German marine pilots, the Seelotsen, start their training as experienced captains. To be admitted on the Elbe, a candidate needs an unrestricted certificate of competence as a captain. He also needs at least two years of sea time within the last five years. Training then lasts 12, 18 or 24 months and ends with an exam set by the supervising authority. After the appointment, the new pilot still starts with smaller ships. The pilotage ordinance for the Weser and the Jade sets out the steps in a section titled Lotsentätigkeit nach der Bestallung, pilot work after appointment. In the Weser II/Jade district, a new pilot may guide ships up to 165 meters long and 25 meters wide in the first half-year. The limit rises every half-year. Only in the eighth half-year may the pilot guide ships up to 350 meters long and 50 meters wide. In the Weser I district, the first year starts with ships up to 125 meters long. After the first half-year, a new pilot may assist another pilot who is responsible for the ship.
A Permit for the Nordschleife
A racing license alone does not let a driver race on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. From the 2015 season, the DMSB Permit Nordschleife became mandatory for all participants in the VLN endurance races and the 24-hour race. Its stated aim is more safety on the track, especially for newcomers. Auto Bild called it the Nordschleifenführerschein, the Nordschleife driving license. It has two grades. Grade B, for less powerful cars, comes first. Only drivers who can show results from at least two races receive grade A. Drivers who have not raced on the track for five years must qualify again. In September 2025, the Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen went through the same steps. He first completed the theory and guided laps for grade B. On 13 September, he raced a restricted Porsche Cayman to collect the 14 laps needed for grade A. But his second entry car did not complete a full lap in the race after a crash in practice. One required result for grade A was missing, and he had to hope the DMSB would make an exception. After he received the permit, he started in a Ferrari 296 GT3 on 27 September.
The Archive That Fell
On 3 March 2009 the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne collapsed into the pit of a new subway station. Two young residents died. A court-appointed expert found the cause in a defect, a Fehlstelle, in an underground concrete wall. In 2005 workers had left a block of rock in the excavation. According to the indictment, they dug on anstatt das Hindernis zu melden, instead of reporting the obstacle. The criminal courts then examined each person’s duty of care one by one. Two construction managers were acquitted in 2018. The court found breaches of their duty of care but held that these had not caused the collapse. A senior site manager received one year on probation in 2019. The judge said the eindeutige Warnsignale, clear warning signs, in a construction record should have led him to check more closely. The Federal Court of Justice overturned the judgments in 2021. In 2024 the court provisionally closed the cases against the four remaining defendants, against payments of money. In 2020 the construction consortium agreed to pay the city 600 million euros. At the time, it still disputed the cause.
One Signature per Batch
Before a batch of medicine made in Germany may be sold, one named person must sign it off. The Medicines Act calls her die sachkundige Person, the qualified person. Die sachkundige Person nach § 14 ist dafür verantwortlich, dass jede Charge des Arzneimittels entsprechend den Vorschriften über den Verkehr mit Arzneimitteln hergestellt und geprüft wurde. She is responsible for making sure that each batch was made and tested according to the law on medicines. She must certify this for each batch in a running register before it goes on the market. Sometimes a batch is made in several stages or at other sites. The regulation on drug manufacturing then lets her use confirmations from other qualified persons. But sie ist für die Freigabe zum Inverkehrbringen der Charge insgesamt persönlich verantwortlich. She remains personally responsible for releasing the batch as a whole. Medicines may be placed on the market only after this release.
The Hunt Leader
Bei Gesellschaftsjagden muss der Unternehmer einen Jagdleiter bestimmen, wenn er nicht selbst diese Aufgabe wahrnimmt. At a group hunt, the organizer must appoint a hunt leader, unless he takes on the role himself. The rule is in the accident prevention regulation for hunting, VSG 4.4. Die Anordnungen des Jagdleiters sind zu befolgen. The hunt leader’s orders must be followed. Before the hunt starts, he instructs the shooters and the beaters. This briefing is called die Jagdansprache, the hunt address. In a drive hunt, he assigns each shooter a stand. He also marks exactly the area into which that shooter may fire. A shooter may not move or leave his stand before the drive is over, unless the hunt leader decides otherwise. In April 2026 the agricultural social insurance SVLFG and the Lower Saxony hunting association announced joint seminars for hunt leaders.
