Why are the German professors addressed as Prof. Dr. XXX?

Question

I notice that in Germany, basically all the professors are addressed as Prof. Dr. XXX, say Prof. Dr. Mueller.

However, in other parts of the world, only Prof. would be sufficient, ~~since a non-doctor can never be a University professor.~~

So why are the German professors addressed this way? Isn't it kind of redundant?

I've often wondered how many titles one could accumulate. If a university professor were to join the military and then go into politics, could she become Frau Chancellor Colonel Professor Doctor Schmidt? — Nate Eldredge, Sep 03 '13 at 15:04
Professor is (usually) not a title, but is associated with the profession. If you quit to become chancellor, I think you cannot call yourself professor anymore. — Pieter Naaijkens, Sep 03 '13 at 15:10
Just to clarify, your assertion that "a non-doctor can never be a university professor" is not entirely true. Adjunct faculty, professors of practice, and other such titles are used for teaching faculty without a PhD, and are often referred to as "Prof. XXX" Though generally, these are not tenure-eligible positions. — JohnnyO, Sep 03 '13 at 15:59
It's worth noting that we often do this with titles in English as well. For instance, "Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II". The "Queen" title implies the HRH title in much the same way Professor implies Doctor. Using a full title is generally to indicate increased respect. — John Doucette, Sep 03 '13 at 16:45
I've seen that titles are taken very seriously is Germany, with e.g. triple doctorates titled by Dr. Dr. Dr. or DDDr. — fileunderwater, Sep 03 '13 at 19:47
I don't know for sure if the logic is the same, but in German when referring to a medical doctor one says "Frau/Herr Doktor K." - the polite honorific of Frau or Herr (Mr. or Mrs.) remains, even when using the job title. As to why this is so - as @F'x says, logic and customs don't mix. — David Hall, Sep 03 '13 at 23:05
@PieterNaaijkens In Germany, it's a title. The "Dr" is even part of your name. However, the assumption of the question is flawed: except in very formal circumstances (like a laudation), this form of addressing rarely happens. At least in MINT; I'm told that people ... care more about their titles elsewhere. — Raphael, Feb 11 '15 at 08:13
@emory "Professor" means something else than "a person who teaches in a lecture hall" in Germany. Afaik, there is no way to become a university professor in Germany without a doctorate (see Eekhoorn's answer, though). People in professor-like positions may be (like to be) referred to as "Professor" but they won't have the same rights and, afaik, in particular not the legal title in the same way university professors have. — Raphael, Feb 11 '15 at 08:20
@Raphael what are the rights of German professors? In the US, everyone is equal. The homeless have the same rights as university professors who have the same rights as the President. My degree has verbiage about "rights, privileges, and honors" but as far as I can tell there are none. — emory, Feb 11 '15 at 22:15
@emory The fifth article of our Grundgesetz assures researchers academic freedom. In practice, you can be hired for specific projects and/or courses in which case that freedom is limited. Since there is little else in senior researcher positions these days, afaik, only (full) professors are truly free in what they do. (I may be wrong here; I remembered a phrasing different from Art. 5 GG addressing professors specifically but apparently that's somewhere else.) — Raphael, Feb 12 '15 at 07:27
@DavidHall: No, I don't think the logic is "the same", what you point out is rather a separate issue, namely that addressing in German normally works by using <degree(s)> , rather than just <degree(s)> , as in English. Therefore, when directly addressing someone with a rank/degree, it is (w.l.o.g. concerning Herr/Frau) Herr Doktor X, Herr Kapitän Y, Herr Professor Doktor Z. — O. R. Mapper, Mar 13 '15 at 07:41

score 20 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 03 '13 at 14:06

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In Germany, in rare cases also non-doctors can become a professor. Then it's just "Prof. Müller". Regarding Doctors, we don't have a "PhD" title. "Dr." is the official title for a doctor which is traditionally a prefix to the full name.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title)#Germany

