Kommission

Kommission is a German noun with several related meanings, used in different domains to denote a formal body, an assignment, or a fee. The term originates from Latin commissio and entered German through French, evolving to cover multiple senses in administration, business, and logistics.

In its primary sense, a Kommission refers to a formally appointed body of people entrusted with a specific task, investigation, or advisory function. Such commissions are often established by governments, organizations, or institutions and may be tasked with studying a issue, producing recommendations, or overseeing a project. The term can denote both standing and temporary entities and is sometimes distinguished from a Ausschuss by its expert or investigative connotations.

A second sense concerns the act or assignment itself: to commission something or to appoint someone to carry out a task. In practice, German speakers usually use phrases like beauftragen or Aufträge erteilen for the act of commissioning, but Kommission can appear in formal or historical contexts referring to the mandate.

The financial sense of Kommission is a fee or percentage paid to an intermediary for facilitating a sale or service. In this usage, Kommission describes the compensation earned by brokers, agents, or salespeople. Typical expressions include die Kommission beträgt, or eine Verkaufsprovision. In commerce, arrangements such as Verkauf auf Kommission (sale on commission) involve goods delivered to a merchant who sells them and keeps a portion as compensation.

In logistics, Kommission can also relate to the process of selecting and preparing items to fulfill an order, known as Kommissionierung, or to the order itself in some industry contexts.

See also: commission (concept), commission in law, consignment, brokerage.