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How to Get a Work Permit for Germany

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Obtaining a work permit for Germany is not always easy. Your success in the application process depends on various factors: your nationality, your occupation, even your annual salary. Here are the key aspects that you have to keep in mind.

General Considerations

Over the past few years, the German government has tried to encourage the migration of highly qualified professionals by introducing a new residence title for Germany. The aging population and a shortage of engineers, IT specialists, healthcare staff, etc. have become major challenges.

EU nationals, as well as people from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, don’t need a visa or official permission to hold a job in Germany. However, intra-European migration may not be enough to compensate for the lack of qualified employees. Therefore, getting a work visa (aka “Blue Card EU”) has become easier for selected, well-paid third-country nationals with a university degree.

Nowadays, an employment permit for Germany is usually issued together with their residence permit. Plenty of people holding a German residence permit are allowed to start working in Germany too, unless their residence title explicitly says otherwise.

Nonetheless, immigration laws do remain rather strict. Except for the cases mentioned above, it is not always easy to take up gainful employment.

Moreover, no other document can replace your residence and / or work permit for Germany. Do not consider working without one. If caught, both you and your employer will have to pay high fines. And without such permits, no insurance company will cover you in case of workplace accidents or occupational diseases.

Country of Origin

Acquiring a work permit for Germany strongly depends on your nationality. If you are a citizen of an EU member state, you needn’t apply for one. There are, however, temporary exceptions for citizens of Croatia. They have to get a so-called EU work permit from the Federal Employment Agency. This requirement will be abolished by June 30, 2015, though.

Citizens of other states usually need to apply for a work permit for Germany from abroad, together with their visa. Handing in your application from within Germany is only possible for expats from a few selected countries (e.g. Canada or the US).

Once you kick off the process, the German diplomatic mission will contact the immigration department (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany. In turn, this office gets in touch with the Federal Employment Agency.

The agency can then approve your application, issue the permit, and submit it to the Ausländerbehörde. From there, it is passed on to the diplomatic mission where you have originally applied for your visa.

If you are interested in an employment visa for Germany, go to the nearest German Embassy or Consulate in order to:

  • apply in person
  • bring a valid passport and at least one copy thereof
  • supply several passport photographs
  • pay the required fee
  • provide additional documents (e.g. a certificate of good conduct, a job contract, diplomas and references, etc.).

Details regarding the visa application process may vary according to your country of origin. Please contact your local German Embassy to check the exact requirements.

If you are already employed at the foreign branch office of a German company, this is likely to speed up things. Your employer can help you with the immigration process or provide you with a contract for an intra-company transfer. The latter often makes it a lot easier to obtain a work visa for Germany.





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How to Move to Germany

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If you do not want to completely say goodbye to your own country in order to live in Germany, permanent residency to guarantee you can stay long-term might be a better bet.

Taking up residency in Germany can be a tricky topic that involves a fair bit of paperwork. This article will list the most common types of German residence permits and explain how to register with local authorities upon arrival.

Just like obtaining a German visa, acquiring a German residence permit is strongly tied to your nationality and your reasons for coming to Germany. First of all, nationals of EU or EEA member states do not need a residence permit at all. As long as they move to Germany for work or study or have some way to financially support themselves, they enjoy full mobility within the EU. Upon arrival, they still need to register with the local authorities, though.

For an expat from outside the EU, a residence permit is usually issued for the purpose of employment or education in Germany. It is also possible to get one for joining a spouse or parent living in Germany. However, in the last case, this does not necessarily include permission to work in Germany.

The duration of your residence permit usually reflects your personal situation, i.e. your living and working conditions. Getting an extension is usually not a problem if your situation doesn’t change. For example, if you keep working for the same company year after year, your residence permit should be renewed as a matter of course.

The following article solely focuses on the available types of residence permits. Furthermore, it explains how to register with the local authorities after you’ve moved to Germany.

Types of Residence Permits

All foreign residents from non-EU member states need a residence permit for planned stays longer than 90 days, regardless of their country of origin. A short-term visa for visitors can only be extended under special circumstances, e.g. if you fall seriously ill before your intended date of departure.

Usually, you have to apply for a visa plus a residence permit (and work permit, if necessary) at an embassy or consulate. Nationals from a few selected countries can also obtain these after arriving in Germany. There are just a few exceptions to this rule, especially for asylum seekers and political refugees. Obviously, they don’t have to go through the regular application process via a diplomatic mission.

For a typical expat moving to Germany, the following kinds of residence permits might be of interest:

  • the temporary residence permit,
  • the Blue Card,
  • the EC long-term residence permit, and
  • the permanent settlement permit.

The general requirements for these permits are that you have adequate German skills, can support yourself financially, have health insurance and have no criminal record.

You can apply for what’s called permanent EC residence after living in Germany for five years under some form of limited residence permit (ie a work permit). This permit also means you can live anywhere else in the EU as well.

There’s also a settlement permit. This one does not allow you to move around the EU in the same way, but sometimes you can get it in less than five years.

For the settlement permit, students of a German university can apply two years after graduation. And EU Blue Card holders (people with a gross income over €49,600, or €38,688 depending on the profession) can get permanent residence after working 33 months, or just 21 months with a B1 language certificate.

Plus, self-employed people with a successfully established business can also apply within three years.

Germany also will grant immediate permanent residence to “highly qualified” immigrants, such as scientists, instructors or researchers, who also have firm job offers.

A temporary residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) is the most common type. It’s generally valid for one year. How often it has to be renewed strongly depends on your employment status, your occupation, and your nationality. For example, a US expatriate who has an unlimited job contract with a company based in Germany may receive a permit that needs to be renewed after three years. However, if the same person only has a limited employment contract for the next two years, their residence permit will run out after around two years as well.

As long as your personal situation doesn’t change, the renewal of your residence permit is mostly a formality. However, if you change employers, lose your job, separate from your spouse, etc., all this can impact your residence status. In such cases, it’s best to contact the local Ausländerbehörde (Aliens Registration Office) immediately. You can also consult an immigration lawyer for further advice.

The EU Blue Card is a temporary residence permit plus work permit for highly-qualified employees. It’s easier to apply for than a regular employment visa. At the moment, you need a university degree and a confirmed job offer with an annual salary of EUR 47,600 or more. Expats working in engineering, IT, medical care, or the natural sciences may also qualify for a Blue Card if they earn at least EUR 37,128 per year. An EU Blue Card is normally valid for up to four years. The spouses of Blue Card holders are allowed to live and work in Germany, too. Moreover, it’s easier for expatriates with Blue Cards to obtain a permanent settlement permit.

Settlement Permits

Most foreign residents can apply for a permanent residence permit – a “settlement permit” (Niederlassungserlaubnis) – after five years. Some people may get it sooner: For example, if you are a non-EU national married to a German citizen, you could file your application for a settlement permit after three years. If you have graduated from a German university and hold a temporary residence permit for paid employment, you can even submit your application after two years.

However, you need to fulfill various other conditions: You have to prove some basic knowledge of the German language, Germany’s political system, and German society. Moreover, you need to show that you are able to earn a living and that you have made financial contributions to Germany’s national pension plan for five years. Proof of accommodation is also required.

In a few rare cases, a permanent residence permit is granted at once. For instance, highly qualified people, such as academic teaching and research staff, and scholars, can receive a settlement permit immediately if they can financially support themselves and have adapted well to the local culture.

The so-called “EU long-term residence permit” is almost identical to the German settlement permit. It was mostly introduced to comply with a new EU directive. However, if you obtain the EU long-term residence permit in Germany, this allows you to move to other EU member states. Unlike people with a regular residence permit or settlement permit, you receive full access to the labor market and social security schemes in the European Union.





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German Dual Citizenship

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While most nationalities must denounce their nationality in order to get German citizenship, German law permits certain people to hold two citizenships in certain circumstances.

German dual citizenship can be granted in the following situations:

  • Children with one German and one foreign parent, or a parent who has two citizenships, automatically acquire all the citizenships of their parents.
  • Resettlers of ethnic German descent and their family members (admitted along with them) do not have to renounce their previous citizenship when they acquire German citizenship.
  • Germans who acquire citizenship of another EU country or Switzerland do not automatically lose their German citizenship.

Any child who acquires German citizenship by right of being born in Germany or naturalisation and who holds citizenship elsewhere must decide by age 23 whether to retain their German citizenship or give preference to the other citizenship.

Even if you hold German dual citizenship, you are still wholly viewed as a German citizen by German law and have the same rights as any German citizen. However, if you chose to live in your home country (or any country where you hold citizenship) you will lose your right to claim German consular protection; instead, you will be viewed by your home country as one of its citizens and thus their services apply.

Having a German dual citizenship is not an easy task. You cannot have dual citizenship in Germany unless you belong to one of these groups:

  • You are from an EU country or the former Soviet Union
  • You are from a country which does not allow you to give up your citizenship
  • You are an ethnic German
  • You have parents from the U.S
  • You have obtained permission from the German authorities to retain another citizenship

You could have a dual citizenship, but the country you live in determines what rights you will have. If you live in Germany, the country considers you a German citizen and you are entitled to German services and consular help. However, if you live in the country of your other citizenship, you cannot take advantage of German services and cannot get any help from the German consulate.

However, this does not mean that you can give up your obligations. In many instances, you might be required to pay taxes in both countries where you have your citizenships as well as complete military service as per German law.

Dual Citizenship USA/Germany

Based on U.S and German law, you can have a citizenship of both countries. This can happen only in the instances where the child is born to one American and one German parent. In this case, the child is not required to give up either nationality and can hold both.

