Addressing a German policeman as Du

New law in Germany means a policeman can fine you 500€ for addressing them as "Du". How's that for a free and democratic country? Mentalism!

Just found out that also includes ALL civil personnel... amazing!

p.s. maybe it's not a new law... not sure.

I'd better alert Singapore to copyright its tagline "Singapore is a FINE country".

As long as I can continue calling bad tempered waitresses at the Oktoberfest 'süßchen' than I am not really bothered.

i hate it when people i don't know or have never seen in my life call me DU. only when they look my age, i go straight away on Du. (it is too complicated to explain as i would say Du to a bartender but a waiter in a restaurant i would say Sie...)
i think anyone who was brought up with Du/Sie or tu/vous makes this distinction.
and as far as i know, this is not a law. this is refering to case of d bohlen who said du to a policeman and the pman felt disrespected...

It's not new but came to the limelight recently because Dieter Bohlen was charged recently for adressing a policeman using "Du"

I think he added the word arschloch as well, which didn't go down too well!
Somehow saying Sie Arschloch wouldn't have helped.

well, some reporter was testing it on tv, being quite polite but using du and he was fined every time...

I dont particularly enjoy being policed and so don't have a huge amount of respect for policemen, i will however comply with their wishes in the interest of social wellbeing...but why should i have to be overly polite...

I read this with half an eye this morning: Seems he got away with the Du bit because he duzes everybody, it's part of his style. Now, can we see some forum members well known for their colorful language being acquitted for the same reason? Prominentenjustiz - if you're a celebrity you get away with it.

Why is that "mentalism"? It's just a sign of disrespect. English speakers aren't aware of it as much, as pointed out by planetmoni, because we didn't grow up with this construct in our language. Also, I don't think this is a new law - I remember hearing about this a long time ago.

its not overly polite its polite according to german grammatics. if your not and treat them like shit cos you think your the dogs bolloxs and are really cool they'll make you life incredably hard. i know and have dealt a fair few police in my time. all have been good honest human beings doing what can sometimes a difficult job. you should respect them for it.

Anyway, isn't the best way to insult someone to use "Sie"? I know there was a great thread about German insults - sort of like when you say "Sie arschloch" - just sounds funnier than "Du arschloch". More pompous - by usuing "du" you are sinking to their level.

Edit: here's the insults thread

I never say Du, I always say do. Fine that!

I love the police and you've just given me a whole new reason to love them even more than before.
Of course I mostly love our plod for this:

As for

Great!
Can such people collect the money directly or would they have to involve the Police as well?

This should be added to the Mohammed cartoons and freedom of speech thread. No freedom to duz a Polizist in Deutschland .

Is there a law regarding shouting at German police officers that Germany did not win the war and they should stop living in the past?

Apparently that is legal

Oh FFS!

I guess there aren't enough thieves, murderers and rapists on the loose that the police have time to worry about whether you address them ad "Du" or "Sie". WTF?

German cops are a bunch of rascist, stupid, fascist fuck-wits.They only stop black/dark skinned people to check them over, never the friendly old guy on the Ü-Bahn with a briefcase full of kiddy-porn or the guy in the nice suit who just happens to be a drug dealer and pimp bringing young girls from somewhere out of the East and putting them on the streets. Please don`t tell me they`re nice I was married to the head of Personnel in the BGS and she told me a few stories I can tell you. They are all pricks and if anybody thinks I`ll get into trouble for writing this don`t worry they can barely read Kraut-speak never mind English.

Wow Sea-King. I suppose as long as you are prepared to back up your claims in a court of law then I guess you may get away with some of that...

What's with the word 'German' mate.

@sea-king: I have found the police over here very polite. I used "du" in the police station and they actually apologised for having to fine me for speeding and then apologised for fining me for driving too close.

When I produced the photograph and pointed out that my car was very clean they actually laughed!! They even laughed when I tried to claim that the driver (me) was my wife and that, sadly, she was very ugly!
Try doing that with the Met...I have and they are a bunch of witless tossers. Still, as I lived opposite an RTO I managed to have one of his colleagues "desked" for a month as he tried to entrap me on the Wendover by-pass using a VAS car!

My friends brother works in a certain branch of the police and was shot on duty by a drugs dealer, he is a very nice chap too. (My friends brother, not the drugs dealer)The dealer is now in jail and is one less person on the street to sell heroin and crack to yours and others children.

I assume you are trying to land someone in hotwater??
to say Du to a policeman is an offence that can get you a hefty fine.
It would have to be a policeman having a bad day to fine a foreigner for saying du, but it has happened.

