They have 24/7 english and german language telephone support http://www.hetzner.de/en/hosting/kontakt/telefon-support/ (all the root servers are in DC 10/11/12). In over a year I didn't have to call them once, therefore I can't tell you about my personal experience. They answer emails very quickly.
The competition in this market is quite strong in germany, there are 5 major companys offering basically the identical dedicated server service. The servers are not virtualized, therefor you usually have to commit to longer running contracts or higher setup fees.
Would you mind enumerating what 5 companies those are?