This article deals with the question of how teacher education and teacher training in Germany -- of which many aspects have been fragmentized -- can nevertheless provide teachers with an adequate opportunity to systematically develop their professional competences in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD). Based on current education policy goals and relevant empirical research, the article offers a theory intended to cause coherence between three phases of teacher education and training in Germany, thereby integrating academic theory and ESD practice more consistently. Particular attention is given to teacher educators, educational managers, researchers and decision makers, who often have not acquired solid expertise in the specific area of ESD themselves. Their active inclusion is the key success factor in the intrinsic processes regarding organizational development at teacher education institutions.