The Responsible Electrician
Many companies that run electrical installations are led by managers who are not electricians. A training guide on the verantwortliche Elektrofachkraft, the responsible electrical specialist, notes that such a manager kann die Fachverantwortung nicht übernehmen, cannot take on the technical responsibility. The company therefore appoints a qualified electrician to that role in writing. The role is based on the standard DIN VDE 1000-10. KomNet, the occupational safety advice service of North Rhine-Westphalia, explains what the appointment means. Eine verantwortliche Elektrofachkraft unterliegt hinsichtlich der Einhaltung der elektrotechnischen Sicherheitsmaßnahmen keinen fachlichen Weisungen. On electrical safety measures, she takes no technical instructions. Für die elektrische Sicherheit sind nur die verantwortlichen Elektrofachkräfte und nicht die ausschließlich disziplinarischen Vorgesetzten verantwortlich. Only the responsible electrical specialists are accountable for electrical safety. Superiors who manage her only as personnel are not. A model appointment certificate from the statutory accident insurer VBG states that she is hinsichtlich der fachlichen Aufgaben weisungsfrei, free of instructions in her technical tasks. Both the company management and the appointee sign it.
The Building and Its Paperwork
When a contractor finishes a public building job in Germany, the client typically requires the Revisionsunterlagen: plans of the building as built, operating and maintenance instructions, test certificates and data sheets. The city of Mülheim an der Ruhr publishes its requirements for tenders. The documents must arrive at least three weeks before acceptance, in two paper copies and a digital copy. Their content muss einem unbeteiligten Dritten den störungsfreien Betrieb eines Gebäudes ermöglichen. It must allow an outside party who was not involved to run the building without disruption. If the documents are missing or incomplete, the city can refuse acceptance and hold back part of the final payment.
The Release Dossier
A supplier to the German car industry may not begin series deliveries until its parts pass the Produktionsprozess- und Produktfreigabe, the production process and product approval, set out in Volume 2 of the German Association of the Automotive Industry. The first samples must be made vollständig mit serienmäßigen Betriebsmitteln und unter serienmäßigen Bedingungen, fully with series tooling under series conditions. One supplier guideline lists what goes with them: an inspection report with the measured value for every dimension on the drawing, the process flow chart, the control plan, and the approval status of the whole supply chain. Erstmuster ohne Erstmusterdokumentation können nicht bearbeitet werden. First samples without first-sample documentation cannot be processed. Every change to the product or the process must go through the procedure again, at least inside the supplier’s own plant.
The Coordinator Without Authority
On a German building site, each trade works under its own contract and its own employer. When employees of several employers work on one site, the client must appoint a safety and health coordinator, the SiGeKo. The rule has applied since the building site ordinance took effect on 1 July 1998. The coordinator draws up the safety plan and coordinates how the firms work together. He is not their boss. The Bavarian model contract for public building projects gives him no power to issue instructions. Except in imminent danger, he reports problems: In allen anderen Fällen sind der Objektüberwacher und der Auftraggeber auf kurzem Wege zu informieren. In all other cases, the site supervisor and the client are to be informed directly.
A Grade for Every Player
After big football matches, German newspapers publish an Einzelkritik, an individual review. Each player gets a school grade from 1 to 6 and a one-line verdict. After Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in April 2012, the Munich Abendzeitung gave goalkeeper Manuel Neuer a 1: Im Elferschießen dann der Held des Abends, then the hero of the evening in the penalty shoot-out. Philipp Lahm got a 2: Kurbelte viele Angriffe nach vorne an, got many attacks going.