Since the beginning of the development of the North German Basin in Stephanien to Early Rotliegend times, rifting played a major role. Nearly all structures in NW-Germany and the German North Sea - (more than 800) - salt diapirs, grabens, inverted grabens and inversion structures - are genetically related to rifting. Today, the rifting periods are well dated. We find signs of dilatation at all times except from the Late Aptian to the end of the Turonian. To the contrary, the period of the Coniacian and Santonian, lasting only five million years was a time of compression, transpression, crustal shortening and inversion. Rifting activities decreased notably after inversion in Late Cretaceous times. Tertiary movements concentrated on a limited number of major, long existing lineaments. Seismically today NW-Germany and the German North Sea sector is one of the quietest regions in Central Europe.