On 27 June 2025, the German Football League published the dates and pairings of all 34 matchdays of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The season began on 22 August. From June, every club and every fan knew on which weekend each match would take place. The exact kickoff times are set only during the season, and fans have complained about the times they are given. In 2022, after 1. FC Union Berlin’s away match in Freiburg was set for 5:30 p.m. on a Sunday, a Union fan told the Berliner Kurier: Wir alle müssen am nächsten Tag arbeiten. We all have to work the next day.
Strikes Without Notice
In March 2024, during an industrial dispute at Deutsche Bahn, the train drivers’ union GDL changed its tactics. Until then it had announced strikes about two days in advance. Now it said it would strike without that notice. The union called these Wellenstreiks, wave strikes. Its chairman, Claus Weselsky, said: Damit ist die Eisenbahn kein zuverlässiges Verkehrsmittel mehr. With this, the railway is no longer a reliable means of transport. Deutsche Bahn’s personnel director, Martin Seiler, called the wave strikes eine blanke Zumutung für unsere Fahrgäste, a sheer imposition on our passengers. Dirk Flege of the rail association Allianz pro Schiene said the union was taking away the passengers’ chance to at least prepare and umplanen, to change their plans.
Moving a Court Date
Under Section 227 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a German court may cancel or move a hearing date only aus erheblichen Gründen, for substantial reasons. The law then lists what does not count. A party’s absence does not count, unless the court believes the party was prevented without fault. Poor preparation does not count, unless it is sufficiently excused. The third item is das Einvernehmen der Parteien allein, the agreement of the parties alone. Even when both sides want a new date, that is not a reason. If the judge asks, the reasons must be substantiated. The same section contains a summer rule. As a rule, a hearing set between 1 July and 31 August must be moved if a party asks within one week of receiving the summons, although the law makes exceptions.
Words for Being Late
sich verspäten — to be late. Ich verspäte mich um zehn Minuten. I will be ten minutes late.
spät dran sein — to be later than planned.
aufgehalten werden — to be held up. Ich bin aufgehalten worden is the usual short reason.
Entschuldigen Sie die Verspätung. — Please excuse the delay.
die Verspätung rechtzeitig ankündigen — to announce the delay in good time.
anrufen und Bescheid geben — to call and let the other person know.
The Watch Set Fast
Heinrich Spoerl wrote a short humorous piece called Zeit ohne Zeit, Time Without Time, in his collection Man kann ruhig darüber sprechen. It begins: Das Merkmal des zivilisierten Menschen: Er hat keine Zeit. Statt dessen hat er eine Uhr. The mark of civilized man is that he has no time. Instead he has a watch. Spoerl describes people who set their watches wrong on purpose. Some set it ten minutes slow, so that the watch can serve as an excuse with the boss or the wife. Others set it a quarter of an hour fast, to force themselves to be punctual. Aber da man Bescheid weiß, zieht man die Viertelstunde in Gedanken wieder ab, und alles bleibt beim alten. But since one knows, one subtracts the quarter hour again in one’s head, and everything stays as it was.
Voting After Six
On 26 September 2021, Berlin elected its state parliament and its district assemblies. Many polling stations did not have enough ballot papers, and some received the wrong ones. Voters waited in line, often for hours. Voting time ends at 6 p.m., and after that only voters who are already present may vote. Across the city, people were still voting after 6 p.m., when the first forecasts based on exit polls had already been published. On 16 November 2022, the Constitutional Court of Berlin declared both elections invalid in the entire city. The court named voting after 6 p.m. as one example of the defects that violated voters’ constitutional rights. The election was repeated on 12 February 2023.
Polling stations across the city were still open long after the closing time, while forecasts were already public, and the court counted that among the breaches of the voters’ rights.
The Kickoff Time Is Binding
German amateur football has written rules for the start of a match. The youth rules of the Wuppertal-Niederberg district of the Lower Rhine football association say: Die im DFBnet hinterlegte Anstoßzeit ist verbindlich. The kickoff time recorded in DFBnet, the online system in which matches are registered, is binding. If the start is delayed, the waiting time is normally half the regular playing time. In Württemberg, the referees’ handout for the 2025/26 season says that if a team does not show up, the other club must wait 45 minutes. After that, it may refuse to play.
Late at Pickup
Some German towns have written rules for parents who pick up their children late from daycare. In Eisingen, a small town in Baden-Württemberg, the fee bylaw gives parents a grace period of ten minutes after care ends. The first late pickup costs nothing, but it leads to a conversation with the staff. Every further late day in the kindergarten year costs 50 euros. No fee is charged when the delay is not the parents’ fault. In late 2022, the city of Ludwigsburg decided that from April 2023, parents who are late again after a talk with the staff would pay 30 euros for every started half hour. Accidents, road closures and breakdowns were to be exempt.
Ten Minutes Early
The Bavarian State Institute for School Quality publishes material that helps pupils choose a career. One checklist prepares them for a job interview. One item reads: Ich habe die Anreise zum Betrieb geplant und werde pünktlich dort ankommen (Tipp: ca. 10 Minuten vorher). I have planned my journey to the company and will arrive on time (tip: about 10 minutes early). For the case where something still goes wrong, the etiquette coach Elisabeth Bonneau gave advice in the Tagesspiegel. If public transport fails or a bicycle tire bursts, one should auf jeden Fall anrufen und Bescheid geben, in any case call and let them know. If nobody answers, one should leave a message.
Late Only With an Excuse
German civil procedure treats court deadlines strictly. Under Section 296 of the Code of Civil Procedure, arguments and evidence brought after a deadline set by the court are admitted in only two cases. Either they do not delay the case, or the party gives a sufficient excuse for the lateness. If the court asks, the party must substantiate the excuse. A party that misses a deadline the law marks as a Notfrist can be restored to its earlier position only if it was not at fault. This is the Wiedereinsetzung in den vorigen Stand under Section 233.