Lesson 25: Formelle Korrespondenz: complaints with style

Dialogue: Two neighbours draft a complaint to the city about an unlit, uneven footpath

Words and phrases

Grammar

Register: from everyday to formal

Formal correspondence with public bodies follows a recognisable register: it is factual, impersonal, precise and free of emotional or colloquial expressions. Typical features are the nominal style, passive and impersonal constructions, Konjunktiv II for requests and fixed phrases. Contractions (hab, gibt's), exclamation marks and rhetorical questions are avoided.

Both Bezug nehmend and bezugnehmend are accepted spellings. Many modern style guides, however, recommend a full sentence instead of an opening participle phrase, because Bezug nehmend auf Ihr Schreiben teile ich Ihnen mit … sounds old-fashioned. Ich nehme Bezug auf Ihr Schreiben vom … or Vielen Dank für Ihr Schreiben vom … is clearer.

The structure of a formal complaint

A complaint to a public body should be easy to process: the reader must see at once what it is about, which case it belongs to and what you are asking for. A tried-and-tested structure:

• Sender, recipient and date: address the responsible office (zuständige Stelle) as precisely as possible.
• Subject line: topic, location and case number. In modern German letters, the word Betreff itself is usually left out; the subject is simply written in bold.
• Salutation: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, or the name of the contact person. After the comma, the first word continues in lower case.
• Introduction: reference to earlier contact and the purpose of the letter.
• Sachverhalt: facts in chronological order, with dates, places and numbers, without accusations.
• Consequences and reasons: why the problem matters, and for whom.
• Anliegen: a concrete request and, if appropriate, a reasonable time frame.
• Closing: Mit freundlichen Grüßen without a comma, signature, then Anlagen (enclosures).

Keep the letter to one page if you can. Officials deal with many cases, and a short, well-organised letter is much more likely to be handled quickly than a long emotional one.

Set phrases for every part of the letter

Formal letters rely heavily on fixed phrases (Textbausteine). Learning a few for each part saves time and makes your letter sound confident. Vary them so that the text does not sound mechanical.

Note the fixed prepositions: sich an jemanden wenden, Bezug nehmen auf (+ Akk.), um etwas bitten, für etwas dankbar sein. Mistakes with these are among the most common in otherwise good C1 letters.

Practice

Writing task

Good to know

German public administration runs largely on written communication, and a well-structured letter or email is often the most effective way to get a problem solved. Many cities offer online forms or apps for reporting defects such as broken street lights, potholes or illegal rubbish dumps. If a report is not dealt with, a polite written complaint that refers to the earlier report and the case number is the usual next step.

There are also further channels. Local councils and district representatives can be contacted about problems in the neighbourhood, and every federal state parliament has a petitions committee to which anyone can turn. Some states and cities have citizens' ombudspersons (Bürgerbeauftragte). Which channel is right depends on the problem and the place, so it is often worth asking first which office is responsible (Wer ist hierfür zuständig?). A calm, factual tone is almost always more effective than an angry one.

Can you do this now?

Related: German C1 lessons · Register converter exercises · German letter explainer