However, if the child lives in the U.S, they might have the citizenship of Germany, but cannot take advantage of German services. The other way around applies as well. U.S and German dual nationals are not exempt from military service, and can be required to file taxes in both countries. In addition, they cannot enter the U.S with a German passport and the other way around. They must present the German passport to enter Germany and the U.S passport to enter the U.S.

In another case, if an American citizen applies for naturalization in Germany, the American will have to give up their U.S citizenship to obtain the German one.

Dual Citizenship Germany/UK

As is the case with dual citizenship for U.S and Germany, the same applies to Germany and the U.K. Children born with one parent from the U.K and one from Germany have the right to retain both citizenships.

With the exit of the U.K from the EU though, the matters have become more complicated for those working and living in Germany with a UK citizenship. Germany allows dual citizenships for EU nationals, but now that the U.K will not be in the EU due to Brexit, what will happen is still unclear.

It has been proposed that UK citizens get dual nationalities for Germany so that they can have freedom of movement within the EU. This remains to be solved and is up to whether Germany will allow U.K citizens who apply for German citizenship to keep their U.K citizenship too.

Giving up the German Citizenship

German rules do not allow its citizens to give up the German citizenship. More specifically, if the German citizen wants to renounce their citizenship to avoid obligation to Germany such as taxes or military service, they will not be allowed to do this. So since you cannot give up the citizenship, you can lose it under these circumstances:

  • If you request it from the German authorities and another country has offered you citizenship
  • If a German child is adopted by a foreigner, they will lose German citizenship
  • If you join the military forces of the country where you hold another citizenship without the permission of the German authorities
  • If you obtain another citizenship, you will lose the German citizenship
  • If your citizenship has been obtained through naturalization and you lose it due to illegal activities

Renaturalization of German Citizenship

If you have renounced your German citizenship in the past or have lost it for reasons other than criminal activity, you can apply for renaturalization. The procedure will be the same as with those who apply for naturalization the first time, and you will have to give up all previous citizenships.





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How to Get German Citizenship

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How to Get German CitizenshipGetting German Citizenship is one of the top questions we get so we have decided to summarize the information for those who are willing to get started.

The German Foreign Office quite ominously warns on its website that “German citizenship law is relatively complicated” and that they can only answer “the issues which currently dominate the inquiries”.

Becoming a German will probably mean renouncing your current citizenship, but there’s also the option to gain permanent residency. Find out what works for you.

What does it mean to have German Citizenship?

When you are living in Germany only as a permanent resident, you do not qualify as a citizen of Germany. This puts some restrictions in your status, and that is why so many permanent residents of Germany seek to get citizenship.

Having German citizenship gives you rights and freedoms that non-citizens do not have. You will have these opportunities as a German citizen:

  • The right to vote
  • The right of free movement
  • The right of assembly and association
  • The right of consular protection
  • Unrestricted access to find a job in Germany
  • The right to become a civil servant, etc.

Besides the rights as per the German constitution, you will also have the obligations and duties that each German citizen has. This includes the integration in society, respect for and obedience of all laws, and even German military service.

Types of German Citizenship

Becoming a German citizen is not possible under all circumstances. There are three general instances that can lead to you getting German citizenship.

    • By naturalization
    • By right of blood or in Latin Jus Sanguinis
    • By right of soil or in Latin Jus Soli

Getting citizenship by naturalization implies that you have fulfilled certain requirements that the German government has set and you qualify to apply for German citizenship. The other type, by right of blood or Jus Sanguinis means that you get German citizenship if you are a direct descendant of German citizens. This includes only your parents and no other relatives. By right of soil or Jus Soli means that you are born within the borders of Germany, so in German soil and that is how you get your citizenship.

All people with the exception of EU, EEA, or Swiss nationals, must fulfill requirements and fall into one of these categories for getting German citizenship.

Despite these three instances being quite straightforward, each one of them has its own rules and regulations, which we will discuss further.

German Naturalization

German naturalization means that after a certain period of living in Germany as a permanent resident, you apply to become a citizen. There are many restrictions and requirements for obtaining naturalization, so not everyone can get it.

German Citizenship Requirements for Naturalization

The requirements that you need to fulfill in order to qualify for naturalization are as follows:

  • You must have lived in Germany on a residence permit for at least 8 years, or
  • You must have lived in Germany on a residence permit for 7 years and attended an integration course (this becomes 6 years on special integration circumstances)
  • You must prove German language proficiency of at least B1
  • You must be financially able to support yourself and your family without any help from the state
  • You must be a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record
  • You must pass a citizenship test
  • You must renounce any previous citizenships

Your residence records are in the government system so that will be an easy requirement to fulfill. For financial stability, you can submit bank statements and other documents, which state your financial situation. In addition, you must give up all previous citizenships, except if the other country does not allow it or it is impossible to give it up. This is the case with many countries in conflict, such as Syria.

