Vehicle registration plates of Germany


German vehicle registration plates indicate the place where the vehicle bearing them was once registered. Whenever German owners of a motor vehicle change their main place of residence within Germany or buy a car from a person living in a different city or district they have to have the vehicle documentation changed accordingly. In the process owners may opt for new licence plates that reflect their place of residence or simply retain the old identifier and plates. The states of Hesse, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia were the first ones to create laws so that owners were no longer obliged to change licence plates if they were changing residence within the state. A nationwide law has since been passed by the federal government and went into effect on 1 January 2015. From this time on, it is generally not possible any more to tell the owner's place of residence just from looking at the plates. Nonetheless it is a widespread habit in Germany, even a children's game when travelling, to guess "where that vehicle is from".
The option to be assigned temporary plates allows owners a financial saving where they need to register vehicles which they intend to use on public roads only during one particular part of the year. While temporary plates can only be used for the time printed on them and new ones have to be assigned and bought if the vehicle is supposed to be on public roads later on there is no need to renew regular plates periodically. German motor vehicle tax is paid independently of the licence plates by annual direct debit from a bank account.
As of 2007, new number plates normally cost around €30, while the cost of de-registering a vehicle and re-registering it with new plates is between €10 and €40. The licence plates themselves are not made by the registration office but by independent for-profit stores that are usually located in the same building as the registration office or close by. Upon successful registration the applicant is merely given a slip of paper with the assigned number that can be presented at any store that makes plates. Sometimes there are several stores in the vicinity of the registration office with prices for plates dropping the further the store is away from the registration office. Once the plates are made, which is a matter of minutes, the owner must return to the registration office with them, pay the costs for registration and then the required registration seal and safety test stickers are applied to the plates making them legal for use in traffic.
If ownership of a vehicle is permanently transferred to a new owner who lives in the same city/region then the registration number may remain unchanged. Administration fees are, however, still payable in respect of the necessary changes to the vehicle's official documentation. Many people however will change the licence plates even if it is not necessary, in order to personalise them.

