German citation styles are two systems, not one style, and each chair (Lehrstuhl) sets its own version. The footnote system, deutsche Zitierweise, puts the reference at the foot of the page; the author-date system, which German guides call Harvard or the "amerikanische Zitierweise", puts a name and year in brackets. EdCitation publishes this guide. Every rule was read in German on 26 September 2026; translations are ours.
The rules come from ten university guides, Köln to Zürich, and DIN's catalogue. All say one thing first: ask your department. EdCitation's free Verify references checks a German-language list against the publishers' records; the last section quotes what it returned.
What are the two ways of citing at German-speaking universities?
A footnote system and an author-date system, and the choice is the department's. The Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg (n.d.) writing centre names them "Beleg im Text" (reference in the text) and "Beleg als Fußnote" (reference as a footnote), and says to ask the lecturer which is preferred (our translations).
The split follows the subject, loosely. The history guides read here are built on footnotes; the economics writing advice at Universität Mannheim (2014) says Harvard is gaining ground in economics and recommends it; law has footnote rules of its own. Vienna's history pages add that institutes and journals each have their own rules, and yours must be consistent (Universität Wien, n.d.). The footnote's German history is in who invented the footnote.
How does the German footnote system work?
A raised number sends the reader to a note at the foot of the page. Munich, Vienna, Bern and Zürich say every note starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, and Köln insists on the full stop.
The Vollbeleg: the first mention
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (2021) puts the rule in one line: "Jede Erstnennung erfordert ein Vollzitat, jede weitere ein Kurzzitat", every first mention needs a full citation, every later one a short citation (our translation). Universität zu Köln (2026) asks for the full entry "so, wie sie auch im Quellen- oder Literaturverzeichnis auftaucht", as it appears in the bibliography, plus the page. In Köln's pattern, with a book we checked by its ISBN:
¹ Osterhammel, Jürgen, Die Verwandlung der Welt. Eine Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, München 2009, S. 145.
For an article, the whole page range, then "hier:" and the page meant:
² Frevert, Ute, Was haben Gefühle in der Geschichte zu suchen?, in: Geschichte und Gesellschaft 35 (2009), S. 183–208, hier: S. 192.
The page numbers show the form only.
The Kurzbeleg: every later mention
In Köln, Munich, Vienna and Hildesheim, the short form is the surname and a short title, kept the same throughout: "Osterhammel, Verwandlung der Welt, S. 149." Köln and Munich suggest no more than about three words; Hildesheim takes the first noun of the title ("Albrich, Exodus, S. 250 f."). Freiburg's writing centre uses surname, year and page instead, and even the name varies: Kurzbeleg, Kurzzitat, Kurztitel.
Ebd. and a.a.O.
Ebd. (ebenda, "in the same place") stands for the work in the note directly before. Köln says that without a page it means the same page, and "Vgl. ebd." marks a paraphrase. Munich adds a trap: after a note naming several works, ebd. is barred, since no one can tell which it means. Bern allows it only for a repeat directly after, on the same manuscript page.
A.a.O. (am angegebenen Ort) means "at the place cited", much as op. cit. means "in the work cited". Universität Hildesheim (n.d.) forbids it outright: "Kein a.a.O." No other guide read here offers it; they use the short title. The Latin family is in ibid., op. cit. and loc. cit. explained.
Where the number goes
Munich puts it after the punctuation when it covers the whole sentence, and straight after a word or phrase when it covers only that. Zürich's law guide calls before or after the punctuation "umstritten", disputed, and asks only for consistency.
How do German universities teach Harvard?
As a short reference in brackets, surname and year with no comma between them, then the page after "S." or a colon. Freiburg's example is "(Kornmeier 2008, S. 153)", with "(Kornmeier, 2008, 153)" and "(Kornmeier 2008: 153)" as alternatives. Vienna calls the system the "amerikanische, Harvard- oder sozialwissenschaftliche Zitierweise": the American, Harvard or social-science way of citing.
Only the name and year are fixed
Mannheim's economics guide says the author and the year are compulsory, and everything else, punctuation included, "unterliegen keinen festen Regeln", follows no fixed rules (our translation). Its accepted forms include "Schmidt/Müller 2000: S. 12." and "SCHMIDT/MÜLLER 2000, S. 12."; pick one. Two authors take a slash, as in footnotes; three or more are all named at first, then "et al.".
