We describe the establishment of bioinformatics in Germany and give an overview of current bioinformatics education in this country, from the perspective of the practitioner. The aim of this study is to demonstrate development of a strong bioinformatics education at German universities and research institutes during the last years. Beginning with a definition of the multi-disciplinary field bioinformatics, we give a survey of government initiatives in Germany in support of this field, which resulted in a wide spectrum of courses. To the best of our knowledge, we compile all ongoing courses at universities and research institutes. Five case studies featuring university courses with different educational focus illustrate the variety of efforts. In this context we also discuss the main components of German bioinformatics curricula. These components can be considered as the basic knowledge of German bioinformaticians. We conclude by giving perspectives for further development of bioinformatics education.