Format

The present German number plate format has been in use since 1994. As with many plates for countries within the European Union, a blue strip on the left shows a shortened country code in white text and the Flag of Europe.
The rest of the licence plate uses black print on a white background. Just after the country code strip is a one, two or three letter abbreviation, which represents the city or region where the car was registered, such as B for Berlin. These letters formerly coincided with the German districts. Since 2013 the letters were extended to former districts. In some cases an urban district and the surrounding non-urban district share the same letter code. Where this happens, the number of the following letters and digits is usually different. For example, the urban district of Straubing has one letter after the code. The surrounding district Straubing-Bogen has two letters after the code. However, these different systems are being used in fewer cases, as many cities that share their code with the surrounding rural districts have started using all codes for both districts without any distinction; the city of Regensburg, for example, and the surrounding rural district of Regensburg used different systems only until 2007.
The number of letters in the city/region prefix code mostly reflects the size of the district. The basic idea was to even out the number of digits on all licence plates, because the largest districts would have more digits after the prefix for more cars. The largest German cities generally only have one-letter codes, most other districts in Germany have two or three letter codes. Therefore, cities or districts with fewer letters are generally assumed to be bigger and more important. Reflecting that, most districts tried to get a combination with fewer letters for their prefix code.
There are a number of exceptions e.g. Germany's second largest city Hamburg. Similar treatment applies to Bremen and Bremerhaven, forming the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, sharing the common prefix HB, differentiated by the number of letters and digits added.
In 1956 Lübeck also received its former prefix HL, already used between 1906 and 1937, when its statehood was abolished. In analogy to these three northwestern cities, but without historical examples of formerly issued prefixes, four northeastern Hanseatic cities, Greifswald, Rostock, Stralsund and Wismar, chose the prefixes HGW, HRO, HST and HWI, since the shorter HG, HR, HS and HW were already taken by West German districts.
More west German districts have prefixes derived from the names of their capitals: Ammerland, Dithmarschen, Harburg , Herzogtum Lauenburg etc.
Districts in eastern Germany usually have more letters, for several reasons:
When east German districts merged and rearranged in the 1990s and 2000s, they also changed their names and had to find a new code suitable for the new district. For instance, the district of Nordsachsen, established in 2008, uses the initials of its formerly separate members, Torgau, Delitzsch and Oschatz to form the new code TDO. Sometimes, however, the new name of the district would allow a new two-letter code, such as VG for Vorpommern-Greifswald.
The letter "G" was first reserved for the East German city of Görlitz and later awarded to the city of Gera, although both are smaller than the West German Gelsenkirchen. The letter "L" had been reserved for Leipzig, but in 1977 it was assigned to the newly formed city of Lahn, Hesse, and the rural district Lahn-Dill-Kreis. This casts some light on how unlikely a reunification was regarded at that time, coming five years after the Basic Treaty normalised relations between the two Germanies. In 1990, Leipzig claimed back the letter "L", and it was reassigned, and Lahn-Dill-Kreis had to change to LDK.
The reason for this scheme is however not to display size or location, but simply to have enough combinations available within the maximum length of eight characters per plate.
Germany includes diacritical marks in the letters of some codes, that is the letters Ö and Ü; formerly also Ä. Such a thing is rarely done in other European countries, but also appears on regular Montenegrin, Croatian and Serbian, Åland registration plates, as well as on Swedish and Danish personal registration plates. For a long time, German codes kept to the rule that a code with an umlaut would prohibit another code with the respective blank vowel, e.g. there would not be a district code FU as the code FÜ was already in use for Fürth. This rule was disregarded in 1996, when BÖ was introduced for Bördekreis in spite of BO existing for Bochum.
After the location name there are the round vehicle safety test and registration seal stickers placed above each other. The registration sticker is the bottom one. For vehicles that are required to bear a front and rear plate the front plate nowadays only features the registration seal sticker. Before 2010, in which year the emission test became a part of the vehicle safety test, the hexagonal emission test sticker was placed above it. The stickers are followed by one or two usually random letters and one to four usually random numbers. The total quantity of letters and numbers on the plate is never higher than eight. Identifiers consisting of one letter with one- or two-digit numbers are normally reserved for motorcycle use since there is less space for plates on these vehicles.
has B CV, although BC V can exist for a vehicle from Biberach
A problem with this scheme is that the space between geographic identifier and random letters is a significant character and must be considered when writing down a number. For example, B MW 555 is not the same number as BM W 555. The confusion can be avoided by writing a hyphen after the city code, as in the old number plates, like B-MW 555. For this reason, the police will always radio the location name and spell out the next letters using the German telephone alphabet, which varies somewhat from the English one. Thus, B MW 555 would be radioed as Berlin, Martha, Wilhelm, fünf-fünf-fünf and BM W 555 as
For an extra charge of €10.20 car owners can also register a personalised identifier. Car owners can only choose the numbers or letters instead of the random ones at the end, provided of course they are not yet taken and not a prohibited combination. For example, people living in the town of Pirna might choose PIR-AT 77, Pirat being the German for "pirate". Kiel is one of few places where the number plate can be the city name: 'KI-EL'. In most cases of personalised plates people choose their initials and a number reflecting their birth date. In this fashion fictional Mrs Ulrike Mustermann, born 2 May 1965 and living in Essen would choose 'E UM 2565' for her car. Note that dates are given in the format DDMMYY in Germany.
Whereas nowadays all 26 letters of the Latin alphabet may be used for the random part, this was not always so. In order to avoid confusion between B and 8, F and E, G and 6, I and 1, O and Q and 0, those six letters were excluded from the middle part of registration plates. In 1992, the letters B, F and G were permitted, and in 2000 the alphabet was completed as I, O and Q have been allowed. In the very first months of the numbering system, between July and November, 1956, the letter I was used but J was not. This was soon reversed, but single vintage cars kept sporting their letter I between 1956 and 2000, when it was re-introduced.
BMW, owner of Mini, registers all Mini press/marketing cars in the city of Minden, which holds the code MI, to get "MI-NI" number plates for the cars. BMW itself is based in Munich, yet "M-INI" plates are not possible to issue, as three letters after the district code are not permitted.

