Fragile states pose a risk to regional and global security and an immense challenge to international development cooperation. The term fragile states generally refers to countries with dysfunctional, deteriorating or collapsed central authorities, as well as weak, failed, failing and collapsed states. In recent years they have attracted considerable and increased attention in the international development community, including the German development policy. Documents such as the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) strategy “Developmentoriented Transformation in Conditions of Fragile Statehood and Poor Government Performance” and the guidelines on dealings with troubled states demonstrate that the German development cooperation has tried to tailor its approaches to these circumstances. This new policy crosses ministry boundaries and sets out a framework of closely action for the German foreign ministry, the defense ministry and the ministry for economic cooperation. This paper gives a short summary of the German policy towards fragile states, portrays their limitations, efforts and strategies for the future. Key words: fragile states, development policy, development cooperation, Germany, ODA, aid