You can get away with saying Du to a policeman if your name is Dieter Bohlen.

I have no problem at all saying "Du Arsch" to a policeman...

well, I suppose he is my neighbour and good friend !!!

I recommend that if you come across any policemen you dont know, not to say 'du'

I believe it is a 500€ fine or thereabouts. (It was 1000 DM)

but, you can say Sie Arsch and you shouldnt be fined (at least not for saying du)

Im sure you could challenge the fine and get away with it, but is it worth the hassle?

just play it safe and say Sie Arsch

I don't think that's correct, I think you can get a fine for insulting a policeman regardless of how it's said. Using du in any form is considered an insult.

According to Wikipedia, insulting a policeman (or an official in general) has the same legal consequences as insulting anyone else:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beamtenbeleidigung

Pigs pulled me for no seatbelt last week. I flicked into "high-speed-sorry-in-english-with-some-slang-chucked-in-to-confuse" mode.

Seemed to do the trick, along with UK licence. No need to get involved with this talking German game.

Certainly, saying Sie Arsch to a policeman isnt going to make him happy.

Saying Du is, as Eleanor mentioned, an insult as well.

so, in short: be nice and polite to the policemen.

I agree that a clear insult to police or traffic wardens carries a fine, but surely they can not take "du" as an insult, especially when German is not your first language.

Reminds me about a time I did the old "Gareth Hunt Shuffle" to a driver and the cozzers didn't recognise it as a form of swearing. Just my luck!

@ Bexy.

As said, it would be a real nob of a policeman to fine you, but it has happened.

I am ashamed to say that worked for me once in Dresden. They still do not teach "cockney" in German schools so the poor chap just stared blankly at me and let me go.

Cheers Zep...best thing is then, as someone has already mentioned, when talking to plod, be nice.

I think you´d be perfectly safe saying that to an English policeman.

I have heard from a policeman that they and the bums (transients, then) are all on a Du-basis. Dunno if that applies to the Arsch-thing as well.

That du/Sie will be applied by a policeman here on a very selctive basis. If a bum decided to go down the "du arsch" road he might find himself becoming very intransient.

Du in that type of situation sends out two messages, either that the policeman and the transient are equals which lets some of the tension out of the situation or that the policeman is superior to the transient. the policeman is the one in control.

Seeing that the policeman told the bum "Schleich di, sonst kriagst a bayerische Doppelwatschn"* I suppose the second alternative is right.

*Beat it or you'll get a Bavarian double slap upside the head.

Or just drop the Sie and du, and call'em an Blödes arschloch..
Figures if your gonna get fined for it, you outta make it count...

Other Intresting / Usefull phrases can be found Here

TT Munich
Schleich di, sonst kriagst a bayerische Doppelwatschn

I'd like it on a t-shirt please.

Doesnt matter what you say they will fabricate the story against you anyway, bloody filth should go catch some real criminals.

Hey, I got the guy demoted for threatening and rough-handling the bum. The least you can do is order a silk t-shirt with gold sequins. (Yes, I liked the remark, too. But not the way he knocked the bum around.)

Ah my bad, I didnt read the background. Im not a silk and sequins with a logo person. Hows about a 3/4 sleeve jersey? It'll make me *look* like I do sport and if the tabloids have taught me anything, its cool to look sporty.

Strange, You get fined for saying "Du" to a policeman but can get away with accusing them of living in the past, insulting them greatly before speeding off whilst the run away screaming. Amazing

How about referring to them as Doosie? If German is not your first language you could always say you were not sure whether you should say "Du" or "Sie", so you said both. "Doosie" sounds a litte like a derogative word, but you could get away with it.

The problem is that the Sie form of a verb is simpler that the other forms. You might as well call them dog doo if you are trying to get away with that kind of a story.

Reply to the title of this thread: Quite simply ridiculous!

I personally would never speak to a police officer at all in German - find this works just great. Either they speak to you in a very respectful way in english ( and suddenly obtain quite a sense of humour ) or they tell you they cannot speak english. Either way, the problem that started the encounter generally disappears.

Even worked the time I gave the finger to two undercover police who I cut off at a green light and they gave the typical annoying 10 second German horn. After chasing me around for about 10 blocks / a couple more middle fingers / a couple run red lights / one attempt to go around them when they stuck the orange stick ( had no idea what that was ) out the window / then my finally stopping and having them stick their 9 mm's in my face - the end result was "next time you are in the area ( had english plates still ) - be a little more quiet"!

Other auslanders ( the ones with darker skin ) tell me that a simular police encounter for them would be "every police officer's dream" and they wouldn't expect their families to hear from them for some weeks!