For many, the license plate is not just an official registration plate: it expresses one’s personality, family or origin. And that is certainly the reason why license plates are in such high demand. But what is allowed and what is not? We’ll tell you everything you ever wanted to know about license plates. of course, you can also find out here what you need to know if you want to have a special license plate. Are you ready? Let’s go!
CONTENTS
This is how a license plate is structured in germany
License plates are compulsory in germany. If you want to drive your vehicle – whether motorcycle, tractor, bus, camper or passenger car – you need to have a official vehicle registration number. And for this a certain bodywork is prescribed:
- abbreviation of the registration district – letter/s – number/s
On the license plate it looks like this:
As you can see, there are other important details on the license plate between the abbreviation of the registration district and the identification number. What they are – we’ll tell you now.
Important source of information: the main inspection sticker
Here you can find the inspection sticker of the HU above:
- This is important on the one hand so that you know yourself, when you with your vehicle again you have to go to the HU.
- On the other hand, the information is also important for the public order department and the police – in case the TuV should be overdrawn.
The registration authority’s stamped plate
In the lower area you can see the stamp sticker of the registering authority. You can read various information on this:
- Here you will find the colored coat of arms of the state to which the authority belongs.
- The stamped plate also shows the name of the country and the registration authority.
- Each test plate has a unique print piece number, which may only be assigned once for each stamped plate.
- Since 2002, the blue stripe with the european stars and the country abbreviation below it (z. B. "D" for germany).
- This enables the local authorities or the police to see at a glance in which country the vehicle is registered.
Extras on the license plate for classic cars and electric vehicles
Maybe you already have license plate with another letter seen after the identification number – for example a H for historic (a vintage car) or a E for electric vehicle:
Since the license plate is an official registration plate, there are other standards that must be met apart from the design. What applies here – we’ll explain it to you now! Ready? Let’s go!
car license plates – these standards must be observed for the license plate
You already know that there is a standardized structure for license plates, don’t you?? But that is not all! In the next section, you will find out what other standards must be observed for the vehicle registration plate.
Keeping the license plate when moving – is it possible??
In the past, re-registration was compulsory: new registration district – new license plate.
This is how it looks today:
- Since january 2015 the one less bureaucratic act, to think about when moving.
- You are allowed to keep your license plate when you move.
- However, you must not forget your modify vehicle documents if your address changes.
- That’s why many motorists are happy to take the license plate of their former place of residence with them – in addition to less bureaucracy.
There are, however exceptions, for whom a license plate transfer is not accepted when moving:
- The vehicle is deregistered
- The car is sold
- There is a new holder
So much for relocation and license plate transfer. Let’s move on to the next point: how big can or must the license plate be?? We tell you immediately!
Fixed size for license plates
Some people may want to change the format of their license plate for various reasons, but this is not always possible.
Exceptions of the standard format must be justified in terms of construction:
- For a reimported model from the USA it is possible to apply for a special format.
- But you also have good chances with a vintage car.
But even in these cases, you must first prove that a standard license plate cannot be fitted by means of a conversion:
- If this conversiontechnically not possible is, you can get a license plate in special format.
- The same applies if the required conversion your vehicle not permitted by law would be.
- Besides, the chances are good if the conversion is done in a different way exceed 5 % of the current vehicle value would.
- because this would be economically unreasonable.
you are probably wondering: if there is so much to consider, can you even choose what is on the license plate? Let’s get to it – read on and find out everything you need to know about special license plates!
Your desired license plate – what is allowed and what not
If you want to immortalize certain initials or a date of birth on your license plate, this is possible – however only with the letters and digits on the license plate. The abbreviation of the registration district and the badges may not be freely chosen.
However, not everything is possible – a few conditions must be observed when choosing your desired license plate:
- The license plate may no offensive or indecent meaning have.
- Furthermore it is allowed to no abbreviations or combinationswith national socialist background its.
- It must be the one for the registration district prescribed number of digits and letter combinations contain.
- Of course, the desired combination must not yet be assigned.
- If your desired license plate is no longer available, there is nothing you can do.
- For data protection reasons alone, registration offices and other agencies would not track down the current license plate holder – not even for a fee.
