Americans with Ph.D. degrees beware: Telling people in Germany that you're a doctor could land you in jail. Under a little-known Nazi-era law, only people who earn a Ph.D. or medical degree in Germany or any other European Union nation are allowed to use "Dr." as a courtesy title. Violators can face a year behind bars.
What's up in Germany? A 'doc' dispute
March 15, 2008 at 9:19PM
EXHIBIT A: DR. BALDWIN
At least seven U.S. citizens working as researchers in Germany have faced criminal probes in recent months for using the title "Dr." on their business cards, websites and resumes. They all hold doctoral degrees from elite universities back home.
Take, for example, Ian Thomas Baldwin, a Cornell-educated researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, who has stopped calling himself "Dr." ever since he was summoned for interrogation by police two months ago on suspicion of "title abuse." Baldwin called the law "totally absurd" yet confessed in a telephone interview that "there's no question I'm guilty as charged." But he hopes prosecutors will give him a break.
IT'S A GERMAN THING
The proper use of honorifics is no small matter in Germany, a society given to formality where even longtime neighbors insist on addressing each other using their surnames. Those with advanced degrees like to show them off. For example, a male faculty member with two Ph.D. degrees can fully expect to be called "Herr Professor Dr. Dr. Schmidt."
In effect, forcing Americans to forsake their titles amounts to a social demotion. "It's an indication of the hierarchization of German society," said Gary Smith, director of the American Academy in Berlin.
THE LEGAL FALLOUT
The German doctor rule has been in effect since the 1930s, but it has been only sporadically enforced in recent years. That changed last fall, when an anonymous tipster filed a complaint against the Americans.
The criminal investigations have alarmed higher education officials in Germany, where U.S. researchers are in high demand. "This is a completely overdone, mad, absolutely ridiculous situation," said Barbara Buchal-Hoever, head of Germany's central office for foreign education. "We are talking about highly acclaimed researchers here. ... "
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