Prohibited combinations

Various combinations that could be considered politically unacceptable – mainly due to implications relating to Nazi Germany – are disallowed or otherwise avoided. The district Sächsische Schweiz used the name of its main town, Pirna, in its code PIR, to avoid the use of SS, the name of the paramilitary organisation; similarly SA is also unused. Although between 1945 and 1949 the French occupation force used the combination SA followed by the double-digit numbers 01 to 08 for the then seven rural districts in the Saar Protectorate and its capital Saarbrücken. In 2004 in Nuremberg, a car owner was refused a number plate beginning N-PD because of the connection to the political party the NPD. After the terror group National Socialist Underground was uncovered in 2011, the city of Nuremberg refused number plates beginning with N-SU and even abolished the respective plates on their own vehicles of the sewage and environmental department Stadtentwässerung und Umweltanalytik. The combinations STA-SI, HEI-L, IZ-AN and WAF-FE are also avoided, to avoid association with Stasi, the Nazi salute, NAZI backwards and the German word for weapon respectively.
Banned combinations also include the Nazi abbreviations HJ, NS, SA, SS, KZ and often SD. Some registration offices have overlooked this rule by mistake, however, and there are a few cars registered carrying prohibited codes, such as B-SS 12. Some counties also allow these combinations if they are the owner's initials, but in this case, if the car is sold and re-registered in the same county by the new owner, the number can be changed. For some reason, the combination HH is still used for the city of Hamburg, first introduced in 1906. It stands for the city's title Hansestadt Hamburg. The combination AH is used for the district of Borken. It is derived from Ahaus that had its own district until 1974.
In Brandenburg no new plates that are related to Hitler, the Hitler salute, other Nazi symbols, etc. can be issued, especially plates that have digits 1888, 8818, 8888 or ending in 88, 888, 188. The combinations AH 18 and HH 18 cannot also be issued to new owners.
In recent years, some districts started banning licence plates with the middle letters IS which resembled the Islamic State.
Other combinations affected are BUL-LE, MO-RD and SU-FF.

History

The first German licence plates that had a lettering plan were issued from 1906 onwards. Berlin for example was using I A, Munich II A, Stuttgart III A. Other German states used further Roman numbers such as IV, V, and VI. Many states used prefixes derived from the state names, such as B, HB, HH, and HL, the latter three used again for the same entities since 1956. Other bigger cities: IV B Baden, II N cities of Nuremberg and Fürth. The Prussian provinces had the following prefixes: I B Province of Posen-West Prussia, I C Province of East Prussia, I D Province of West Prussia, I E Province of Brandenburg, I H Province of Pomerania, I K Province of Silesia, I L Province of Hohenzollern, I M Province of Saxony, I P Province of Schleswig-Holstein, I S Province of Hannover, I T Province of Hesse-Nassau, I X Province of Westphalia, I Y Province of Posen, and finally I Z Rhine Province.
During World War I the German Army was assigned the combination MK for Militärkraftwagen des Deutschen Heeres, military vehicles of the German Army. After World War I, during the Weimar Republic, the German Army used RW for Reichswehr.

Third Reich era

During the Nazi regime new combinations were issued: DR, Deutsche Reichsbahn ; OT, Organisation Todt ; POL, Ordnungspolizei ; RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst ; RK, German Red Cross ; SS, Schutzstaffel ; WH, German Army ; WL, Luftwaffe ; WM, Kriegsmarine ; WT, Wehrmacht Straßentransportdienst.

