zwar Mängel aufweist, aber im Ganzen den Anforderungen noch entspricht, that has defects but still meets the requirements as a whole. Mangelhaft (5), defective, means that the requirements are not met. The grade names go back to a resolution of the Conference of Education Ministers of October 3, 1968.
The Fill Line
With a few exceptions, such as coffee, tea and mixed drinks, every glass served in a German bar or restaurant must carry a fill line, sometimes several. Germans call it the Eichstrich, the calibration line. Its correct name is Füllstrich. It marks exactly how much the customer has paid for, and the foam does not count. If the drink stops below the line, the guest may complain. The guest can ask for the missing beer to be poured or refuse the glass. The rule rests on the federal Measurement and Calibration Act and its ordinance.
Measuring the Maß
At the Munich Oktoberfest, inspectors from the city’s district administration office check the beer every day, taking samples in every tent. At least four minutes must pass between pouring and measuring, so that the foam can settle. A shortfall of up to 15 millimeters below the fill line is tolerated. In 2022 the office checked 825 one-liter mugs. Just over 31 percent were underfilled. The tent operators and the pourers are held responsible. In 2012 a consumer group, the Verein gegen betrügerisches Einschenken, the Association Against Fraudulent Pouring, demanded that the tolerance be abolished.