Germany

Plates show the district of registration.

Current plate formats

StandardSince 1956
B-AB 1234
New plates have no hyphen after the area code, so the space after it marks where the serial starts. Tax-exempt vehicles use the same format in green. Seasonal plates add a month range on the right.
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HistoricSince 1997
K-AA 100H
H for historisch, for vehicles first registered at least 30 years ago and in largely original condition.
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TemporarySince 1998
DD-04321
Short-term plates, valid for five days, with a yellow stripe on the right showing the expiry date.
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Dealer and testCurrent
S-06123
Red plates for test, trial and transfer drives. 05 for test organisations, 06 for manufacturers, workshops and dealers (not tied to one vehicle), 07 for collectors of historic vehicles.
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DiplomaticCurrent
0 166-1
0, then the mission's country code and a serial of one to three digits. Smaller serials usually mean a higher rank. Other embassy staff and consulates use B or BN instead.
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MilitaryCurrent
Y-123 456
Bundeswehr vehicles, with the German flag instead of the EU strip. Up to six digits, or up to five followed by an E for electric vehicles. Senior officers get one to three digits.
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Each code opens a page with the region it stands for.

No longer issued, but some may still be on the road.

Electric2015–2026
M-EV 123E
E for battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids with enough electric range. Issuing these ends on 31 December 2026 under FZV section 79(9), unless the law changes.
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1906
Uniform regulation for the German Reich, in force from 1907. States used prefixes such as Roman numerals (I for Prussia, II for Bavaria) or letters (HH for Hamburg).
1948
The occupation powers introduce a uniform system in the four zones, with two letters for the zone or area, then two or three digits for the district and four for the vehicle.
1953
East Germany introduces its own plates, with the first letter identifying the Bezirk.
1956
The current district-based system is introduced in West Germany on 1 July.
1991
On 1 January 1991 the West German system is extended to the former GDR. GDR plates stay valid until 31 December 1993.
1994
The FE-Schrift typeface and the blue EU strip are introduced, first in some Länder. From early 1995 they are issued nationwide on a voluntary basis.
2000
Euro plates become mandatory for new registrations from 1 November 2000. I, O and Q are allowed in the serial letters from 26 May 2000 (B, F and G from 1992).
2012
From 1 November 2012 a district may apply to use more than one area code, but only codes assigned before 25 October 2012.
2015
E plates for electric vehicles authorised by the Electric Mobility Act.
2023
Munich receives the second area code MUC.