In 1988 the German testicular working group was set up by leading experts in the fields of urology, medical and radio-oncology. Since then, the working group has initiated several clinical studies and conferences with the aim of defining current standards in the treatment of testicular germ cell tumours. After a series of preliminary joint meetings with representatives from the AUO, AIO and ARO of the "Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft", a conference was held in May 1996 to agree on a consensus in diagnosis and treatment of testicular germ cell tumours. The standards which have been agreed on at the conference refer to the current international literature and provide recommendations for the majority of clinical situations. Treatment strategies differing from these standards should not be chosen except for well argued individual settings or patients treated in clinical trials. No consensus could be reached for nonseminomatous stage I, IIA and IIB tumours. As a consequence, the differing treatment strategies for these stages are summarized in this paper. A subsequent conference in later years is needed to possibly find an agreement for these tumour stages and to update the current standards according to new clinical experience and knowledge.