Arguing against a broad typological and comparative background, the author provides evidence suggesting that in German there exists a grammatical category 'respect' as an expression of grammaticalized politeness. To bear this out, the study traces the diachrony of polite German forms of address from the earliest stages up to the present and the associated tensions between pragmatics and grammar. Analyses of the morphology and syntax of pronouns and verbs in present-day standard German and in Bavarian dialect point up the differences between Sie (2nd person honorific) and sie (3rd person plural).