German obsession with email signatures

Has anyone else noticed that the folks around here are obsessed with the email signature/footer. They insist on having all sorts of legal information (register number, Managing Directors, etc). My signature is longer than most of my emails.

I just got reprimanded by the secretary because I did not have all of this nonsense in mine. The problem is, my company is going through a merger where we have a new name for marketing purposes (on my business cards, on the front of the building, my email address, etc), but they still keep the old company name for "legal purposes." They insist on putting the old company name in the email footer, even though it confuses all of our customers.

Am I the only one experiencing this stupid aspect of German business culture? I want to "jump out the window" as my colleagues say.

Its a legal requirement not an obsession. Although therefore by definition as soon as it becomes a legal requirement most Germans become obsessive about it...

Yes, it's law. See the related TT discussion: Signatures at the bottom of company e-mails, now required by law in Germany

Not sure though that its just a German phenomena. Sure long sigs with lines of info and legalese appeal to the German mind, but Ive seen plenty of UK and US corporate email sigs that are as long if not longer. Including all the garb about "if this email is not intended for you then you are not permitted to take any action based upon the contents bla bla".

On a related issue, one thing I find amusing and irritating by turns is the "Keine Haftung für externe Links, according to the decision of some Landesgericht or other I must include this warning otherwise I will be held accountable for my external links" or-words-to-that-effect warning which lots of German websites include on their pages.

As Editor Bob says, its law.

There is even a law firm advertising goods for sale and only accepting email correspondance.

If a firm replies but does not have their official signature (and 100% legal one at that) the law firm persue them for cash etc.

Its just another way in which some low life lawyer types can make a living (of course not all lawyer are like this, just the low life type).

Is there a statistic on the low life to not so low life ratio with the lawyer breed?

I think a straw poll on any street would poss come up with a figure lower than 10% non low-life

However I think in reality these people are in the minority.

Well, one can hope.

Yeah I find this long legal signature quite funny. Our company knowing full well that we as employees would never put up with including the signature all the time, worked it out with IT to have it automatically added to all of our emails. At least they did this to emails only going out of the company.