One of the most important requirements in this case, which you must prove through testing is your language proficiency. You can prove that you know German up to the B1 level required by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, by providing any of these documents:

  • A German language certificate such as the Zertifikat Deutsch
  • A certification that you have obtained through an integration course, such as the “DTZ – German test for immigrants”
  • A certificate which proves you have completed a German secondary school
  • Admissions proof in a German upper secondary school
  • A certificate which proves you have completed at least 4 years of school in German with a passing grade
  • Proof of completion of higher education degrees in German

If you do not have any document, which proves your language proficiency, you can complete a government language test administered by your citizenship authority. Either way, you must know German in order to be eligible for naturalization or any other type of German citizenship.

How to apply for German Citizenship Naturalization?

If you can prove that you meet all the requirements for naturalization, you can begin your application process. All persons over the age of 16 are obliged to apply. Parents and legal guardians of children under 16 years old apply for them. The steps to applying for naturalization are as follows:

Get an application form

Since Germany is a big country, each state and place has their immigration office to apply for naturalization. To begin the process, you must get a naturalization application form from one of the following places:

  • The local immigration office
  • If you live in an urban area, go to the city council
  • If you live in a German district, go to the regional district office
  • The town council or any other local authorities

Fill the application form and start compiling a file with all documents, which prove you meet the requirements.

Pass the German Citizenship Test

To prove that you are ready to gain German citizenship, you must pass the citizenship test. This test includes 33 multiple choice questions on German living, society, rules, and laws, as well as questions specific to the place you live. The test takes one hour and you must answer at least 17 questions correctly to pass the test. When you pass the test, you will get a naturalization certificate, which you can add to your document file.

To prepare for the test, you can take an integration course, use the practice test options of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, or simply read more information on German life and laws.

The German citizenship test costs EUR 25, and the local naturalization office in your area can tell you where your nearest test center is so you can register. You need to bring a form of ID on the test day.

You can be exempt from the naturalization test if you belong to any of these groups:

  • You cannot take the test due to old age, illness, or disability
  • You are under 16 years old
  • You have a higher education degree from a German university in politics, law, or social sciences

Pay the naturalization fees

There are also certain fees associated with applying for German citizenship through naturalization. These are the fees you must pay:

  • Application form for 255 Euros for adults
  • Application form for 51 Euros for children under 16 years old
  • Naturalization/Citizenship test for 25 Euros
  • Citizenship certificate for 25 Euros

Submit all documents

Take the documents which prove you meet naturalization requirements, your application form, the receipts that you have paid all fees, and your naturalization certificate to the office from which you have taken the application form. The officers will go through your case and if approved, you will get the citizenship certificate. The certificate now proves that you are a citizen of Germany and not just a permanent resident.

German Citizenship by Marriage

People who qualify for naturalization are not only those who have had permanent residence in Germany for a specified period of time. If you marry a German citizen you can also get citizenship by applying for naturalization.

Foreign nationals who are already married to a German national must still meet all naturalization requirements and pass the test. However, they should also meet the marriage requirements. This means that the foreign national spouse cannot apply for naturalization unless, the couple has been married for at least two years and have lived in Germany for at least three years.

German Citizenship by Descent

The second type of German citizenship is by right of blood or Jus Sanguinis. This means that you have at least one German parent and it does not take into account whether you were born in Germany or not. You get the German citizenship by descent if your parents register you to the German authorities in the country you are born before you turn one year old. If your parents have different nationalities, you get the German citizenship; however, between the ages of 18 and 23 years old, you will have 5 years to decide which nationality you want to retain.

In addition, if your parents are divorced, then you can get German citizenship by descent only if your parent recognizes you as their legal child by the rules of German law.

You cannot get German citizenship if you were born in a foreign country and your German parents were also born in a foreign country after January 1st, 2000. This rule can be surpassed only if you as the child would be stateless if the German authorities did not accept you and give you a German citizenship. In addition, you cannot claim German citizenship through any other ancestors except your parents, including German citizenship through grandparents.

Another instance where you can get German citizenship through ancestry is if you were adopted by German citizens as a child under 18 years old.

German citizenship by Birth

If you do not have German parents, but are born within the borders of Germany, you qualify for citizenship by birth or by right of soil. This is also the Jus Soli citizenship. You can get this type of citizenship on the following conditions:

  • If at least one of your parents has lived in Germany for at least 8 years before the birth of the child
  • If at the time the child is born, one of the parents had a permanent residence permit

In getting this type of citizenship, the child will again have to choose the citizenship of the parents or the citizenship of Germany between the ages of 18 and 23 years old. The child must give up the nationalities of the parents in order to get the German one, or apply for dual citizenship.

