A rail passenger in Germany who arrives at least 60 minutes late gets 25 percent of the ticket price back. In 2024 Deutsche Bahn received about 6.9 million claims for compensation. It paid knapp 197 Millionen Euro, almost 197 million euros, to passengers. In 2023 it had paid 132.8 million euros.
One Day Late, and the Thesis Fails
At the University of Bamberg, a bachelor’s student has three months to write a bachelor’s thesis. For a thesis sent by post, the date of the postmark counts. Then the rule: Wird die Bachelorarbeit nicht fristgerecht gemäß § 29 Abs. 4 abgegeben, gilt sie als mit „nicht ausreichend” (5,0) bewertet. If the thesis is not handed in on time, it is graded insufficient, the failing grade of 5.0.
The Late-Filing Surcharge
Every German who must file a tax return faces a fixed deadline, and the tax code puts a price on missing it. If an annual return is not filed within 14 months after the end of the year, the tax office as a rule has no choice. A Verspätungszuschlag, a late-filing surcharge, ist … festzusetzen, must be imposed. It is 0.25 percent of the tax still owed for each month or part of a month of delay, but at least 25 euros for each month or part of a month.
The A400M
The German armed forces ordered 53 A400M transport aircraft from Airbus. The first one arrived in December 2014, years late. In January 2015 the Airbus chief executive, Tom Enders, apologized in public: Wir haben nicht die Leistung abgeliefert, die wir uns gewünscht haben, und ich muss mich dafür entschuldigen. We did not deliver the performance we wanted, and I must apologize for it. In June 2016 Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the armed forces had einen sehr handfesten Vertrag, a very solid contract, in which compensation was clearly set out. Wir werden auch diese Schadenersatzansprüche geltend machen. We will claim this compensation.
The Appointment Binds Both Sides
When a booked craftsman in Germany does not come, the customer cannot claim for a wasted day off. Einen Anspruch auf Ersatz eines vertanen Urlaubstages oder Verschwendung von Freizeit gibt es nicht, the legal portal of the insurer ERGO explains. Losses that can be counted in money can be claimed, if the craftsman is at fault. A self-employed customer’s lost earnings are one example. The rule also binds the customer. Sind Sie trotz Terminvereinbarung nicht zu Hause, kann der Handwerksbetrieb Ihnen die Fahrtkosten für die vergebliche Anfahrt in Rechnung stellen. If you are not home despite the agreed appointment, the firm can bill you for the wasted trip. In 2018 a master hairdresser in Hanover announced his own rule: Wer seinen Termin nicht absagt und wegbleibt, muss den vollen Betrag zahlen. Whoever does not cancel and stays away pays the full price.
Delivery Fidelity
German purchasing departments measure their suppliers by Liefertreue, delivery fidelity. The business glossary Welt der BWL gives the formula: orders delivered on schedule divided by all orders. A delivery counts as on schedule only if it comes nicht verspätet oder verfrüht, neither late nor early. Liefertreue can also decide supplier awards. In 2013 the machine builder Zahoransky gave its Business Partner Award to suppliers that had proved especially reliable, insbesondere hinsichtlich Qualität, Liefertreue, Innovationskraft und Preisverhalten, especially in quality, delivery fidelity, innovation and pricing.
When the Date Is the Deal
German commercial law knows the Fixgeschäft, a deal in which the date is essential. Section 376 of the Commercial Code covers sales between merchants where delivery must happen genau zu einer festbestimmten Zeit, exactly at a fixed time. If the date passes, the buyer may withdraw. A buyer who still wants the goods must say so at once. Erfüllung kann er nur beanspruchen, wenn er sofort nach dem Ablaufe der Zeit … dem Gegner anzeigt, daß er auf Erfüllung bestehe. He can demand delivery only if he tells the other side immediately after the date that he insists on it. Lawyers give everyday examples: a wedding cake, or 100 bouquets ordered for a wedding on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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.