Not the Harvard of English universities
German Harvard is a family of house styles, not one manual. Cite Them Right, the Harvard of many UK universities (see the Harvard referencing guide), writes "(Frevert, 2009, p. 192)". Vienna's examples mix "(Kriedte 1980)" and "(Schmale, 2003)" on one page.
How do the two systems compare, element by element?
From the guides above:
| Element | Footnote style (deutsche Zitierweise) | Author-date style (Harvard) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the text | A raised number | Surname, year, page in brackets | ¹ / (Frevert 2009, S. 192) |
| First mention | Full reference and page (Vollbeleg) | The short form, every time | Frevert, Ute, Was haben Gefühle in der Geschichte zu suchen?, in: Geschichte und Gesellschaft 35 (2009), S. 183–208, hier: S. 192. |
| Later mentions | Surname, short title, page (Kurzbeleg) | Unchanged | Osterhammel, Verwandlung der Welt, S. 149. |
| Same work in the next note | Ebd., with a new page if needed | Name and year again: both are compulsory (Mannheim) | Ebd., S. 150. |
| A paraphrase | Vgl. in many guides | Vgl. unusual (Mannheim) | Vgl. ebd. |
| Two pages | S. 145f.; "ff." refused by Köln and Bern, both by Munich | 145f. after a colon or comma | (Frevert 2009: 192f.) |
| The list | Literaturverzeichnis, alphabetical, first names in full | Alphabetical, initials, year after the name | Osterhammel, J. (2009). Die Verwandlung der Welt. Eine Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. München. |
| Checking the list | EdCitation's Verify references, free | The same | See the last section |
What goes in the Literaturverzeichnis?
Every work you cited and nothing else, alphabetically by surname. Munich asks for all authors and editors, no numbering, and full page ranges for articles and chapters but none for books.
Sources before literature
Munich and Bern put a separate list of primary sources (Quellenverzeichnis) before the literature. German abbreviations replace English ones: Hildesheim gives "Ed. = Hrsg." and "p., pp. = S."; editions are "Aufl.". Other styles' names for the list are in reference list, bibliography or works cited.
Law puts it first
In a law Hausarbeit the list comes first. Trier's university library says it "steht am Anfang der Arbeit", stands at the start of the paper, and Zürich places it in the front matter with the contents and a list of abbreviations covering journals and statutes (our translations).
What is DIN ISO 690, and is it still current?
DIN ISO 690:2013-10 is the German adoption of ISO 690:2010, the international standard for references and citations, and DIN's catalogue marks it withdrawn. Issued in October 2013 (47 pages), it replaced DIN 1505-2:1984-01, swapping outdated national rules for international ones and adding electronic resources. The PDF costs €130.90 (DIN Media, n.d.-a).
What replaced it
The same page says the issuing body recommends ISO 690:2021-06. DIN Media (n.d.-b) sells that edition in English, its original language: 160 pages, €259.90.
What we could not read
Both texts are sold and we have not read them, so we could not confirm which in-text systems the standard allows. DIN's page does say the standard covers citations in Latin script, and is "nicht anwendbar auf Zitierungen von Gesetzesstellen", not applicable to citations of legal provisions, which have rules of their own (our translation).
Where you meet it
In house styles. Ernst & Sohn (2023), a civil-engineering publisher, bases its template on DIN ISO 690:2013-10 yet numbers entries Vancouver fashion, so "DIN ISO 690" in a brief leaves the in-text system open: ask.
How do law students cite statutes and commentaries?
With law's own conventions, set by the chair. Universität Heidelberg (2023) calls its guide "keine konzertierten Regeln der Juristischen Fakultät", not rules agreed by the faculty (our translation).
In Germany
- Statutes. Heidelberg cites the exact provision, then the statute: § 433 Abs. 2 BGB, or § 433 II BGB, never both forms in one paper. An opening note may say that unlabelled paragraphs are from the BGB.
- Commentaries. Universität Trier (2019) gives the editor, a slash and the author of the passage, the commentary's short title and the provision, ending with the margin number (Rn.) rather than a page: "MüKo BGB/Ernst, § 323 Rn. 122."
- Cases. Trier cites the official reports by volume, first page and page cited: "BGHZ 111, 75, 82."
