No Sticker, No Entry!

A 2006 anti-air-pollution law began a process that now requires drivers in Germany to have a special environmental sticker or badge (UK; Umweltplakette in German) on their car in order to enter the “green zone” of most German cities. Austria has similar requirements in Vienna and some other parts of the country.

Driving in many German cities now requires a special sticker in order to enter the “Umweltzone,” the environmental zone.

This law applies to anyone driving a passenger vehicle or small truck in Germany, whether a resident or a foreigner. Even if the car meets German/EU pollution standards, a driver can still be fined if there is no sticker on the car’s windshield. You’ll see a sign similar to the one pictured here, but almost every German city or town of any size now requires a green-zone sticker.

German lawmakers passed the new law after Germany failed to meet EU pollution standards for fine particulates (Feinstaub). Three German cities (Berlin, Cologne, Hanover) first introduced restricted environmental zones in January 2008. Since then, more and more cities and towns all across Germany have been added to the list of places that have Umweltzonen, and that list will grow in coming years. (See a partial list at the end of this article.)

Green Means Go

Most environmental zones now require a green sticker like this one on a leased car in Germany. PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

Currently there are three different colored emission stickers. A green one certifies that a vehicle meets the highest environmental standards. A yellow sticker is for less compliant vehicles (usually diesel or older gasoline-powered). A red one is for the lowest level. The yellow and red stickers are only temporary and will eventually be phased out. After that, all vehicles will have to have a green sticker in order to enter a city’s Umweltzone. Various cities have different deadlines for when only a green sticker will allow a vehicle to enter an environmental zone. NOTE: Hardly any German city with a green zone currently allows entry with anything other than a level-4 green sticker.

A sign will indicate which color sticker a vehicle must have in order to enter the environmental zone. Most newer cars with a catalytic converter will qualify for a green sticker, but the sticker must be on the car’s windshield in order to avoid a 40 euro fine. Whether your car can pass a pollution test or not is irrelevant. No sticker, no entry!

Diesel Restrictions

Germans, who used to love their diesel autos, have fallen out of love since the 2015 “Dieselgate” scandal exposed cheating by German automakers to make their diesel-powered cars seem more environmentally friendly than they actually were. As a result, over a dozen German cities have introduced or are considering introducing diesel car bans in parts of their metropolitan areas. Another impact may be more electric vehicles (EVs) on German roadways, which for all its environmental chest-thumping, has been slow to promote EV use. Learn more below.

The Blue Euro 6 Badge or (Nitrogen Oxide) N Ox Sticker

In early 2016 an EU environmental conference proposed the introduction a new Europe-wide blue Stickoxid (nitrogen oxide) sticker, but it has been stalled for various reasons. The German environmental agency wants to come up with alternatives to fight the nitrogen oxide smog-creator – particularly in Berlin, Cologne, Aachen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart, Munich, and Darmstadt. Since diesel-powered vehicles are among the biggest offenders, the blue sticker would effectively ban 13 million diesel vehicles from entering most large German cities. Germany and the EU have failed to deal with the problem of CO2 and NOx emmissions. Green zones currently only control fine particulates, but not carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide (a ground level ozone precursor). The EU blue sticker may be on hold in Germany for now, but in 2018 the city-state of Hamburg introduced diesel restriction zones, after a German court ruled that diesel driving bans are legally applicable in particularly polluted city centers. The German Association for the Environment (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, which has the wonderful acronym of DUH), has sued numerous German cities over air quality – and won. Beginning in 2019, at least a dozen German cities began some form of diesel restrictions. You can download the Green Zones App (some fees may be required) to track the latest status of cities in Germany. Also see Blaue Plakette (in English) for current information.

The Green Zone app is available for Apple iOS and Android devices. Some in-app purchases may be required. PHOTO: Apple

Cities with Environmental Zones (Partial List)

The following German cities and towns had restricted environmental zones as of early 2016 (in alphabetical order):
Aachen, Augsburg, Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Bottrop, Bremen, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Erfurt (Oct. 2012), Essen, Frankfurt am Main (and area: Offenbach, Siegen), Freiburg (Breisgau), Gelsenkirchen, Halle (Saale), Hanover, Heidelberg, Herrenberg, Ilsfeld, Karlsruhe, Köln (Cologne), Leipzig, Leonberg, Ludwigsburg, Mannheim, Mühlacker, Mülheim an der Ruhr, München (Munich), Münster, Neu-Ulm, Neuss, Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Oberhausen, Osnabrück, Pfinztal, Pforzheim, Pleidelsheim, Recklinghausen, Reutlingen, Ruhr region, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Ulm, Wuppertal.

Many other German cities will introduce environmental zones in coming years. By 2016 almost any heavily populated area in Germany had green zones. For a current list and map of cities, see: www.umwelt-plakette.de (in English, sort of) or in German. Austria and other EU nations are also introducing low emission zones. For more, see Low Emission Zones in the EU (www.lowemissionzones.eu, includes Germany). See more related web links below.

Next | Driving in Germany

Related Pages
AT THE GERMAN WAY

• Driving in Germany
• Driving in Europe
• The Autobahn
• Snow Tires and Winter Driving in Germany – Learn about the “O-to-O Rule”!
• Renting a Car in Germany
• Getting a German Driver’s License
• For Expats: Living in Germany

ON THE WEB

• Emissions Sticker (TÜV) – General information from www.tuev-nord.de, in English
• Order Online (TÜV) – English instructions for ordering your environmental sticker from TÜV
• Urban Access Regulations in Europe – The only complete, reliable source for all European low emission zones, congestion charging & urban traffic restrictions. All you need to know in one place.
• Umweltbundesamt: Umweltzonen – Deutschland – in German
• Umweltbundesamt: Low Emission Zones – Germany – in English

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