A German apartment building often has a Hausmeister, a caretaker, on site and a Hausverwaltung, a property management firm, in an office. The caretaker is the person tenants see. He is usually not the person who can receive a valid notice of defects. The Munich tenants’ association advises that the notice must go to the landlord or the landlord’s authorized representative, in writing if possible. Ein Anruf bspw. beim Hausmeister ist daher regelmäßig gerade keine ausreichende Mängelanzeige. A phone call to the caretaker, for example, is as a rule not a sufficient notice.
116117 or 112
Germany has two medical phone numbers with separate owners. 112 reaches the emergency rescue service. 116117 reaches the out-of-hours doctors’ service run by the associations of statutory health insurance doctors. The number started in large parts of Germany on 16 April 2012. It is for plötzlich auftretende, jedoch nicht lebensbedrohliche Erkrankungen, sudden illnesses that are not life-threatening. For life-threatening cases, 112 still applies.
Barking Dogs at 9:42 p.m.
Noise from neighbors in Germany is a matter for the municipal Ordnungsamt, the public order office, not automatically for the police. Berlin tells residents which office owns which noise. For neighbors, parties and animals, Zuständig ist das Ordnungsamt des jeweiligen Bezirks, the public order office of the district is responsible. In Cologne, police had a locksmith open a door at 9:42 p.m. to take away dogs that had been barking for a long time. They had not contacted the city’s public order service, which could be reached until after midnight. In 2010 the administrative court of Cologne ruled the action unlawful. Only when the public order office could no longer be reached would responsibility have passed to the police. The police had to pay the locksmith themselves.
The Yellow Bag
In Germany, packaging waste goes into the Gelber Sack, the yellow bag. It is collected for private recycling systems, not by the city’s waste service. The city of Würzburg says so plainly: Der Gelbe Sack fällt nicht in die Zuständigkeit der Stadtreiniger. The yellow bag is not the responsibility of the city cleaners. A private firm is commissioned to collect it, and complaints go to that firm. When yellow bags were left lying on Stuttgart’s streets in January 2023, the city explained that it was nicht Auftraggeber der Abholung, not the party that had ordered the collection.
When the Lights Go Out
German households choose their electricity supplier freely, but the wires belong to someone else. In a power cut the supplier can do nothing. A comparison portal tells the customers of one supplier: Bei einem Stromausfall ist nicht GMX Strom, sondern Ihr Netzbetreiber zuständig. In a power cut, your network operator is responsible, not GMX Strom. The next line runs through the house. Under the ordinance on low-voltage connections, the owner is responsible for the electrical installation hinter der Hausanschlusssicherung, behind the main house fuse.
The Seller, Not the Manufacturer
Under German warranty law, the seller answers for defects. The consumer advice center in Lower Saxony puts it plainly: Bei Mängeln ist der Verkäufer Ihr erster Ansprechpartner – nicht der Hersteller. For defects, the seller is your first contact, not the manufacturer. A customer reported a faulty fridge-freezer to the online shop of the electronics chain Media Markt. The shop replied by email that he should contact the manufacturer directly. The Federal Consumer Organization sued. In July 2026 the regional court of Ingolstadt held that customers could read the email als habe Media Markt mit der Reklamation selbst nichts mehr zu tun, as if Media Markt no longer had anything to do with the complaint. Further violations can cost up to 250,000 euros.
Your Contact Person
Ihr Ansprechpartner — your contact person, often printed with a name and direct line
der zuständige Sachbearbeiter — the caseworker responsible
Ich verbinde Sie mit dem zuständigen Kollegen. — I will put you through to the colleague responsible.
Dafür ist eine andere Abteilung zuständig. — Another department is responsible for that.
Unser Zeichen — our reference. German business letters print it in a block beside the address, with Ihr Zeichen, your reference, and the name and phone number of the person handling the matter. A reply that quotes it reaches the same desk.
Your Surname Decides Your Caseworker
The housing benefit office in Erlangen assigns each applicant to a caseworker by the first letters of the surname. Its page in the Bavarian service portal lists ten ranges, each with its own room and direct line. One reads Buchstabenbereich HAJ – KRA, letter range HAJ to KRA, in room 424. The city of Bielefeld’s guardianship support unit works the same way: Die Zuständigkeit richtet sich nach dem Nachnamen des Kindes. Responsibility follows the child’s surname. Each letter has one caseworker, one room and one phone number.
Pass A38
In the animated film Asterix erobert Rom, released in 1976, Asterix and Obelix must obtain Passierschein A38, pass A38, from das Haus, das Verrückte macht, the house that drives you mad. Officials send them from one counter to the next. In German, Passierschein A38 became a common phrase. People use it to mock or complain about bureaucratic madness, when they are sent from office to office. The phrase came back in March 2020, when Germans joked about needing a pass to leave home during the first coronavirus lockdown.
Bookbinder Wanninger
In Karl Valentin’s sketch Buchbinder Wanninger, a bookbinder phones the construction firm Meisel & Co. He only wants to know when he may deliver the books he has bound, and whether he should send the invoice with them. He is passed from one extension to the next. Nobody feels responsible, not even Herr Meisel. When he finally reaches the right person, he is told to call again tomorrow: wir haben jetzt Büroschluss! We are closing now. His last words are Saubande, dreckate!, a Bavarian curse. A recording with Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt dates from 1940.