Only children born after February 2nd, 1990, have the right to get this type of citizenship.





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Health Care Providers in Germany

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Germany’s principal health care providers are its physicians, dentists, and three types of hospitals (public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit). The health industry also includes large pharmaceutical companies and the manufacturers of various kinds of medical supplies. Public health departments, which are operated by the Länder, are not an important part of German health care. The public health clinics in the new Länder are being phased out during the integration of the two medical systems.

Germany’s supply of physicians is high. Students who meet academic requirements have a constitutionally guaranteed right to study medicine. This fact, plus an excellent and inexpensive university system, has resulted in the country’s educating physicians at a much higher per capita rate than the United States. Between 1970 and 1990, the number of physicians in the former West Germany more than doubled, and in 1991 the country had 3.2 physicians per 1,000 population, a higher ratio than most other members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (In 1990 the United States rate was 2.3 per 1,000.) With 11.5 physician visits per person per year in 1988, West Germans and Italians went to a doctor more frequently than other Europeans. (In 1989 the United States rate was 5.3 visits per person per year.) Even so, expenditures to physicians per capita amounted to less than half (US$193) of those in the United States (US$414).

German physicians have good incomes (dentists earn even more), although their average earnings have declined from six to three times the average wage since efforts at cost containment began in the 1970s. The high number of physicians could reduce physicians’ earnings still further. In addition, many young physicians face unemployment. The GSG of 1993, for example, mandates a reduction in the number of office-based physicians who treat GKV patients (generally about 90 percent of physicians join the association that allows them this practice). The law also has the long-term goal of limiting the number of specialists in geographic areas where they are overrepresented.

German health care makes a sharp distinction between physicians who provide office-based or ambulatory care and physicians who work in hospitals. Office-based physicians are fee-for-service entrepreneurs whose incomes depend on the amount and kinds of medical care they provide. In contrast, hospital physicians are salaried employees of the hospitals in which they work. Very few hospital physicians are permitted to bill their patients. Until recent health reform legislation, the two types of physicians did not work together. Once an ambulatory-care physician decided that a patient should enter a hospital (only in emergencies could a patient go directly to a hospital), the patient’s care was entirely taken over by a hospital-based physician. When a patient left the hospital, by law he or she again came under the care of an office-based physician. Since the late 1970s, hospital-based physicians have outnumbered ambulatory-care physicians. In 1990 there were about 96,000 of the former and 75,000 of the latter in the old Länder.

The GRG aimed at encouraging a better integration of office and hospital care, but little progress was made. The GSG of 1993 intended to lessen the traditional division by, among other reforms, making it possible for hospital-based physicians to see their patients after their release from the hospital. It is expected that lessening the separation of the types of medical care will reduce overall health care costs, but as of mid-1995 no marked successes in achieving this goal had been noticed. Additionally, new budgeting rules that go into effect in 1996 may cause outpatient surgery, still unusual in Germany, to become more common by making it more profitable for hospitals.

The ownership of hospitals (there were a total of about 3,100 hospitals in the early 1990s) is the outcome of historical development and regional traditions rather than conscious policy and has resulted in three types of hospitals: public, nonprofit, and private for-profit. Each type accounts for about one-third of the hospitals. Public-sector hospitals are mostly owned by the Länder, municipalities, and counties and provide about 50 percent of all hospital beds. Nonprofit hospitals, typically run by Catholic or Protestant organizations, provide about 35 percent of the beds, and for-profit hospitals account for 15 percent.




Germany has too many hospital resources. In 1988 the ratio of 10.9 patient beds per 1,000 population in the former West Germany was higher than the OECD average. The number of admissions as a percentage of the total German population was 21.5 percent, significantly above the OECD average of 16.1 percent. The average length of stay of 16.6 days was below the OECD average but quite high by United States standards. Germany’s inpatient occupancy rate was 86.5 percent, also fairly high by international standards.

The average length of hospital stay in Germany has decreased in recent years from 14 days to 9 days, still considerably longer than average stays in the United States (5 to 6 days). Part of the difference is that the chief consideration for hospital reimbursement is the number of hospital days as opposed to procedures or diagnosis. Drug costs have increased substantially, rising nearly 60% from 1991 through 2005. Despite attempts to contain costs, overall health care expenditures rose to 10.7% of GDP in 2005, comparable to other western European nations, but substantially less than that spent in the U.S. (nearly 16% of GDP)

Between 1972 and 1986, the federal government and the Länder were jointly responsible for hospital policy making, but in 1986 the Land governments once again assumed sole responsibility. Länder own and partially finance medical school hospitals and accredited teaching hospitals. They enforce accreditation and licensing of health facilities and of health professionals working in social services. The Länder are responsible for policy development and implementation of social and nursing services, social assistance, youth services, and social work. Most important, the Länder remain responsible for the effective and efficient allocation and distribution of hospital resources.

