In a study published in 2019, the Allensbach Institute asked Germans for the Roland Berger Foundation what secondary schools should teach. Spelling and grammar came first, with 80 percent, and general knowledge second, with 76 percent. In third place came Pünktlichkeit, Zuverlässigkeit, punctuality and reliability, with 66 percent. English followed with 63 percent.
Ready for an Apprenticeship
In 2006 the partners of Germany’s national pact for vocational training approved a list of criteria for Ausbildungsreife, readiness for an apprenticeship. The Federal Employment Agency published it, and career advisers use it to judge whether a school-leaver is ready to start training. Under the criterion of reliability, the first sign is this: Sie/er erscheint pünktlich zum vereinbarten Termin (Unterricht, Praktikum, Beratungsgespräch). He or she arrives on time for the agreed appointment, whether a class, an internship or a guidance interview.
Knigge on Keeping the Hour
Adolph Knigge’s Über den Umgang mit Menschen, On Dealing with People, first appeared in 1788. In the first chapter of later editions, Knigge tells his reader: Sei streng gegen dich selbst, pünktlich, ordentlich, arbeitsam, fleißig in Deinem Berufe! Be strict with yourself, punctual, orderly, hardworking, diligent in your profession. He gives a reason. Everyone likes to deal and do business with a person whose punctuality in word and deed can be relied on. Then he goes further. Be exactly where you mean to appear, at the set and proper hour, und wärst Du auch der einzige, der diese Ordnung beobachtet, even if you are the only one who keeps this order.
No Seat After the Curtain Rises
The terms of use of the Bavarian State Theaters are published as an official regulation. One sentence deals with latecomers. Mit Beginn der Veranstaltung erlischt aus Sicherheitsgründen und mit Rücksicht auf die mitwirkenden Künstlerinnen und Künstler sowie die anderen Besucherinnen und Besucher der Anspruch auf den gebuchten Platz. When the performance begins, the claim to the booked seat expires, for safety reasons and out of consideration for the performers and the other members of the audience. A latecomer is let into the hall only if there is a suitable break.
The Court Waits a Quarter of an Hour
A party who does not appear at a hearing in a German civil court can lose without the case being heard. The court issues a Versäumnisurteil, a judgment by default. The law sets no waiting period. By custom, courts wait 10 to 15 minutes after the case is called. On 5 July 2013, a hearing at the regional court of Dessau-Roßlau was set for 10 a.m. The judge issued a default judgment that dismissed the claim. The plaintiff’s lawyer entered the courtroom at 10:04 and objected that the customary wait had not been kept. The plaintiff then asked for the judge to be removed for bias. In 2014 the Higher Regional Court of Naumburg upheld the rejection of that request. It found that the judge’s view, that a default judgment may follow directly after the case is called, could be called mistaken, but that it was not a sign of bias.
One Warning, Then the Floor Is Gone
In the Bundestag, speaking time is shared out by agreement before the debate. The rules of procedure then say what happens to a member who runs over. The president soll ihm nach einmaliger Mahnung das Wort entziehen, should take away the floor after one warning. The Bundestag’s own glossary says that the chair watches the speaking time streng, strictly. On 16 October 2025, the AfD leader Alice Weidel spoke after a government statement by Chancellor Friedrich Merz and went over her time. According to Focus, President Julia Klöckner told her that her time was up. Weidel answered with a simple Danke and kept talking. Klöckner warned her several times and finally threatened to switch off her microphone.
Please Contact My Deputy
Ich bin bis einschließlich Freitag nicht im Büro. In dringenden Fällen wenden Sie sich bitte an meine Vertretung, Frau Weber. I am out of the office until Friday inclusive. In urgent cases, please contact my deputy, Ms. Weber. A German out-of-office reply usually names the Vertretung, the person who is responsible for the area while one is away. Before the holidays, teams agree on a Vertretungsregelung, an arrangement for who covers for whom.
Volkswagen Switches Off the E-Mail
At the end of 2011 Volkswagen began to switch off e-mail on company phones after work. From 18:15 until 7:00 the next morning, the BlackBerrys of the employees covered receive no mail. The rule covered more than 1,100 employees. It did not apply to managers.
Mail on Holiday
In August 2014 Daimler announced Mail on Holiday for its roughly 100,000 employees in Germany. Employees can have incoming e-mail deleted automatically while they are on holiday. The sender receives an automatic reply that names a contact person, and then the system deletes the mail. According to a Daimler spokeswoman, every employee, up to the level of manager, could use it.
The Ministry’s Own Rule
In August 2013 the Federal Ministry of Labor agreed new rules for its more than 1,100 employees. They may be disturbed in their free time only in begründeten Ausnahmefällen, in justified exceptional cases. Im Urlaub dürfen die Chefs ihre Untergebenen grundsätzlich nicht in Anspruch nehmen. During holidays, bosses may in principle not call on their subordinates. Employees who are not reachable in their free time are not to be disadvantaged. The year before, the minister, Ursula von der Leyen, had said: In der Freizeit sollte Funkstille herrschen. In free time there should be radio silence.