In 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic, several members of the Bundestag and of state parliaments from the CDU and CSU arranged deals for protective masks and received commissions. Georg Nüßlein of the CSU is said to have received 660,000 euros. Nikolas Löbel of the CDU said he had received 250,000 euros. In 2022, in the case of Nüßlein and another CSU politician, the Federal Court of Justice found that this was not bribery under existing law. Closing the gap was a matter for the legislature. Since 18 June 2024, Section 108f of the Criminal Code has made it an offence for members of parliament to demand or accept an unjustified financial advantage in return for acting, during their term, on behalf of someone else’s interests.
Paid to Make Contacts
In 2022 Patricia Schlesinger, director of the public broadcaster rbb, was accused of nepotism, Vetternwirtschaft. Among the allegations was an adviser paid at a daily rate of 1,000 euros to connect her with important figures in the capital. She resigned in August 2022, and the rbb board then dismissed her without notice.
Only by Nomination
Mitglied wird man nur auf Vorschlag, one becomes a member only by nomination, a 2011 dpa report said of the Rotary clubs. A former Rotary district governor in Württemberg, Rudolf Lachenmann, said that Rotary relationships should be used for humanitarian purposes, not for personal advantage. He did not want to deny that business agreements also arise this way.
Ask Your Friends
In a 2025 survey by the digital association Bitkom, 97 percent of people who had looked for a flat or house in the past five years had used information from friends and acquaintances. Online channels came second, at 87 percent, led by property portals at 81 percent. Die Wohnungssuche ist längst hybrid, said Bitkom’s Nastassja Hofmann. Wir klicken und scrollen – und fragen trotzdem noch Freundinnen und Freunde. The search for a home has long been hybrid. We click and scroll, and still ask our friends. The figure shows how many used such tips, not how many found a home that way.
Under the Counter
Bückware — stooping goods. In the GDR, the word meant goods that were scarce locally and could be had only by exchange or through personal connections between seller and customer. They were sold only on request or to acquaintances. The name comes from bending down, literally or figuratively, to fetch goods kept under the counter.
The Cologne Klüngel
In Cologne, Klüngel names a system of favors done on a basis of mutual help. German Wikipedia notes that in everyday Cologne usage the word is also meant positively. The saying Mer kennt sich, mer hilft sich, we know each other, we help each other, is attributed to Konrad Adenauer. In 1977 the new chief city administrator, Kurt Rossa, introduced himself to the city council with the words Nehmt mich auf in Euren Klüngel!, take me into your Klüngel! In April 2018 the supervisory board of the Cologne municipal utility proposed a council politician for a new, well-paid managing director post, without a public tender. After the mayor intervened and public criticism grew, the board called off the vote.
Lex Abs
Hermann Josef Abs of Deutsche Bank held up to 30 supervisory board seats, 20 of them as chairman. When the Stock Corporation Act was revised in 1965, the number of seats one person may hold was limited to ten. In popular speech, the rule was called the Lex Abs. It still stands in Section 100 of the Act, and chairmanships count double.
The Triple Jumper Who Sued for His Place
The triple jumper Charles Friedek was not nominated for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The German Olympic Sports Confederation said he had not jumped 17 meters in two competitions. Friedek sued for damages. In 2015 the Federal Court of Justice found that the nomination guidelines did not require the 17 meters to be reached in two different competitions. A monopoly association, the court said, is verpflichtet, diese Leistungen jedem zu gewähren, der die Voraussetzungen für die Leistungsgewährung erfüllt, obliged to grant these benefits to everyone who meets the conditions.
A Job Through Jachmann
In Hans Fallada’s novel Kleiner Mann – was nun?, published by Rowohlt in 1932, the clerk Johannes Pinneberg loses his job. In Berlin, Jachmann, the lover of Pinneberg’s mother, gets him a position as a men’s clothing salesman in the Mandel department store. There a consultant introduces a compulsory sales quota. Pinneberg falls behind it, and a customer’s complaint is used as the reason to dismiss him.
Buying Your Way In
Kir Royal, Helmut Dietl’s series about Munich society, first aired on 22 September 1986. The glue manufacturer Heinrich Haffenloher, played by Mario Adorf, wants to appear in the gossip column. He tells the reporter Baby Schimmerlos: Ich scheiß’ dich sowas von zu mit meinem Geld, dass du keine ruhige Minute mehr hast. I will bury you in so much of my money that you will never have a quiet minute again.