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.
Appointments With the Employment Office
Anyone in Germany whose job or apprenticeship is ending must register with the employment agency as a job seeker at least three months before the last day. This duty is set in Section 38 of Social Code III. A person who learns of the end later has three days to register. Registering late has a price. Unemployment benefit is suspended for one week, a Sperrzeit, unless the person had an important reason. The same one-week suspension applies to a person who does not come to an appointment at the agency after being told the consequences.
For basic income support, run by the Jobcenters, new rules have applied since 1 July 2026. Official Jobcenter information sheets describe three steps. A first missed appointment brings no reduction. A second missed appointment in a row reduces the standard benefit by 30 percent for one month. After a third, the standard benefit is stopped, although housing costs are paid for one more month. Before any decision, the Jobcenter checks whether there was an important reason, such as illness or an emergency.
Patients Who Do Not Show Up
In 2023, 70 percent of medical practices in a survey by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) reported patients who book appointments and do not come. KBV chief Andreas Gassen estimates that 10 to 20 percent of booked appointments are not kept. He has called for a fee, paid by the health insurers. In 2025 a spokesman for the pediatricians, Jakob Maske, demanded up to 100 euros per missed appointment. Es ist nicht mehr zu akzeptieren, dass Patienten Termine verbindlich vereinbaren und diese nicht wahrnehmen. It is no longer acceptable that patients make binding appointments and do not keep them.
Late, But You Came
Friedrich Schiller’s play Die Piccolomini, first performed in Weimar on 30 January 1799, opens with a greeting. Spät kommt Ihr – Doch Ihr kommt! You come late, but you come! The line became a common German saying. It is said, half as a reproach and half as a welcome, to someone who arrives late.
On Time Matters as Much as Quality
In a survey of 1,008 people for Bosch Power Tools, reported in February 2025, respondents said what matters most when choosing a craftsman. The quality of the work was important or most important for 86.7 percent. Termintreue, keeping agreed dates, followed with 86 percent. Transparent costs came next, with 83.3 percent.
Punctuality on the Curriculum
In a 2019 study by the Allensbach Institute for the Roland Berger Foundation, Germans ranked what secondary schools should teach. Spelling and grammar came first, with 80 percent, and general knowledge second, with 76 percent. Pünktlichkeit, Zuverlässigkeit, punctuality and reliability, came third, with 66 percent. English followed with 63 percent.
Three Days, Until Sunset
In Friedrich Schiller’s ballad Die Bürgschaft, published in 1799, a man condemned to death asks the tyrant: Ich flehe dich um drei Tage Zeit, I beg you for three days’ time. His friend stays behind as a pledge and will die if he does not return. On the way back, floods and robbers hold him up. He keeps going, because the bloody tyrant must not be able to boast daß der Freund dem Freunde gebrochen die Pflicht, that the friend broke his duty to the friend. Und die Sonne geht unter, da steht er am Tor. And the sun is setting as he stands at the gate. Da bin ich, für den er gebürget! Here I am, the one he stood bail for! The tyrant concludes: Und die Treue, sie ist doch kein leerer Wahn. And loyalty is not an empty illusion after all.