I would add that if DD comes first, the format is usually DD.MM.YYYY. Or DD/MM/YYYY, which is more common in the UK. Rarely have I seen dashes when not following the ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD standard.
I was taught DD.MM.YYYY in school (90s). This is the de-facto standard (short) date format in Germany and by far the most commonly used one.
First because it’s consistent with the longer written out date format used in German: „19. Januar 2022“ (19th of January 2022) – note the dot after the 19.
Second because it’s also consistent with how it’s spoken. The dot denotes ordinal numbers in German and that’s also how the date is spoken: „Neunzehnter Erster Zweitausend Zweiundzwanzig“ or “nineteenth first two thousand twenty and two”.
Dashes and slashes are highly likely to be confusing to people if used in that context, though advisable if you are using any other date format because then at least people will be weirded out and likely pay closer attention if there’s anything going on with that date.
It is true that DIN 5008 (which defines rules for word processing and does have some weight in professional circles) recommends YYYY-MM-DD, however this way of writing the date never took hold in Germany (just because it’s part of a norm doesn’t make it commonly used or accepted) and DIN 5008 does actually allow for DD.MM.YYYY.
First because it’s consistent with the longer written out date format used in German: „19. Januar 2022“ (19th of January 2022) – note the dot after the 19.
Second because it’s also consistent with how it’s spoken. The dot denotes ordinal numbers in German and that’s also how the date is spoken: „Neunzehnter Erster Zweitausend Zweiundzwanzig“ or “nineteenth first two thousand twenty and two”.
Dashes and slashes are highly likely to be confusing to people if used in that context, though advisable if you are using any other date format because then at least people will be weirded out and likely pay closer attention if there’s anything going on with that date.
It is true that DIN 5008 (which defines rules for word processing and does have some weight in professional circles) recommends YYYY-MM-DD, however this way of writing the date never took hold in Germany (just because it’s part of a norm doesn’t make it commonly used or accepted) and DIN 5008 does actually allow for DD.MM.YYYY.