Normally, the abbreviation of the registration district cannot be adjusted. Some people, however, did have this option – you can find out more about it now in a short journey into the past:
Excursion into the past: territorial reforms
Over the years, there have been territorial reforms and changes to the existing distinctive signs. Municipalities and counties were regrouped – eliminating old license plates. Between 2012 and 2015 could federal states at the federal government then apply to be allowed to use discarded license plate abbreviations again:
- Pretty much all countries have made use of this.
- Almost 300 local letter combinations are in use again today.
As a result, affected motorists were now free to decide which license plate they wanted:
- So if you decide to use this piece of local identity, you will have to go to the registration office as usual and apply for the new old license plate.
- However, there are fees for this:
- As a rule, it is about 13 €.
- In addition, you will have to pay for the new license plate.
- What exactly are the costs – we’ll get to that later!
First of all, you should play it safe and make sure that no one snatches the license plate you want away from you – we’ll now tell you how to do that!
Reserve your license plate – this is how it works!
To ensure that you get the license plate you want and that no one else applies for it before you, you should reserve it in advance.
The reservation of license plates can be done at your registration office or at the citizen’s office in different ways:
- In person
- By phone
- Online (except for individual exceptions)
How long can you reserve a license plate?
How long you can reserve your desired license plate depends on the authorities. But normally you can reservation for 10 to 90 days leave – in exceptions also longer.
Against a small fee you can get the reservation can also be extended let. The best way to find out about this is to contact your registration office.
If a deregistered vehicle is to be re-registered at a later date, the situation is a little different when it comes to reserving license plates:
- The reservation is for maximum one year valid.
- You can also reserve the license plate free of charge reserve.
- limited to a maximum of 3 months is the reservation if a other vehicle with the desired license plate already in use to be registered.
- The cost of registering a new vehicle is a fee of 10,20 €.
Now that you know what is allowed, how and for how long you can reserve a license plate, you probably want to know how much it costs – or how much it costs?? We clarify!
Your license plate – costs
With the costs for a car license plate there are hardly any differences:
- The costs for the embossing of the license plates and the other fees (re-registration, registration, etc.) will be charged to you.) are not federally defined.
- However, you normally pay a maximum of 15 € for the registration.
But if you want to have a license plate for your vehicle, you have to pay a surcharge:
- for a personal license plate you have to pay a surcharge of 10,20 € nationwide.
- For the online reservation you have to calculate with further costs in the amount of 2,60 €.
- Total is that a surcharge of 12,80 €, you have to budget for your desired license plate number.
You can only save on the license plate itself: there are online suppliers and stores that produce license plates – usually you will find the latter in the immediate vicinity of registration offices. Here there is already a larger price range. And while we are on the subject of saving money: you can also get new license plate holders at a relatively low price.
Last but not least, we have some interesting information to show off to your friends: we’ll tell you something about the forgery-proof license plate – at an extra cost of made in germany.
Forgery-proof license plate – if you had known it?
My new and old license plates are very similar – can’t I just change the old one?? Do not laugh! It has all been done.
Alone for the reason that this is a offense let’s assume that no one here intends to change a license plate number. If you still wonder if this is possible – here is the short and compact answer: no.
Actually, there are some numbers and letters that could be changed with a bit of color – and thus look real, at least at first glance:
- A 3 could easily be made into an 8.
- The O can quickly become a Q.
- As you can imagine, there are many more examples of our products.
Fe-schrift – no forgery possible
to counteract this, the federal republic developed the so-called FE writing (falschungserschwerdende schrift) as early as 1978:
And as you can see, this font has made it much more difficult to change letters and numbers:
- because of the fact that the "3" has a flat roof now, you can’t make a convincing 8 out of it.
- As you can see in the graphic, the "O" is now rather egg-shaped and the "Q" on the other hand is quite broadly positioned.
So none of these signs can be convincingly altered to look like another – and there’s a good reason for that:
- Any kind of license plate tampering falls under the offense of forgery of documents.
- So you must neither change font, nor that tamper seal or even remove it, stick a foil over it etc.
- Violations can with a fine or even a prison sentence of up to five yearspunishable become.
So. Now we have told you enough about license plates. Now it’s your turn: what’s your opinion on the topic of vanity plates?? Is it important to you personally what is written on the license plate or do you prefer to leave it to chance?? We are curious about your comment!