Services Archives - Page 12 of 13

As Punctual as the Railway

Pünktlich wie die Eisenbahn, as punctual as the railway, is an old German phrase of praise. Today it is mostly said with irony. In 2025 only 60.1 percent of Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains arrived on time, according to figures first reported by Bild am Sonntag. In 2015 the share had been 74.4 percent. By the railway’s own definition, a train is late from six minutes of delay. For 2026, the head of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, hoped to reach at least 60 percent.

The irony only works because the old standard is still expected.

Authority in Front of the Name

A German business letter often shows, in front of the signature, how far the signer’s authority reaches. i. A., im Auftrag, means on instruction. The signer carries out a task but has no power of attorney. i. V., in Vertretung, means acting as a representative, with power of attorney. ppa., per procura, marks a Prokurist, who holds the broad commercial power of attorney of German law. The Commercial Code requires it: the Prokurist must sign with an addition that shows the Prokura.

The Vocabulary of Rushing

Mit heißer Nadel gestrickt — knitted with a hot needle. It is said of a law or a program that was made in a hurry. A newspaper wrote in 2007: Offenbar ist das Programm zum raschen Stellenabbau mit heißer Nadel genäht worden. (Evidently the program for fast job cuts was sewn with a hot needle.)

Hauruckverfahren — the heave-ho method. DWDS defines it as hasty, reckless action. A CDU politician said in 2006: Ein Ding, das für Jahrzehnte gelten soll, muss nicht im Hauruckverfahren entschieden werden. (A thing that is meant to last for decades does not have to be decided by the heave-ho method.)

Blinder Aktionismus — blind actionism. Duden defines Aktionismus as an exaggerated urge to be active, and notes that the word is often critical.

Generalstabsmäßig — like a general staff. Duden defines it as with military care and precision. Duden gives it no critical label. Its example is a bank robbery planned like a general staff operation.

Erst wägen, dann wagen — first weigh, then venture. It is the motto on a cast-iron wall relief of Helmuth von Moltke in uniform, made in Ilsenburg in 1891.

Gut geplant ist halb gewonnen — well planned is half won.

The Elbphilharmonie

Hamburg’s concert hall on the Elbe was first planned to be finished in 2010. The city’s share of the cost was first calculated at 77 million euros. In the end, construction cost about 866 million euros, and the first concerts took place on 11 January 2017. A committee of inquiry of the Hamburg parliament examined what had gone wrong. It found that when the work was put out to tender in 2006 and the contract was signed in 2007, the planning noch nicht weit genug fortgeschritten gewesen, had not yet advanced far enough.

Recognized Rules of Technology

German construction contracts measure work against the allgemein anerkannte Regeln der Technik, the generally recognized rules of technology. Work counts as free of defects only if it has the agreed quality and follows these rules. A rule counts as recognized only when the great majority of technical experts hold it. It must also have proven itself in practice, not only in science: sich auch praktisch bewährt. For this reason, the standard takes up new methods late. A builder who departs from it carries the risk, because a departure is generally treated as a defect. A new building product with no recognized rule behind it needs a general approval from the German Institute for Building Technology before it may be used.

In November 2024, the federal cabinet approved a draft law for a Gebäudetyp E, a building type for simple and experimental building. Under the draft, in contracts between expert businesses, a departure from the recognized rules would no longer count as a defect under three conditions. It must be disclosed to the client before the work starts. The client must not object at once. And the building must remain safe and fit for use over time. A new government draft went to the Bundestag on 8 June 2026.

Applications Sent to the Wrong Office

German social law has a rule for the citizen who asks the wrong office. Under § 16 of the First Book of the Social Code, an application filed with an authority that is not responsible, an unzuständig authority, must be passed on to the responsible one unverzüglich, without delay. Since April 2011, the public service number 115 has answered questions about dealings with the authorities. Its promise is that it does not matter welche Behörde, Verwaltungsebene oder Zuständigkeit betroffen ist, which authority, level of government or area of responsibility is involved.

Management by Job Description

The Harzburger Modell was taught at the Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft in Bad Harzburg, founded on March 26, 1956, by Reinhard Höhn. Its motto was Führung durch Delegation, leadership by delegation. Responsibility was delegated to the level of the hierarchy that held the authority to decide. Each employee’s area of tasks was in Stellenbeschreibungen fest umrissen, firmly outlined in a job description. By Höhn’s death in 2000, about 600,000 managers and junior managers had been trained at the academy. From around 1972, American management systems gained ground and the model lost importance. Critics said it favored an authoritarian and bureaucratic style. Höhn was a former SS-Oberführer, and his prominent role in the Third Reich also damaged the model once it became known.

Not Scolded Is Praise Enough

Nicht geschimpft ist gelobt genug — not scolded is praise enough. A magazine for mayors places the saying in Hesse, where it is often said in strong dialect. It uses the saying to describe how many bosses treat their staff.

Nix gsagt isch globt gnuag — nothing said is praise enough. The Swabian version. The Schwäbische Zeitung calls it a common cliché in Swabia.

Coded Praise in the Work Reference

Every German employee who leaves a job has a legal right to a written reference, the Arbeitszeugnis. The law says it must be clear and easy to understand. In practice, set phrases carry the grade. Stets zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit, always to our fullest satisfaction, means very good. In 2014 the Federal Labor Court ruled that zur vollen Zufriedenheit, to full satisfaction, counts only as befriedigend, a middle grade. An employee who wants a better grade must prove that he earned it.

The same ruling quotes legal commentators. When 86.6 percent of references rate performance as good or very good, they write, a reference no longer says anything about what the employee can actually do. The ruling does not name the study behind the figure.

Who writes, remains

Wer schreibt, der bleibt — who writes, remains. A German saying about the authority of the written record, used in meetings about who is taking the minutes.

Papier ist geduldig — paper is patient, the counter-saying, warning that writing something down does not make it true.

Das steht so im Prozess — that is how it stands in the process. Offered in German discussion as a reason, and usually accepted as one.