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Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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In Germany, the roots of civil and commercial mediation can be traced to the 1980s, when German family lawyers who had attended mediation training in the United States invited the trainers to conduct training in Germany.

Mediation use did not remain restricted to family mediation, as people recognized that its principles could be adapted for use in the business arena. Over time, mediation use spread as well to the public sector and has entered a variety of specialty areas including sports mediation, elder mediation, heritage mediation, and various subspecialties within the business field.

Mediation’s development in the early decades was supported by mediation associations, which were and remain important players on the mediation scene. The so-called “Big Three,” which have played the most significant role, are the Federal Association for Mediation in Business and the World of Work (BMWA) (Bundesverband in Wirtschaft und Arbeitswelt, www.bmwa-deutschland.de), the Federal Association of Mediation (BM) (Bundesverband Mediation, www.bmev.de.), and the Federal Working Group for Family Mediation (BAFM) (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Familienmediation, www.bafmmediation.de).