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Never congratulate early
The firmest rule around German birthdays is that you do not wish anyone a happy birthday before the day itself. Congratulating early — vorfeiern — is widely held to bring bad luck, and people will genuinely stop you mid-sentence. The corollary is that the birthday person often brings the cake to the office themselves and organizes their own celebration, which strikes visitors as backwards but is standard. Presents are opened in front of the giver, straight away, and admired out loud; setting one aside to open later reads as indifference. If you bring flowers, buy an odd number and unwrap them before handing them over — though the paper comes off at the door, not in the shop. Avoid red roses unless you mean it, chrysanthemums and lilies which belong to funerals, and thirteen of anything. One more useful phrase: the full greeting is Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, and Alles Gute is the shorter version that works for almost any occasion.