answered Sep 03 '13 at 14:06

Eekhoorn

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Very good answer. Those few professors without a doctorate are usually very successful people from the industry, government, media etc. – superuser0 Sep 03 '13 at 14:17
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It can also be the case that the person is a doctor, but not from a university or country whose titles are automatically recognized in Germany (and didn't go through all to trouble to do so). – Pieter Naaijkens Sep 03 '13 at 15:11
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I don’t think this really answers the question: both points you give here apply just as much in other countries that don’t stack their honorifics. – PLL Sep 03 '13 at 17:44
@PLL, but that's the way it is in Germany, I don't know how this is handled in other countries. – Eekhoorn Sep 04 '13 at 15:37
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It should be noted that these people are almost certainly not university professors (a job which, iirc, by definition requires not only a doctorate but also habilitation or something similar). There are other forms of higher ed in Germany, and a docent there may be called "Professor" somewhat informally, but they would not be able to, say, have doctorands on their own. (If this is incorrect and there are indeed university professors with the right to confer doctorates, I'd appreciate a reference.) – Raphael Feb 11 '15 at 08:17
Doctorates are conferred by the faculty, professors at universities can advise, professors at colleges (Fachhoschschulen) can be examiners but not official advisors. – Debora Weber-Wulff Mar 31 '15 at 19:52
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@Raphael An example of a university professor without without doctorate is Prof. Henke (now at DLR). – Gypaets Nov 19 '17 at 19:33

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 21 '19 at 11:30

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In Germany, professorships and doctorates are considered to be "legal" titles, and have special status not accorded to other degrees and professions. In particular, university professors in Germany are Beamte (appointed civil servants, sg: "Beamter"/"Beamtin"), which places them in a relatively small class of government employees.

It is to be noted that a professor in a German university can be called "Herr Professor" or "Frau Professorin" only so long as he or she is actively working as a professor. Following retirement or leaving the university profession, it is technically not permitted to use the title.

Thus, in this sense, the appellation "Professor"/"Professorin" is legally part of someone's name, and should therefore be used in formal greetings and salutations. (This can sometimes be annoying—for example, in a physician's waiting room, you can hear them call for "Frau Professorin Schmidt!")

edited Feb 21 '19 at 11:30

FuzzyLeapfrog

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answered Sep 04 '13 at 05:12

aeismail

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I know several professors who just introduce themselves with "Herr/Frau X" in order to avoid awkwardness. Regarding retirement, though, I have seen "Prof. em." (for emeritus) several times. I think professors (at least those with older contracts) kind of keep the title in retirement. – Raphael Feb 11 '15 at 08:15
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Professor is not legally part of the name, the doctorate is, however. And even after retirement the Professor can be used. Germans like titles, Austrians like them even more. – Debora Weber-Wulff Mar 31 '15 at 19:50
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It is to be noted that a professor in a German university can be called "Herr Professor" or "Frau Professor" only so long as he or she is actively working as a professor; following retirement or leaving the university profession, it is technically not permitted to use the title. This is wrong: cf. Wikipedia, Hochschullehrerbund – morxa Feb 22 '17 at 12:03
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There are some flaws in this answer: a) "Professor" is not part of someone's name (otherwise you would have the option to add it to your passport (you can do this with "Dr." which is part of the name) b) You do not loose the permission to use the title after leaving university. The rules vary, but https://hlb.de/fileadmin/hlb-global/downloads/members_only/Infoblaetter_Mitglieder/hlb-Infoblatt_Titelfuehrungsbefugnis_bei_Ausscheiden.pdf gives a good overview. – OBu Aug 03 '18 at 14:10
Okay, but why Professor Dr.? – henning Feb 21 '19 at 12:19
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This answer makes several factually wrong statements. – user2705196 Feb 21 '19 at 21:04
@user2705196 Can you be more specific? – JeffE Feb 22 '19 at 17:50

Why are the German professors addressed as Prof. Dr. XXX?

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