In Germany the reliability theory using a probabilistic approach in geotechnical design was officially introduced as the basic concept for geotechnical design at the German National Geotechnical Conference in 1978 as it had also been adopted as the common safety concept for the future Eurocodes. In the following years numerous research studies were published on the application of the reliability theory in the various geotechnical verifications. In the end, however, it was only the selection of characteristic values of ground properties where the application of the reliability theory was implemented in Eurocode 7 “Geotechnical design - Part 1: General rules” and the German geotechnical design standards. The paper describes the history of the discussion in the German geotechnical community and the results of those discussions.