Block 10

At Christmas in Germany people decorate a fir tree with baubles, tinsel, and lights. Coloured eggs belong to Easter, costumes to carnival, and pumpkins to Halloween.

Polygamy is prohibited and punishable in Germany. All the other arrangements listed are permitted: remarriage after divorce, same-sex partnerships, and single parents all stand on an equal footing.

The youth welfare office is the right place to turn for parenting problems. It advises free of charge and refers families to further support. The health office and the registration office have different remits.

The secrecy of correspondence is guaranteed by Article 10 of the Basic Law and also covers telephone and email. Deliberately opening someone else's post is an offence under § 202 of the Criminal Code: professional confidentiality, by contrast, concerns doctors and similar professions.

A divorce is always granted by the family court, where legal representation is mandatory: at least the spouse filing the petition must be represented by a lawyer. The consent of parents or children is irrelevant.

You can complain to the head of the authority about poor treatment by its staff: a formal supervisory complaint. It is informal, free of charge, and not subject to a deadline. Making threats would itself be a criminal offence.

Rejecting an applicant solely because she is a mother is discrimination on grounds of sex and prohibited under the General Equal Treatment Act. Lacking language skills, professional experience, or salary expectations are, by contrast, objective criteria.

Rejecting an applicant solely because of a disability is prohibited. Accountancy can be done from a wheelchair, and employers are in fact obliged to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace.

House rules set out how residents live together in a rented building: quiet hours, stairwell cleaning, waste disposal, and use of the cellar and laundry room. They usually form part of the tenancy agreement and are binding on all residents.

You can file an appeal (Einspruch) against a tax assessment with the tax office (Finanzamt) within one month. Only if the appeal fails can you sue at the Finanzgericht (tax court). A demonstration or a letter to the mayor will not change the assessment.

Barring someone because of their skin colour violates the right to equal treatment under Article 3 of the Basic Law and is prohibited under the General Equal Treatment Act, including for private providers. Those affected can claim damages.

Serving as a poll worker is obligatory: anyone appointed by their municipality must take on the role. You may decline only for good reason, such as illness or unavoidable professional duties.

Against an incorrect official notice you lodge an objection with the issuing authority: in writing and normally within one month. The instructions on remedies at the end of the notice give the deadline and address. Ignoring it makes the notice final.

Because technology and the world of work change quickly, lifelong learning is necessary: further training, retraining, adult education courses, or in-company development. A school-leaving certificate no longer suffices for a whole working life.

Value added tax is paid when shopping, not out of your salary: it is included in the price of goods and services. What is deducted from gross pay is income tax and social insurance contributions.

The works council represents the workforce vis-à-vis management. It is elected by the employees and has codetermination rights over working hours, holiday planning, hiring, and dismissals. It can be elected in companies with five or more employees.

If you resign, you must observe the notice period: four weeks to the 15th or the end of the month by law, and often longer under an employment or collective agreement. Notice must also be given in writing with a handwritten signature.

Germany's particular responsibility toward Israel arises from the National Socialist crimes against Jews. Around six million people were murdered in the Holocaust. From that historical guilt the Federal Republic derives its special relationship with Israel, often described as part of German raison d'état.

Rejecting an applicant solely because of skin colour is discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin and prohibited under the General Equal Treatment Act. Language skills, experience, and salary expectations are, by contrast, objective selection criteria.

With a faulty new appliance you complain to the seller and invoke the statutory warranty: first you are entitled to repair or replacement, and after that to a price reduction or cancellation. The warranty runs for two years.

Members of the Catholic and Protestant churches and some other religious communities pay church tax, usually 8 or 9 percent of their income tax. The state collects it and passes it on. Anyone not belonging to a church does not pay it.

Religious tolerance means freedom of belief under Article 4 of the Basic Law: everyone may believe what they wish, change religion, or belong to no religion at all. The state remains neutral throughout.

At Easter in Germany people paint eggs and hide them for children. Easter is the most important Christian festival, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus; the egg and the hare are regarded as symbols of new life.

Pentecost is a Christian holiday 50 days after Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. Whit Sunday and Whit Monday are public holidays throughout Germany.

Christianity has shaped European and German culture, values, legal system, calendar, architecture (cathedrals), and art over ~1500 years. Today about half of Germans are members of a Christian church, but the constitution guarantees freedom of religion for everyone.

Advent covers the four Sundays before Christmas and prepares for the festival. Typical features are the Advent wreath with four candles, the Advent calendar, and Christmas markets.

The largest immigrant group in Germany comes from Turkey. It goes back above all to the recruitment agreement of 1961; today around three million people with Turkish roots live in Germany.

The GDR brought in "contract workers", chiefly from friendly socialist states: Vietnam, Poland, Mozambique, Cuba, and Angola. They mostly lived in hostels and were barely integrated into society.

The foreign workers recruited in the 1950s and 1960s were called Gastarbeiter ("guest workers"). The name implied a temporary stay: in fact many stayed permanently and brought their families over.

West Germany signed its first recruitment agreement with Italy in 1955. Spain and Greece followed in 1960, Turkey in 1961, then Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia.