In 2023, 70 percent of medical practices in a survey by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) reported patients who book appointments and do not come. KBV chief Andreas Gassen estimates that 10 to 20 percent of booked appointments are not kept. He has called for a fee, paid by the health insurers. In 2025 a spokesman for the pediatricians, Jakob Maske, demanded up to 100 euros per missed appointment. Es ist nicht mehr zu akzeptieren, dass Patienten Termine verbindlich vereinbaren und diese nicht wahrnehmen. It is no longer acceptable that patients make binding appointments and do not keep them.
You Cannot Be Careful Enough
A classic survey question asks whether most people can be trusted or whether one cannot be careful enough. In an Ipsos survey of January 2026, 46 percent said one cannot be careful enough. Only 21 percent said most people can be trusted, and 32 percent gave no clear answer. These figures concern trust in other people in general, not in colleagues. In 2009 the DIW, using data from the Socio-Economic Panel, found that about 14 percent of Germans have high trust in other people, just under half medium trust and about 40 percent rather low trust.
Blooming Landscapes
On 1 July 1990, the day of the currency union, Chancellor Helmut Kohl spoke on television about the eastern states. Durch eine gemeinsame Anstrengung wird es uns gelingen, through a joint effort we will succeed, in turning them schon bald wieder in blühende Landschaften, soon into blooming landscapes again, where it is worth living and working. In 1991 he said he was more convinced than ever that this would happen within three to four years. The phrase was later used ironically, and the journalist Klaus Wiegrefe wrote of Kohls Lüge von den blühenden Landschaften, Kohl’s lie of the blooming landscapes.
Kept After Relegation
In the 2014/15 season, SC Freiburg finished 17th and was relegated from the Bundesliga. The club kept its coach, Christian Streich. One season later, Freiburg came back up as second-division champions. The Bundesliga’s own website later wrote: Dieses Vertrauen machte sich rückblickend mehr als bezahlbar. In hindsight, this trust more than paid off. Streich stayed head coach for twelve years. When he announced his departure in 2024, he spoke of 29 years at the club.
Faithful in the Least
In the Gospel of Luke, in Luther’s translation: Wer im Geringsten treu ist, der ist auch im Großen treu; und wer im Geringsten ungerecht ist, der ist auch im Großen ungerecht. Whoever is faithful in the least is faithful also in much, and whoever is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. The next verse asks: wer wird euch das wahre Gut anvertrauen? who will entrust you with the true riches?
Late, But You Came
Friedrich Schiller’s play Die Piccolomini, first performed in Weimar on 30 January 1799, opens with a greeting. Spät kommt Ihr – Doch Ihr kommt! You come late, but you come! The line became a common German saying. It is said, half as a reproach and half as a welcome, to someone who arrives late.
A Promise Kept at 89
Henry Kissinger was born in Fürth, and his family fled Germany in 1938. He had promised to come and watch the local football club, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, once it reached the Bundesliga. In September 2012, at the age of 89, he came to Fürth’s home game against Schalke 04. Der 89-Jährige hielt sich nun an den Ehrenkodex: ein Mann, ein Wort, wrote Der Spiegel. The 89-year-old kept to the code of honor, one man, one word.
On Time Matters as Much as Quality
In a survey of 1,008 people for Bosch Power Tools, reported in February 2025, respondents said what matters most when choosing a craftsman. The quality of the work was important or most important for 86.7 percent. Termintreue, keeping agreed dates, followed with 86 percent. Transparent costs came next, with 83.3 percent.
Trust Anticipates the Future
In 1968 the sociologist Niklas Luhmann published Vertrauen, trust, which describes trust as a mechanism for reducing social complexity. The Tagesspiegel quoted him in 2008: Wer Vertrauen erweist, nimmt Zukunft vorweg. Whoever shows trust anticipates the future. The newspaper added: Wenn auch als riskante Vorleistung, even if as a risky advance.
Reliable in Agreements
In a 2018 survey by Appinio for the publisher Murmann, 1,000 people in Germany could name up to two things they most want from a boss. The top answer was Vertraut mir, trusts me, with 32.9 percent. Second came Ist verlässlich in Absprachen, is reliable in agreements, with 32.4 percent. Having new ideas got 9.0 percent. In a StepStone survey of about 14,000 professionals and managers in November 2018, 77 percent of professionals agreed with Wir können uns aufeinander verlassen, we can rely on each other.