The credit agency Schufa holds data on 67.9 million people in Germany. Its new score, due to start on 17 March 2026, uses twelve criteria on a scale from 100 to 999. One of them is the age of a person’s oldest credit card. Christine Steffen of the consumer advice center of North Rhine-Westphalia commented: Gerade jüngere Verbraucher:innen haben gar nicht die Chance auf einen guten Wert, weil sie sich noch nicht im Wirtschaftsleben beweisen konnten … Younger consumers in particular have no chance of a good score, because they have not yet been able to prove themselves in economic life.
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.
One Man, One Word
Ein Mann, ein Wort. — One man, one word. The dictionary DWDS explains: one can rely on what this man announces. It also lists the variant eine Frau, ein Wort. In 2012 Der Spiegel used the phrase about the 89-year-old Henry Kissinger, who kept a promise to visit his hometown football club. In 2017 Die Zeit used it about Olaf Scholz, whose motto had always been Nur das versprechen, was man auch halten kann, promise only what one can keep.
Their Words Hold
On 20 January 2012 the general assembly of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Rostock adopted a guiding statement for honorable merchants. Ehrbare Kaufleute achten die Gesetze und halten Verträge sowie Abreden ein. Ihre Worte gelten. Honorable merchants respect the laws and keep contracts and agreements. Their words hold. They versprechen nur das, was sie auch halten können, promise only what they can keep. They are interested in caring for business relationships with customers and suppliers over the long term. In Hamburg, the Versammlung Eines Ehrbaren Kaufmanns traces its roots back to 1517. It meets at noon on New Year’s Eve, and more than 2,000 people attended the assembly at the end of 2014.
Trust Capital
A supermarket cashier, known in the media as Emmely, was dismissed without notice because she had redeemed deposit vouchers worth 1.30 euros that did not belong to her. She had worked for the company since April 1977. On 10 June 2010 the Federal Labor Court ruled on her case. A deliberate breach can justify dismissal without notice even when the damage is small. But the court also weighed the Vertrauenskapital, the trust capital, that she had built up in more than three decades of service without problems. The dismissal was invalid, and a written warning would have been enough.
Trust Comes at the End
In 1995 Deutsche Bank advertised with the line Vertrauen ist der Anfang von allem, trust is the beginning of everything. In 2017 the brand consultant Klaus-Dieter Koch corrected it in the trade magazine Horizont: Vertrauen ist eben nicht, wie mal ein Claim der Deutschen Bank gesagt hat, der Anfang von allem, sondern der Endpunkt von allem. Und das gilt es sich zu erarbeiten. Trust is not, as a Deutsche Bank slogan once said, the beginning of everything, but the end point of everything. And it has to be earned.
Trust Comes on Foot
Vertrauen kommt zu Fuß und geht zu Pferd. — Trust comes on foot and leaves on horseback.
der Vertrauensvorschuss — an advance of trust, given before it has been earned
Vertrauen verspielen — to gamble trust away
Wer einmal lügt, dem glaubt man nicht, und wenn er auch die Wahrheit spricht. — Whoever lies once is not believed, even when he tells the truth.
Do Not Talk Too Much About Yourself
Adolph Freiherr Knigge’s Über den Umgang mit Menschen, on dealing with people, first appeared in 1788. Knigge advises: Rede also nicht zu viel von Dir selber, außer in dem Zirkel Deiner vertrautesten Freunde. So do not talk too much about yourself, except in the circle of your most trusted friends. He gives two reasons for not being too open with people. The first is the fear of revealing one’s weakness and being misused. The second is that once people are used to being told everything, they zuletzt von jedem unsrer kleinsten Schritte Rechenschaft verlangen, end up demanding an account of our smallest steps.
Words for Having It in Writing
etwas schriftlich haben — to have something in writing.
Das hätte ich gern schriftlich. — I would like that in writing.
zu Protokoll geben — to put on record.
aktenkundig — on file, a matter of record.
etwas zu den Akten legen — to put something in the files. Duden: etwas als erledigt betrachten, to consider something settled.
Brief und Siegel geben — to give letter and seal. To guarantee.
lückenlos dokumentiert — documented without gaps.
Serviced by the Book
German used-car advertisements often carry the word scheckheftgepflegt. It means that the car has been serviced as its service booklet prescribes. At the end of each inspection the master mechanic signs the booklet and stamps it. A car with a complete record sells for more. The term itself has no clear legal definition.