ABSTRACT
The greatest rogue in the whole land is, and will remain, the informer. This is a quote attributed to Hoffmann von Fallersleben, author of the lyrics of the German national anthem. It is frequently used by those who want to block any discussion on the necessity to support whistleblowers and the concept of whistleblowing in Germany. While whistleblowing in the last century was an issue of a critical-alternative milieu and whistleblowers were seen as persons acting altruistic for public interests, the concept of whistleblowing in Germany has become popular for very different reasons since several years now. This was triggered by the Enron and Worldcom scandals in the US and the impact of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Founded in 1994, the ethics protection initiative of the International Network for Engineers and Scientists for Social Responsibility (INESPE) had attempted through continuous work to make whistleblowing more popular in Germany and had asked for a legal protection for whistleblowers.
