Germany, Trust - understand-culture

Words for Whose Job It Is

Dafür bin ich nicht zuständig — I am not responsible for that. It is the standard sentence for saying that a matter belongs to someone else.

Es fühlte sich niemand zuständig — nobody felt responsible. Duden gives this as an example sentence for the word.

Das ist nicht mein Bier — that is not my beer. In everyday speech it means “that is not my business.”

Das fällt in mein Ressort — that falls into my department. Duden defines a Ressort as a firmly outlined area of tasks and responsibility.

Kompetenzgerangel and Zuständigkeitsgerangel — wrangling over competence, wrangling over responsibility. Duden marks Kompetenzgerangel as colloquial and disapproving.

Zuständigkeitshalber — for reasons of responsibility. The word belongs to the German of official letters.

The Harzburger Modell was taught at the Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft in Bad Harzburg, founded on March 26, 1956, by Reinhard Höhn. Its motto was Führung durch Delegation, leadership by delegation. Responsibility was delegated to the level of the hierarchy that held the authority to decide. Each employee’s area of tasks was in Stellenbeschreibungen fest umrissen, firmly outlined in a job description.

By Höhn’s death in 2000, about 600,000 managers and junior managers had been trained at the academy. From around 1972, American management systems gained ground and the model lost importance. Critics said it favored an authoritarian and bureaucratic style. Höhn was a former SS-Oberführer, and his prominent role in the Third Reich also damaged the model once it became known.

Words for saying it plainly

Klartext reden — to speak plain text. Klartext is also a message that is not encrypted, so that anyone can read it.

Tacheles reden — to talk tachles, a word that came into German from Yiddish. Duden defines it as saying your opinion openly, without false consideration.

Butter bei die Fische! — butter with the fish! It is a regional call to stop holding back and settle the matter now.

Ross und Reiter nennen — to name the horse and the rider. You say openly whom and what you mean.

Um den heißen Brei herumreden — to talk around the hot porridge. It is a complaint about someone who does not dare to raise the real point.

Das geht gar nicht — that does not work at all. It is the everyday verdict on something that is plainly unacceptable.

The Friend Who Comes Back

Schiller wrote Die Bürgschaft in the summer of 1798, and it was first published in the Musenalmanach of 1799. Möros is sentenced to death for plotting against the tyrant Dionys. He asks for three days to see his sister married, and his friend stays behind as his surety.

On the way back, a flood, robbers and thirst delay him. A servant tells him to turn around and save his own life. He goes on, because the tyrant must not be able to boast daß der Freund dem Freunde gebrochen die Pflicht, that a friend broke his duty to a friend.

He arrives as the execution begins and cries out: »Mich, Henker«, ruft er, »erwürget! / Da bin ich, für den er gebürget!« (Strangle me, executioner! Here I am, the one he stood surety for!) The tyrant gives in: Und die Treue, sie ist doch kein leerer Wahn. (Loyalty is not an empty illusion after all.)

Barschel’s Word of Honor

On 18 September 1987, Uwe Barschel, the minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein, faced accusations at a press conference. He said: … gebe ich Ihnen, gebe ich den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern des Landes Schleswig-Holsteins und der gesamten deutschen Öffentlichkeit mein Ehrenwort – ich wiederhole: Ich gebe Ihnen mein Ehrenwort! – dass die gegen mich erhobenen Vorwürfe haltlos sind.

(I give you, the citizens of Schleswig-Holstein and the entire German public my word of honor, I repeat, I give you my word of honor, that the accusations against me are groundless.) The sworn statements he presented turned out to be false. He resigned as minister-president on 2 October 1987.

Coming Forward Too Late

German tax law gives immunity from punishment to a tax evader who corrects his tax returns in a Selbstanzeige, a self-disclosure. The immunity does not apply if the offense had already been discovered, in whole or in part, at that time, and the offender knew this or should have expected it (§ 371 AO). On 15 January 2013, his bank called Uli Hoeneß, the president of Bayern Munich, after a reporter from the magazine Stern had been asking questions at the bank.

Early on 17 January 2013 he filed a self-disclosure. The tax office found that it was not a vollständige und einwandfreie Selbstanzeige, a complete and correct self-disclosure, and the court ruled it invalid. He was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for evading 28.5 million euros in tax. Hoeneß had said he filed on 12 January. That date later turned out to be untrue.

Canceling an Appointment

Sobald du weißt, dass du einen Termin nicht wahrnehmen kannst, sage den Termin ab. (As soon as you know you cannot keep an appointment, cancel it.)

This is a rule in a guide on canceling appointments, published by Utopia.de in January 2025. The guide adds: Kurzfristig absagen ist besser als nicht absagen. (Canceling at short notice is better than not canceling.) A doctor’s appointment should be canceled at least 24 hours ahead.

Words for Keeping a Promise

Versprochen ist versprochen — a promise is a promise.

Zu seinem Wort stehen — to stand by one’s word.

Verbindlich zusagen — to accept in a binding way. Said of a person, unverbindlich means noncommittal, and it is not praise.

Bescheid sagen — to let someone know. Sag rechtzeitig Bescheid — let me know in good time.

Absagen — to cancel. An appointment is canceled, not simply missed.

Eine Vorwarnung geben — to give advance warning.

Hält, was es verspricht — it keeps what it promises, a standard phrase of praise for a product.

The Airport Opening That Was Called Off

Berlin’s new airport, BER, was due to open on 3 June 2012. On 8 May 2012, four weeks before that date, the opening was called off because of problems with the fire protection system. Terminal 1 finally opened on 31 October 2020.

Files examined by the Berlin parliament’s inquiry show that it had been clear inside the airport company since the end of 2011 at the latest that the date was in danger. In March 2012, McKinsey wrote to the management that a delay of almost four months ist bis zur Inbetriebnahme nicht aufzuholen, could not be made up before opening.

According to an internal email, the managing director Manfred Körtgen wanted the word äußerst, extremely, removed from the critical paths in a controlling report. Körtgen later told the committee that he did not remember giving that instruction. A member of the supervisory board later said: Auf jeden Fall wurden wir falsch informiert. (In any case, we were given false information.)

A Bishop Resigns

On the night of 20 February 2010, Margot Käßmann drove through a red light in Hanover with a blood alcohol level of 1.54 per mille. She was bishop of Hanover and chair of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany. The council unanimously expressed its confidence in her.

Four days later she resigned from both offices. Am vergangenen Samstag habe ich einen schweren Fehler gemacht, den ich zutiefst bereue. Last Saturday I made a serious mistake, which I deeply regret. She said that she could not stay in office with the authority it needs.