sebastian-software Effective German Typography
Apply these rules when writing or editing German text. Apply changes silently unless it's a larger transformation task, then provide a short summary.
Important: Only apply to visible rendered text. Do not modify code, attribute values, or content intended for copy-paste into source files. Typography rules are suspended inside Markdown code blocks and inline code.
Quick Reference
| Character | Unicode | Name | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| „ | U+201E | Opening quote (DE/AT) | „Beispiel" |
| " | U+201C | Closing quote (DE/AT) | „Beispiel" |
| ‚ | U+201A | Opening single quote | ‚nested' |
| ' | U+2018 | Closing single quote | ‚nested' |
| « | U+00AB | Opening guillemet (CH) | «Beispiel» |
| » | U+00BB | Closing guillemet (CH) | «Beispiel» |
| ‹ | U+2039 | Single guillemet open | ‹nested› |
| › | U+203A | Single guillemet close | ‹nested› |
| – | U+2013 | En dash | Ranges, Gedankenstrich |
| − | U+2212 | Minus sign | Math only |
| … | U+2026 | Ellipsis | Not three periods |
| ' | U+2019 | Apostrophe | Klaus' Haus, O'Brien |
| × | U+00D7 | Multiplication | 5 × 3 |
| U+00A0 | Non-breaking space | Before units, % | |
| U+2009 | Thin space | Abbreviations, numbers | |
| ẞ | U+1E9E | Capital Eszett | STRAẞE (DE/AT) |
| ′ | U+2032 | Prime (feet) | 5′ |
| ″ | U+2033 | Double prime (inch) | 10″ |
Core Rules
Quotation Marks
Germany/Austria: „Anführungszeichen" with ‚single quotes' for nested.
„Er sagte: ‚Komm morgen.'"
Switzerland: «Guillemets» with ‹single› for nested.
«Er sagte: ‹Komm morgen.›»
For quotations nested beyond two levels, ask the user for preference.
Dashes
| Type | Character | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyphen | - | Compound words | Müller-Schmidt |
| En dash (no space) | – | Ranges | 2020–2025, 9–17 Uhr, S. 15–20 |
| En dash (with spaces) | – | Gedankenstrich | Das Wetter – so schön heute – war perfekt. |
| Minus | − | Math formulas | 5 − 3 = 2 |
Avoid em dash (—). Use en dash with spaces for Gedankenstrich.
Spaces with Numbers and Units
Use non-breaking space (thin space preferred) between number and unit:
5 kg, 20 °C, 100 km/h, 50 €, 25 %, 30 ‰
Currency: Symbol after number with space: 50 €
Percent/Permille: Space before symbol: 25 %
Plus/minus: No space after: ±5 %
Section sign: Non-breaking space: § 123
Large Numbers
Prefer thin spaces (DIN 5008): 1 000 000
Periods acceptable based on context: 1.000.000
If context is unclear, ask user with preference for thin spaces.
Decimal separator: Always comma: 3,14
Apostrophe
Use typographic apostrophe (U+2019):
Klaus' Haus
So'n Quatsch
O'Brien, McDonald's
Ellipsis
Use single ellipsis character (…), not three periods:
Er dachte nach …
At sentence end, four dots (ellipsis + period):
Er sagte noch etwas … .
In brackets for omissions: […]
Abbreviations
Use thin space (or regular space) after periods in abbreviations:
z. B., d. h., u. a., usw., etc.
At sentence end, only one period:
Das gilt für Bücher, Zeitschriften usw.
Ordinal Numbers
Period after number, non-breaking space before following word:
1. Platz
der 3. Mai
Time and Date
Time: 24-hour format with colon: 14:30 Uhr
Time ranges: En dash without spaces: 9–17 Uhr, 14:00–15:30
Date: Standard format DD.MM.YYYY: 24.12.2024
Footnotes
- Place directly after the word/phrase the footnote refers to
- If referring to whole sentence, place after punctuation
Laut Müller¹ ist dies korrekt.
Die Theorie wurde widerlegt.²
Multiplication Sign
Use × (U+00D7) not x:
5 × 3 = 15
Bildgröße: 10 × 15 cm
Prime Marks
Keep distinct from quotes for measurements:
5′ 10″ (5 feet 10 inches)
Spacing Rules
Plenken (wrong): Space before punctuation → Avoid Klempen (wrong): Missing space after punctuation → Avoid
Wrong: Das ist falsch , oder ?
Right: Das ist falsch, oder?
No space before colon (unlike French):
Beispiel: So ist es richtig.
Non-breaking Elements
Use non-breaking space/hyphen to prevent unwanted line breaks:
- Before units:
50 € - Before percent:
25 % - In phone numbers:
030 123 45 67 - After section sign:
§ 123 - After ordinals:
1. Platz
Use non-breaking hyphen in:
- Phone numbers:
030‑12345 - ISBN numbers
Advanced Typography
Apply only where the format supports it (rich text, CSS):
Small Caps
Use for acronyms and Roman numerals in body text for visual harmony:
<span class="small-caps">NATO</span> <span class="small-caps">XVII</span>.
Jahrhundert
Ligatures
In serif fonts, enable ligatures for: ff, fi, fl, ft
Not applicable to sans-serif fonts.
Regional Variants
Default: Germany German
Only apply Swiss or Austrian rules when there's a clear hint from user or context.
Swiss German (CH)
- Quotation marks: «Guillemets» and ‹single›
- No Eszett: ß → ss (Straße → Strasse)
Austrian German (AT)
- Same as Germany German
- Use capital Eszett in all-caps: STRAẞE
Germany German (DE)
- Quotation marks: „Anführungszeichen" and ‚single'
- Use capital Eszett in all-caps: STRAẞE
Format-Specific Guidance
HTML Entities vs Unicode
Check existing context:
- If HTML entities present (
–,„), use entities - If Unicode characters present, use Unicode
- If unclear, ask user; default to Unicode
Common entities:
| Character | Entity |
|---|---|
| „ | „ |
| " | “ |
| – | – |
| … | … |
| × | × |
|
|
  |
Markdown/Plain Text
Use Unicode characters directly.
JSX
Use Unicode in visible text content. Do not modify string literals in code or attributes.
Related References
- Print Typography — Page layout, hyphenation, and PDF generation