- Journals. Author, journal abbreviation, volume or year, first page, then the page cited in brackets: "Oetker, AcP 212/2012, 202 (210)."
- What not to cite. Trier's library calls the scripts of commercial exam-cramming courses (Repetitorien) "nicht zitierfähig", not citable (our translation).
In Switzerland
Universität Zürich (2013) keeps the note shorter still: the author's surname, usually in small capitals, and the page or margin note ("MÜLLER, S. 87."). A commentary becomes "STAEHELIN, BSK-SchKG II, Art. 288 Rz. 8.", Swiss "Rz." where Germany writes "Rn.", and federal court decisions are cited by their official report, "BGE 125 I 431". It warns that a paper with formal defects is "ungenügend", insufficient, however good its content.
Which EdCitation tools work for German citation styles?
Verify references, Find sources and Check your paper work with any style. Verify references is the best tool for a German list, because it looks every entry up in the publisher's record, which no chatbot can do; that is how it caught a wrong DOI in a publisher's own template. EdCitation never writes any part of a paper, and gives no grade. The tools below are free with no account; a free account keeps your lists.
Verify references on a German list
We pasted five German-language entries, set out as Munich's guide sets a bibliography, into Verify references. It marks each verified, doubtful ("check this") or not found, and never shows one it could not check as not found. What came back:
- Osterhammel, with ISBN 978-3-406-58283-7: verified. "The ISBN leads to this book in a library catalogue, and its title matches."
- Schäfer (2015), with the DOI printed in Ernst & Sohn's template: "check this": "The DOI is real, but it belongs to a different article from the one described". It named that article, Unterbuchberger and Müller's "Toleranzen und Vorhaltemaß der Betondeckung…" (2015). Schäfer's own DOI, 10.1002/stab.201510259, verified.
- Frevert, with the correct DOI: verified: "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches." The German form, colon after the name and ", in:" before the journal, was read as written.
- Freytag and Piereth, Kursbuch Geschichte (Paderborn 2011), the book Munich's guide rests on: not found, and again when we added its ISBN. The book is real: the German National Library (DNB) lists it under ISBN 978-3-8252-3548-2. Search the DNB before trusting "not found" on a German book.
- Unterbuchberger and Müller, with that same DOI: "check this": "This is the same work as entry 4." Fair, since one DOI stood for two entries.
Umlauts and ß came through whole, and in a later run the Swiss spelling "Vorhaltemass" for "Vorhaltemaß" verified.
Find sources in German
Find sources searches about 300 million published works. Given "Erinnerungskultur Geschichtspolitik Deutschland", it reported 103,939 records. First came Thorsten Loch's article on barracks names in the Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, dated 2023 in its record though its DOI and volume are 2024's. Seventh was Aleida Assmann's Der lange Schatten der Vergangenheit (Beck, 2006), which Munich's guide cites in its 2014 second edition: cite the edition you read. Fourth was a book review listed as an authorless article.
Check your paper on a German brief
Check your paper reads an assignment's instructions into a checklist. Given the formal part of Zürich's law guide in German, 432 words setting 20 to 25 pages, 12-point type and 1.5 spacing, it returned no rules and set nothing aside: it does not read German instructions yet. Our English translation of three sentences gave five rules, though "right margin 4 cm" became a rule for every margin (1.57 in). Checking the paper against its brief is Theoretics QA, part of Max at $24 a month.
Cite a source: a starting point only
Cite a source builds APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver, and nothing else: no German footnotes and no DIN ISO 690. For a German author-date paper, start from its Harvard or APA entry and adjust it by hand. From the ISBN, Harvard gave "Osterhammel, J. (2009) Die Verwandlung der Welt: eine Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. München: Beck.", cited in the text as "(Osterhammel, 2009)": drop the comma and add "S." and the page. Its MLA and Chicago entries kept the title's German capitals, nouns only, as MLA asks (Modern Language Association, 2018).
Quick questions
What is the difference between Vollbeleg and Kurzbeleg?
The Vollbeleg is the full reference in a source's first footnote; the Kurzbeleg is the short form in every later note, usually surname, short title and page.
Can I still use a.a.O. in a German footnote?
Avoid it. Hildesheim's history institute rules it out, and Köln, Munich and Vienna use a short title instead, keeping ebd. for the note directly before.