Postwar West Germany

From 1945 to 1956 there were lettering combinations assigned by the allied forces. Examples:
BY Bavaria 1946–1947, AB Bavaria 1948–1956, B Bavaria 1950–1956.
HE Hesse 1946–1947, AH Hesse 1948–1956, H Hesse, 1950–1956.
AW Württemberg-Baden 1948–1956, W Württemberg-Baden, 1950–1956, WB Württemberg-Baden 1950–1956.
БM 1945–1946, ГФ Berlin 1945–1946, БГ Berlin 1945–1947, ГM Berlin 1945–1947, KB Berlin 1947–1948, GB East-Berlin 1948–1953, KB West-Berlin 1948-1956.
MGH Hamburg 1945, H Hamburg 1945–1947, HG Hamburg 1947, BH Hamburg 1948–1956.
BD Baden 1945–1949, FB Baden 1949–1956.
WT Württemberg-Hohenzollern 1945–1949, FW Württemberg-Hohenzollern 1949–1956.
The British Army of the Rhine, initially occupation forces, later NATO elements, issued servicemen with plates carrying white letters and numerals on a black background for their personal vehicles. These cars stood out in comparison to the black on white German plates, and following the terrorist murder of a British servicemen, identified when returning to his car with BAOR licence plates, servicemen had to opt for their cars to carry either UK plates or German plates. During the time that Belgian forces were stationed in West Germany, white on black plates similar to the BAOR plates were used.
In July 1956 the current system was introduced in then West Germany, replacing the post-war system which was based on occupation zones. However it is still possible to see a vehicle built and registered before 1956 with the 45-56 style plates but these are very few and far between.
As West German districts were extensively rearranged in the early 1970s, many prefix codes expired and new ones were created at that time. However, number plates issued before these rearrangements remain valid, providing the vehicle is still in use and has not been reregistered since. So it was still possible, if rare, to see a classic car with registration codes of administrative units that have not existed for over 30 years. Since November 2012 some districts allow reissuing on request of these expired prefix codes, e.g. instead of WES- in the district of Wesel, MO- as used for the former district of Moers and DIN- as used for the former district of Dinslaken.
When originally planned, the system included :de:Ostzonenverzeichnis der deutschen Kfz-Kennzeichen|codes for districts in Eastern Germany which were to be reserved until reunification. That included the territory of the GDR as well as the territories annexed to Poland and the Soviet Union after World War II, which West Germany's government still claimed in that era until about 1970. When reunification came in 1990, the reserved codes were indeed issued to East German districts in January 1991 as originally planned and as they existed at that time. However, districts in East Germany were rearranged again in the mid-1990s, thus many of these codes have expired, but can likewise still be seen on older vehicles.
One example of a reserved code being reused before reunification was the letter L which was originally planned for Leipzig, but was given to the newly formed Hessian city of Lahn, Hesse and the district Lahn-Dill-Kreis in 1977 as hopes for reunification faded away. After the rather unexpected reunification the L was returned to the city of Leipzig and the Lahn-Dill-Kreis was issued with LDK instead.
Another reserved code was G for Gera. In the 1980s the West German TV series Der Fahnder G was an imaginary large city in the Ruhrgebiet area.

Postwar East Germany

The German Democratic Republic issued their own style of licence plates, with the first letter indicating the bezirk or district where the vehicle was registered. After German reunification in 1990, the DDR plates were soon abolished and the west German system introduced until 1993.

Typeface

Modern German plates use a typeface called FE-Schrift. It is designed so that the O cannot be painted to look like a Q, and vice versa; nor can the P be painted to resemble an R, among other changes. This typeface can also more easily be read by optical character recognition software for automatic number plate recognition than the old DIN 1451 script.

Special codes

Certain types of vehicle bear special codes:




Insurance plates

The Versicherungskennzeichen used for mopeds and other small, low-power vehicles. The system is three digits on the top and three letters beneath. The number and the letters are chosen randomly so personalising the plates is not possible. Plates are much smaller than the plates for normal cars and are only valid for one year from 1 March till the end of February the following year. Those plates are sold by insurance companies, so the fee included both the registration, and the cost of one year's insurance for the vehicle. There are four colours used: black, blue, green for normal plates, and red for temporary use, such as testing. The first three colours are changed every year in order to make it easy to see whether the vehicle has the correct plate and insurance.

Emission, safety test and registration sticker

Emission test and vehicle safety test stickers were also attached to the plate before 2010, in which year the emission sticker became obsolete as the emission test was incorporated into the safety test and was not performed separately any more. The expiration date can be figured out as follows: The year is in the centre of the sticker, and the stickers are attached with the month of expiration pointing upwards. The black marking on the side thus makes it easy for the police to see the expiration month from a distance. Like a clock, the marking shows the same position of a number on the face of a clock. For example, the black marking is on the left side, so it is the ninth month and hence the expiry date is 30 September. The six possible colours code for the year when the next safety test is due and repeat once a six-year period has passed.
The lower sticker is the official seal of registration. It always carries the seal of the respective German.
When owners choose to deregister their vehicle the officer at the local authority will want to see the licence plates with defaced seals on them as proof that no legal plate with this identifier can be found in public any more. For this purpose special machines are available for use at the office. Once defaced the plates may only be used legally on public roads for the one ride back to the owner's place.
This is the recommended procedure for selling a car. Alternatively the seller may hand out their car with valid licence plates and papers still in their name to the new owner thus giving them the responsibility to register the car in their name shortly. In a scenario without a proper sales contract the seller may become liable when the buyer commits criminal acts related to the car or plates and thus it is generally not recommended to sell used cars with licence plates.
Motorcycles carry only the rear plate.
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