Number format: this calculator uses German notation throughout — a comma is the decimal separator and a dot groups thousands. “1.234,56” means one thousand two hundred thirty-four euros and fifty-six cents. The figures come from German tax law, so they are shown the way German authorities write them.
Pay grade (Besoldungsgruppe)
Ranks a post or military rank by its level and thereby fixes the basic pay.
In plain language
German civil servants, judges and soldiers do not negotiate their salary; their pay is fixed by statute. The pay grade states how senior the post or rank is — from A3 (basic service) to A16 (senior service). In the Bundeswehr, a captain (Hauptmann) corresponds to grade A11, for example. Within a grade, pay rises with years of service.
In detail
§ 20 BBesG provides that the posts of civil servants and soldiers and their allocation to pay grades are governed by schedule I, and the basic pay rates by schedule IV. Schedule I lists, for each grade, the official titles and military ranks, in places with footnotes tied to the specific role (“unless in pay grade X”). The scope follows from § 1 (1) BBesG: federal civil servants and judges as well as career soldiers and soldiers on fixed-term service. Civil servants of the federal states are governed by their own state pay acts with their own tables.
Worked example
A captain (A11) at experience step 5 receives 4.853,76 € basic pay per month (BBesG schedule IV, in force from 1 March 2024). A staff sergeant (Oberfeldwebel, A7) at step 4 comes to 3.281,42 € — plus the office allowance that Annex I provides for this rank. Being married adds 171,28 € of family supplement, with one child 317,66 €.
In brief
Federal pay order A runs from A3 to A16; schedule I to the federal pay act assigns each post to its grade.
Legal basis: § 20 BBesG, Annex I BBesG · as at 2026