Is DIN ISO 690 still valid?
DIN's catalogue marks DIN ISO 690:2013-10 withdrawn and recommends ISO 690:2021-06, sold in English. Publishers such as Ernst & Sohn still name it, so follow the brief.
Does Harvard at a German university match UK Harvard?
Not exactly. German guides mostly write "(Frevert 2009, S. 192)", without a comma and with "S.", and treat punctuation as a house choice; Cite Them Right writes "(Frevert, 2009, p. 192)".
Can EdCitation check a German reference list?
Yes. EdCitation's Verify references checks each entry against the records, free, and in our test it caught a wrong DOI; books missing from its catalogue need a second look.
References
- DIN Media. (n.d.-a). DIN ISO 690:2013-10: Information und Dokumentation, Richtlinien für Titelangaben und Zitierung von Informationsressourcen (ISO 690:2010). Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://www.dinmedia.de/de/norm/din-iso-690/190805484
- DIN Media. (n.d.-b). ISO 690:2021-06: Information and documentation, guidelines for bibliographic references and citations to information resources. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://www.dinmedia.de/en/standard/iso-690/342324774
- Ernst & Sohn. (2023). Literaturverzeichnisse nach DIN ISO 690: Vorlage [PDF]. https://www.ernst-und-sohn.de/sites/default/files/beispielsammlung-literaturverzeichnis.pdf
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. (2021). Leitfaden Zitieren [PDF]. Historisches Seminar, Abteilung Neueste Geschichte und Zeitgeschichte. https://www.ngzg.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/ueber_uns/ueber_uns/lehre1/leitfaden_zitieren.pdf
- Modern Language Association. (2018, April 29). Why does the MLA capitalize certain words in titles? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/capitalization-of-titles/
- Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg. (n.d.). Zitieren [Workshop slides, PDF]. Schreibzentrum. https://www.ph-freiburg.de/fileadmin/shares/Einrichtungen/Schreibzentrum/Dateien/PDF-Dateien/SZ/Aktuelle_Flyer__Selbstlernmaterial_/Zitieren_2021.pdf
- Universität Bern. (2017). Zitiervorgaben für das Verfassen schriftlicher Arbeiten [PDF]. Historisches Institut. https://www.hist.unibe.ch/e11168/e615030/e615032/Zitieren-MB_2107-10_ger.pdf
- Universität Heidelberg. (2023). Formale Regeln für das Verfassen einer Hausarbeit im Bürgerlichen Recht [PDF]. Institut für geschichtliche Rechtswissenschaft. https://www.jura.uni-heidelberg.de/md/jura/igr/rom/lehrstuhl/zitierregeln_hausarbeit_lehrstuhl_baldus_18.08.2023.pdf
- Universität Hildesheim. (n.d.). Regeln für Zitate, Regeln für Fußnoten [PDF]. Institut für Geschichte, Historia Prima. https://www.uni-hildesheim.de/media/fb1/geschichte/Historia_Prima/Zitationsrichtlinien.pdf
- Universität Mannheim. (2014). Wie zitiert man in der VWL? Die Basics [PDF]. Abteilung VWL, Schreibberatung. https://www.vwl.uni-mannheim.de/media/Fakultaeten/vwl/Dokumente/Leitfaden_Zitieren.pdf
- Universität Trier. (2019). Hinweise zur Zitierweise bei juristischen Hausarbeiten [PDF]. Universitätsbibliothek. https://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/bib/fachinfo/jur/Zitierweise_bei_juristischen_Hausarbeiten1783.pdf
- Universität Wien. (n.d.). Zitierregeln. Geschichte Online, Institut für Geschichte. https://gonline.univie.ac.at/schreibprozess/belegen-und-zitieren/zitierregeln
- Universität zu Köln. (2026, August 16). Fußnoten. Historicum-eStudies, Leitfaden Neuere Geschichte. https://historicum-estudies.uni-koeln.de/leitfaeden/leitfaden-neuere-geschichte/zitieren-und-belegen/fussnoten
- Universität Zürich. (2013). Hinweise zur formellen Gestaltung einer Seminararbeit [PDF]. Rechtswissenschaftliches Institut. https://www.ius.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ffffffff-b39f-22fe-ffff-ffff9be25dca/Merkblatt.pdf