According to the statistics  Germany has the highest number of dentists in Europe – 64,287 in 2015.



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List of Universities in Germany – Education in Germany

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Here you will find a list of web addresses for some well known German universities.
Using the list of the universities below as a starting point, you can stand out from other students and you’ll join a fine and amazing elite who attended some of the top German universities.

You should know:

  • Education is free in Germany (unless you go to a private College/University). Most Universities accept international students and some courses are taught in English too.
  • Students who wish to study in Germany must have health insurance and must pay for nursing care. Without insurance, you cannot register for higher education.
  • German Universities have low tuition fee like 500 euros/sem (fees may be higher in private University)
  • Most of the courses are taught in German language but there are an increasing number of English courses (at Master’s level and above! Like Engineering, Sciences, MBA.).
  • A “Universitat” is a doctorate-granting institution.







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Spreuerhofstrasse – World’s Narrowest Street

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New York has Broadway. Paris, the Champs- Elysées. And Reutlingen? The provincial town in south-western Germany has Spreuerhofstrasse. Spreuerhofstrasse in the south-western town of Reutlingen is just 3.80 meters long and listed as the narrowest alley in the world in the Guinness Book of World Records, with a width of just 31 centimetres (12.2 inches).

spreuerhofstrasse-reutlingen2

There’s not much to see in Spreuerhofstrasse. After all, the street is just 3.80 meters (12.5 feet) long. And it isn’t particularly pretty. One has to squeeze past blank walls, and when it’s raining, water drips from the gutter of an old half-timbered house on one side. But tourists from Asia and America flock to inspect the alley, adorned at each end with the sign “Narrowest street in the world” in German and English.

spreuerhofstrasse-reutlingen

The city owes its record to a devastating fire and a city official who was either unfamiliar with his town or extremely slim. The blaze tore through the city in 1726, prompting the authorities to rule that buildings should have gaps between them to stop fires from spreading too quickly. Then, in 1820, a town hall administrator decided to elevate the status of this particular gap to that of a full-fledged public street.

spreuerhofstrasse-reutlingen5

Reutlingen now faces a dilemma that could cost it its global status. The wall of the near-derelict half-timbered house is starting to bulge outwards because water has seeped into the ancient beams.

Technically, that is making the street even narrower, so one might think that Reutlingen’s world record is becoming even more secure. But if it goes on, the street will become so narrow that humans will no longer be able to use it. And Reutlingen would lose its record.

narrow-street-reutlingen2

If the house is torn down, on the other hand, the street will become too wide. The answer is to shore up the building, but so far no one, including the owner, is ready to foot the bill. Building inspectors are to assess the cost of refurbishing the house.
Time is running out. “If nothing happens, the alley will have to be closed — in 2013 at the latest because it won’t stand more than one more winter,” warns local tour guide Eugen Wendler, 73.

Everyone knows that something’s got to happen. After all, what would the world think of a city that can’t hold on to even such a small record?



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The German Constitution

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Das Grundgesetz wird 50The framers of the Federal Republic of Germany’s 1949 constitution sought to create safeguards against the emergence of either an overly fragmented, multiparty democracy, similar to the Weimar Republic (1918-33), or authoritarian institutions characteristic of the Nazi dictatorship of the Third Reich (1933-45). Thus, negative historical experience played a major role in shaping the constitution.

Articles 1 through 19 delineate basic rights that apply to all German citizens, including equality before the law; freedom of speech, assembly, the news media, and worship; freedom from discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or political beliefs; and the right to conscientious objection to compulsory military service. In reaction to the experience of the Third Reich, the framers of the Basic Law did, however, place limits on extremist political activities that might threaten to subvert the democratic political order. Article 18 states: “Whoever abuses freedom of expression of opinion, in particular freedom of the press, freedom of teaching, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, privacy of posts and telecommunications, property, or the right of asylum in order to combat the free democratic basic order, shall forfeit these basic rights.” Article 18 was employed twice in the 1950s to ban political parties of the extreme right and left. Article 18 is seen as an essential component of a wehrhafte Demokratie –a democracy that can defend itself, unlike the Weimar Republic.

Article 20 states that “the Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic and social federal state.” The word “social” has been commonly interpreted to mean that the state has the responsibility to provide for the basic social welfare of its citizens. The Basic Law, however, does not enumerate specific social duties of the state. Further, according to Article 20, “All state authority emanates from the people. It shall be exercised by the people by means of elections and voting and by specific legislative, executive, and judicial organs.”

Most of the Basic Law’s 146 articles describe the composition and functions of various organs of government, as well as the intricate system of checks and balances governing their interaction. Other major issues addressed in the Basic Law include the distribution of power between the federal government and the state governments, the administration of federal laws, government finance, and government administration under emergency conditions. The Basic Law is virtually silent on economic matters; only Article 14 guarantees “property and the right of inheritance” and states that “expropriation shall be permitted only in the public weal.”

