lien
noun · Pfandrecht
Two German rights hide under the one English word. Pfandrecht, the security interest that lets the holder sell, Zurückbehaltungsrecht, the defence that only lets him keep. Machine output says Pfandrecht by reflex, and the upgrade matters most on the day of insolvency.
Which translation, when
Why
An English lien usually means possession kept until payment, sometimes a full security interest, and the word does not say which. German law refuses the blur. The Pfandrecht is a right in the thing, §§ 1204 ff. BGB, it ends in Verwertung and gives Absonderung in the debtor’s insolvency, § 50 InsO, and the statute plants it where practice needs it, the Werkunternehmerpfandrecht of § 647 BGB for the repairer, the Vermieterpfandrecht of § 562 BGB for the landlord. The Zurückbehaltungsrecht of § 273 BGB is none of that, an Einrede, it forces Zug um Zug performance, § 274 BGB, evaporates as leverage once possession is gone, and in insolvency it earns nothing by itself. Between merchants the kaufmännisches Zurückbehaltungsrecht of § 369 HGB sits in the middle, retention with teeth, separate satisfaction under § 51 Nr. 3 InsO. So the rendering of lien fixes the holder’s worst-case position, Pfandrecht promises a payout from the asset, Zurückbehaltungsrecht promises a standstill, and only one of those promises survives the insolvency filing.
Typical mistakes
- Pfandrecht for a mere retention right overstates the client’s position, the German reader assumes Verwertung and Absonderung, § 50 InsO, where the English original only kept possession.
- Zurückbehaltungsrecht for a charge understates it, the defence of § 273 BGB has no power of sale, and downgrading a security schedule to Einreden misdescribes the collateral.
- The merchant’s middle ground is easy to miss, § 369 HGB gives the commercial retention right separate satisfaction, § 51 Nr. 3 InsO, so between merchants the modest word carries more than § 273 BGB suggests.
What matters
Repair and warehousing scenarios make the stakes concrete: the workshop asserts a lien over the machine for unpaid invoices. As Werkunternehmerpfandrecht, § 647 BGB, it can have the machine sold and takes Absonderung in the customer’s insolvency, § 50 InsO. As bloßes Zurückbehaltungsrecht it holds the machine and waits. The English sentence is the same, the German word decides whether the invoice is secured or merely leveraged.
What the machine misses
Lien meets the engines and Pfandrecht comes out, the dictionary’s first row, whatever the English right actually was. A possessory lien that only ever meant keep until paid now reads as a right to sell with insolvency privileges attached, the client’s position has been silently improved on paper, and the correction arrives at the worst moment, when the administrator tests the schedule.
Examples
| a lien over the goods | ein Pfandrecht an den Waren |
| the repairer’s lien | das Werkunternehmerpfandrecht |
| a possessory lien | ein Zurückbehaltungsrecht |
| the landlord’s lien | das Vermieterpfandrecht |