The establishment of chest pain units (CPUs) in the USA and UK has led to improvements in the prognosis of patients with chest pain and myocardial infarction, optimizing access to specialized diagnostic and therapeutic facilities and reducing costs. To establish a uniform implementation of this type of service in Germany, the German Cardiac Society (DGK) founded a 'CPU task force' in 2007, which developed a set of standard requirements and a nationwide certification programme. The recommendations for minimum standard requirements were published in 2008. As of November 2011, 132 CPUs were certified and 36 units were in the certification process. The aim of the DGK is to certify as many as 250 centres (units) throughout Germany within the next 2 years, to provide nationwide coverage. Applications from Switzerland are also being filed. Public awareness campaigns in cooperation with national league soccer teams were organized to raise awareness of the importance for early diagnosis and treatment of cardiac diseases and to publicize the existence of these new facilities. The German model of CPU certification allows nationwide and prospectively European-wide standardization of patient care and to improve adherence to international guidelines. Coupled with awareness campaigns and with the launch of a German CPU Registry, this process is aimed at improving the education and treatment of patients with chest pain and to provide scientific information about the quality of patient care.