How the templates work, and their sources

Each template has two parts: a calculator that turns your details into a date or an amount, and a text that inserts that result. All periods, limits and amounts sit in a single file (params-2026.json) with the address of the official source; we read them on 13 November 2026. The file points to 63 sources, nearly all of them sections on gesetze-im-internet.de, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s statute service.

1. The statutes

We read, among others, sections 126, 130, 187, 188, 193, 286, 288, 309, 312k, 433, 444, 516, 518, 535 to 575, 622 and 623 of the Civil Code (BGB), article 229 section 60 EGBGB, section 56 of the Telecommunications Act, section 11 of the Insurance Contract Act, section 20 of the default electricity supply ordinance, sections 1a and 4 of the Dismissal Protection Act, section 159 SGB III and sections 14, 15, 16 and 30 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act. Statutes are official works without copyright (section 5 of the Copyright Act); the templates do not reproduce them but apply them. On two points of interpretation we rely on the Federal Court of Justice: Saturday counts as a working day for tenancy notice (VIII ZR 206/04), and a contract generator that asks questions and produces a document is not a legal service (I ZR 113/20).

2. Counting periods

Periods start on the day after receipt (section 187(1) BGB) and end on the day whose number matches the day of receipt; if that day does not exist in the final month, the period ends on its last day (section 188(2) and (3) BGB). Where the law requires a fixed date, such as the 15th or month end in employment law, the calculator takes the first permitted date after the period has run. It counts the latest receipt date for a given end cautiously: when in doubt it names the earlier day.

3. Working days and holidays

For the third working day in tenancy law, Monday to Saturday count, excluding public holidays. The holidays come from the holiday acts of the 16 states; the calculator knows the statewide days, including Easter, Whitsun, Corpus Christi, Reformation Day, All Saints’ Day and Repentance Day in Saxony. Days observed only in some municipalities (such as Assumption Day in parts of Bavaria) are not included. Example: for receipt on 1 May 2027 in Berlin, the third working day is 5 May 2027 and the tenancy ends on 31 July 2027. If the third working day is a Saturday, the calculator keeps that Saturday, because the Federal Court of Justice left open whether section 193 BGB moves it.

4. Base rate and amounts

The payment reminder counts default interest to the day on a 365-day basis, using the base rate under section 247 BGB published by the Deutsche Bundesbank on 1 January and 1 July. The latest rate in the file applies from 1 July 2026 and is 1.52 percent. Severance in the termination agreement follows the formula in section 1a of the Dismissal Protection Act, gift allowances section 16 of the Gift Tax Act. The templates do not calculate any tax.

5. The texts

The contract and letter texts are our own wording, in German. They deliberately leave out clauses German courts often strike down, such as rigid redecoration schedules or blanket pet bans, and let the statute apply instead. Each text names the provision a rule rests on. Missing details appear as a line to fill in by hand.

Limits

The templates cover the usual case. They do not check clauses in your contract, collective agreements or termination without notice for good cause. Wills, advance healthcare directives and lasting powers of attorney are not offered. When a statute or the base rate changes, we update the file by hand; until then the state of 13 November 2026 applies.

Tests

Every build recalculates more than forty cases, including tenancy deadlines with holidays, the section 622 scale, old and new consumer contracts, insurance expiries, default interest across a rate change and amounts in words; every template is also generated with default values and checked for gaps. A mismatch stops publication. Found an error? contact@vorlagenrechner.de.