Any amendment to the Basic Law must receive the support of at least two-thirds of the members in both federal legislative chambers–the Bundestag (Federal Diet or lower house) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council or upper house). Certain provisions of the Basic Law cannot be amended: those relating to the essential structures of federalism; the division of powers; the principles of democracy, social welfare, and fundamental rights; and the principle of state power based on law. Of the many amendments to the Basic Law, among the most notable are the “defense addenda” of 1954-56, which regulate the constitutional position of the armed forces, and the “Emergency Constitution” of 1968, which delineates wider executive powers in the case of an internal or external emergency.

Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany

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Federalism in Germany

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Federalism-in-GermanyGermany has a strong tradition of regional government dating back to the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Since unification in 1990, the Federal Republic has consisted of sixteen Laender: the ten Laender of the former West Germany, the five new Laender of the former East Germany, and Berlin. (However, Berlin and the eastern Land of Brandenburg are slated to merge in either 1999 or 2002.) The Land governments are based on a parliamentary system. Most Laender have unicameral legislatures, whose members are elected directly by popular vote. The party or coalition of parties in control of the legislature chooses a minister president to lead the Land government. The minister president selects a cabinet to run Land agencies and carry out the executive functions of the Land government. Minister presidents are highly visible national figures and often progress to federal office, either the chancellorship or a position in the federal cabinet.

The Basic Law divides authority between the federal government and the Laender, with the general principle governing relations articulated in Article 30: “The exercise of governmental powers and the discharge of governmental functions shall be incumbent on the Laender insofar as this Basic Law does not otherwise prescribe or permit.” Thus, the federal government can exercise authority only in those areas specified in the Basic Law. The federal government is assigned a greater legislative role and the Land governments a greater administrative role. The fact that more civil servants are employed by Land governments than by federal and local governments combined illustrates the central administrative function of the Laender.

The Basic Law divides the federal government’s legislative responsibilities into exclusive powers (Articles 71 and 73), concurrent powers (Articles 72, 74, and 74a), and framework powers (Article 75). The exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the federal government extends to defense, foreign affairs, immigration, transportation, communications, and currency standards. The federal and Land governments share concurrent powers in several areas, including civil law, refugee and expellee matters, public welfare, land management, consumer protection, public health, and the collection of vital statistics (data on births, deaths, and marriages). In the areas of mass media, nature conservation, regional planning, and public service regulations, framework legislation limits the federal government’s role to offering general policy guidelines, which the Laender then act upon by means of detailed legislation. The areas of shared responsibility for the Laender and the federal government were enlarged by an amendment to the Basic Law in 1969 (Articles 91a and 91b), which calls for joint action in areas of broad social concern such as higher education, regional economic development, and agricultural reform.

All policy areas not assigned to federal jurisdiction are within the legislative purview of the Laender. These areas include education, law enforcement, regulation of radio and television, church affairs, and cultural activities. The Laender retain significant powers of taxation. Most federal taxes are collected by Land officials.

The Land governments also exercise power at the national level through the Bundesrat, which is made up of representatives appointed by the Land governments. In this way, the Laender affect the federal legislative process. Half of the members of the Federal Convention, which elects a federal president, are Land officials, and the Land governments also take part in the selection of judges for the federal courts.




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Development of the Health Care System in Germany

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Nearly everyone residing in Germany is guaranteed access to high-quality comprehensive health care. Statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung–GKV) has provided an organizational framework for the delivery of public health care and has shaped the roles of payers, insurance or sickness funds, and providers, physicians, and hospitals since the Health Insurance Act was adopted in 1883. In 1885 the GKV provided medical protection for 26 percent of the lower-paid segments of the labor force, or 10 percent of the population. As with social insurance, health insurance coverage was gradually extended by including ever more occupational groups in the plan and by steadily raising the income ceiling. Those earning less than the ceiling were required to participate in the insurance program. In 1995 the income ceiling was an annual income of about DM70,00 in the old Länder and DM57,600 in the new Länder.

In 1901 transport and office workers came to be covered by public health insurance, followed in 1911 by agricultural and forestry workers and domestic servants, and in 1914 by civil servants. Coverage was extended to the unemployed in 1918, to seamen in 1927, and to all dependents in 1930. In 1941 legislation was passed that allowed workers whose incomes had risen above the income ceiling for compulsory membership to continue their insurance on a voluntary basis. The same year, coverage was extended to all retired Germans. Salespeople came under the plan in 1966, self-employed agricultural workers in 1972, and students and the disabled in 1975.

