A landlord who refused to return an entire rental deposit to his tenant because of alleged wayward urination has been forced to pay up by a German judge.

The renter sued his landlord after he would not return €1,900 of a €3,000 deposit to cover the damage caused to a bathroom floor because the tenant would not sit down when urinating.

The landlord supported his case by hiring a “technical expert” to analyse the liquid that had caused the damage around the toilet bowl in Düsseldorf, Germany.

This expert confirmed that the marble tiles had succumbed to repeated soakage, damaging them.

Judge Stefan Hank was sympathetic to the landlord, describing his complaints as “credible and understandable,” but ultimately found in favour of the tenant.

The tenant could not be compelled to sit down to urinate, the judge ruled, given that the practice of “urinating while standing up is still widespread.”

It was the landlord’s duty to forewarn his tenant that his bodily fluids could potentially damage the structure of the apartment, the judge added.

Sitzpinkeln, the German for urinating whilst seated, is considered the cultural norm for German men, and being a messyStehpinkler is often deemed antisocial. It is not uncommon for German homes to post notices requesting men answering mother nature’s call observe the rule to sitz and spritz.

A sign commonly found in public toilets in Germany [Pixabay]

But the judge ruled that standing and urinating cannot be punished by a landlord, if not expressly agreed to beforehand.

And, Judge Hank warned, it is likely not conducive to building a happy home.

"Anyone who still practices this formerly dominant custom has to expect occasional clashes with - especially female – flatmates,” he said.