The 1883 health insurance law did not address the relationship between sickness funds and doctors. The funds had full authority to determine which doctors became participating doctors and to set the rules and conditions under which they did so. These rules and conditions were laid down in individual contracts. Doctors, who had grown increasingly dissatisfied with these contracts and their limited access to the practice of medicine with the sickness funds, mobilized and founded a professional association (Hartmannbund) in 1900 and even went on strike several times. In 1913 doctors and sickness funds established a system of collective bargaining to determine the distribution of licenses and doctors’ remuneration. This approach is still practiced, although the system has undergone many modifications since 1913.

The formation of two German states in the second half of the 1940s resulted in two different German health systems. In East Germany, a centralized state-run system was put in place, and physicians became state employees. In West Germany, the prewar system was reestablished. It was supervised by the government but was not government run. According to the Basic Law of l949, Germany’s constitution, the federal government has exclusive authority in public health insurance matters and sets broad policy in relation to the GKV. The government’s authority applies in particular to benefits, eligibility, compulsory membership, covered risks (physical, emotional, mental, curative, and preventive), income maintenance during temporary illness, employer-employee contributions to the GKV, and other central issues. However, except for the funding of some benefits and the planning and financing of hospitals, the responsibility for administering and providing health care has been delegated to non-state entities, including national and regional associations of health care providers, Land hospital associations, nonprofit insurance funds, private insurance companies, and voluntary organizations.

Portability of coverage, eligibility, and benefits are independent of any regional and/or local reinterpretations by either insurers, politicians, administrators, or health care providers. Universal coverage is honored by any medical office or hospital. Check-ins at doctors’ offices, hospitals, and specialized facilities are simple, and individuals receive immediate medical attention. No one in need of care can be turned away without running a risk of violating the code of medical ethics or Land hospital laws.

The health care system has achieved a high degree of equity and justice, despite its fragmented federal organization: no single group is in a position to dictate the terms of service delivery, reimbursement, remuneration, quality of care, or any other important concerns. The right to health care is regarded as sacrosanct. Universality of coverage, comprehensive benefits, the principle of the healthy paying for the sick, and a redistributive element in the financing of health care have been endorsed by all political parties and are secured in the Basic Law.

By the mid-1990s, health care benefits provided through the GKV were extensive and included ambulatory care (care provided by office-based physicians), choice of office-based physicians, hospital care, full pay to mothers (from six weeks before to eight weeks after childbirth), extensive home help, health checkups, sick leave to care for relatives, rehabilitation and physical therapy, medical appliances (such as artificial limbs), drugs, and stays of up to one month in health spas every few years. Persons who are unable to work because of illness receive full pay for six weeks, then 80 percent of their income for up to seventy-eight weeks. In an attempt to contain costs, beginning in the 1980s some of these benefits required co-payments by the insured. Although these fees were generally very low, some co-payments were substantial. For example, insured patients paid half the cost of dentures, although most other dental care was paid by health insurance.

The system has managed these achievements relatively economically. In 1992 about 8.1 percent of the gross domestic product went into medical care, or US$1,232 per capita, compared with 12.1 percent of GDP and US$2,354 per capita in the United States. Even so, Germany devoted about one-third of its overall social budget to health care, an amount surpassed only by retirement payments.

The German health care community has made a serious and sustained effort to control the growth of health costs since the mid-1970s. The steep rise in health expenditures in the first half of the 1970s prompted the passage of the Health Insurance Cost Containment Act of 1977. The law established an advisory board, the Concerted Action in Health Care, to suggest non-binding guidelines for health care costs. Chaired by the federal minister for health, its sixty members represent the most important interest groups having a stake in health care. The board has contributed to slowing the growth of health care costs, but further legislation has been necessary.

Modest co-payments for medications, dental treatment, hospitalization, and other items were introduced in 1982 for members of sickness funds. These payments were further increased by the Health Care Reform Act of 1989 (Gesundheitsreformgesetz–GRG) and again by the Health Care Structural Reform Act (Gesundheitsstrukturgesetz–GSG) of 1993.

The average length of hospital stay in Germany has decreased in recent years from 14 days to 9 days, still considerably longer than average stays in the U.S. (5 to 6 days). The difference is partly driven by the fact that hospital reimbursement is chiefly a function of the number of hospital days as opposed to procedures or the patient’s diagnosis. Drug costs have increased substantially, rising nearly 60% from 1991 through 2005. Despite attempts to contain costs, overall health care expenditures rose to 10.7% of GDP in 2005, comparable to other western European nations, but substantially less than that spent in the U.S. (nearly 16% of GDP).

Health care in Germany, including its industry and all services, is one of the largest sectors of the German economy. Direct inpatient and outpatient care equivalent to just about a quarter of the entire ‘market’ – depending on the perspective. A total of 4.4 million people working in this, that means about one in ten employees in 2007 and 2008. The total expenditure in health economics was about 287.3 billion Euro in Germany in 2010, equivalent to 11.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year and about 3.510 Euro per capita.




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