German History

 Germany
Estimated Population    ....            82,071,765   est. from 1997

Germany is comprised of 13 States & 404 Towns ,Citites .

Driving in Germany can be both exhilirating and frustrating . In a country known
for its high performance cars & high speed Autobahns, Germany hosts more traffic volume than any other nation in Europe. Germany also suffers the continents highest injury to accident ratio.

The German Autobahn network is the worlds second largest Superhighway
system with 11,000 km . Some features of the Autobahn include :
2 , 3 and some times 4 lanes of traffic in each direction
Green median 3-4 m wide with double guide rails
4% or less grades
Gentle well banked curves
Freeze resistant concrete
Many portions which have no speed limit

Some interesting Autobahn Regulations
Vehicles with a maximum speed of 60 km\h or less are prohibited
Passing on the right prohibited
Stopping,Parking,U-Turns and Reverse are Prohibited
It is illegal to run out of gas on the Autobahn
You can not use your high beams
Recommended speed limit 130 km/h only recommended

 GERMAN PLATES

  German Passenger Plates

The normal series of passenger plates in Germany can be either single or double row.

In the single line plate , the plate bigins with a 1 , 2 ,or 3 letter code denoting the town or province in which the car is registered,followed by a hyphen and then serial number.
In the two line plate , the 1 , 2 , 3  letter town code , is listed on the TOP
line.
In both cases the plates use a Black on relective white.

In 1994 , New plates were adopted with a different style of lettering and a
blue tab at the left bearing 12 gold stars of the European Union above the
letter D .

 Plate Seals

The German rear plate is adorned with two seals. The top seal is a colored dated seal showing that the vehicle pass a safety test.
The bottom Seal is a State Seal denoting that Insurance and Taxes have been payed on the vehicle.
Prior to 1994 the State Seal was Black on Silver
After 1994 the State Seal was larger and more colorful.

The front plate has been adorned with a color , dated hexagon seal since 1985.
This Seal is placed on the front plate of gas driven vehicles to denote the passing of an emission test.

 Former East German Plate Seals

In the former East German DDR , There was a plate seal used as year of
validation. The seal was of the Republic Coat of Arms. Each year was of
a different Color.


 Temporary Plates

1948 - 1988

German temp. plates Black on White Oval shaped plates. The upper line was a
code number for the office that issued the plate.The lower line started with the
letter Z followed with a hyphen and up to a 4 digit serial.The plate also bear the
seal of the respective Customs Office.

 Code numbers for Temporary oval plates
Code #        Office            pre 1967
Code #        office                pre1967   
Code #         office             pre 1967
100-120     Berlin                       26
415-420,438-440 Hannover 114,614
669-670  Landshut
150-159  Bremen-Freihafen      317
421-424  Hildesheim                      117
676-678  Passau                           190
160-169  Bremen Ost
427-428  Lüneburg                        119
679-680  Rosenheim                    194
170-179  BremerHaven              113
429-430  Nordhorn                        120
700-705  Bielefeld                          96
200-210  Düsseldorf         154,654
431-432  Oldenburg                      309
706-710  Dortmund                       129
211-214  Duisburg                     152
433-435  Osnabrück                     121
711-712  Gronau                           136
215-216 Emmerich                     156
436-437  Uelzen                             123
713-715  Hagen                             137
217-222,241-245 Essen           167
450-455  Heidelberg                      233
716-720  Münster                          131
223-224  Geldern                       166
456-460  Karlsruhe                       234
721-722  Paderborn                      125
225-229  Kleve                            158
461-465  Mannheim            238,738
723-725  Bochum
230-235  Krefeld                         151
500-505 Flensburg                         100
750-755  Bamberg                        174
236-240  Wuppertal                    405
508-510  Itzehoe                             102
756-760  Hof ( Saale )                  178
250-260  Darmstadt     248,448,748
511-515  Kiel                                    103
761-765  Nürnberg-Fürth             189
261-275 Frankfurt 240,340,640,740
516-517  lübeck-Ost                      501
766-769  Regensburg                  192
276-280  Gießen                          249
518-519  Lübeck - West               110
770-771  Schweinfurt                 1 95
281-285  Kassel                          142
550-555  Kaiserslaut,n                  180
772-773  Weiden                           197
286-290  Wiesbaden                  139
556-560  Koblenz                           159
774-780  Würzburg                      198
300-305,446-449 Baden-Baden 230
561-562,571-576 Landau             181
800-810  Saarbrücken                 162
306-310 Freiburg                         232
563-566  Mainz                               250
811-820  Saarlouis                        163
311-315  Kehl                               244
567-568  Ludwigshafen
850-852  Friedrichshafen            224
316-320  Konstanz                     235
569-570  Trier                                  165
853-854  Heilbronn                       225
326-330  Lörrach                        237
600-605  Aachen-Sud   400,406,407
855-856,881-884 Reutlingen      254
331-335  Singen                          242
606-611 AachenßNord 400,406,407
857-866  Struttgart-Ost 228,328etc
336-340  Waldshut                     243
612-626 Köln-Deutz 403,703,803,903
867-875 Struttgart-West 326,426,526,626,726,826,926
350-356  Hamburg-Waltershof
612-626 Köln-Rheinau                  404
876-880   Ulm                                227
357-363 Hamburg-Ericus 318,418
650-653 Augsburg                         173
881-884Reutlingen Baden-Baden
364-370  Hamburg-Harburg
654-655  Bad Reichenhall             193
Prüm                                               160
371-375  Hamburg - St.Annen
656-658 Lindau                               183
Husum                                            105
400-410 Braunschweig    212,312,
                412,512,612,712,812,912
659-668,671-675,681-699 Müchen-West,München Ost  286,386,486 etc
Stade                                               116
Leer                                                 118
411-412  Emden                          112
Borken                                             135
413-414  Göttingen                    115
Memmingen                                    185
Rottweil                                          222
Lahr                                                236
Heinsberg                                      402


1988 - PRESENT

Temporary plates are similar to current series in the fact that they are Black
on Reflective White. They start with a letter code denoting the town or province
followed by a hyphen than up to a four digit serial number. This is followed by a 55mm red band at the right end of the plate. With-in the band is the year over the month of validity. The date is in black. Below the hyphen you will see the town or province seal which is black on red. The plate is valid until the end of
the month. The vehicle can be driven outside of Germany.


 5 DAY TEMPORARY PLATE

Germany has recently released a 5 day temporary plate. It is consistant with
the current series in the fact that it is Black on Reflective White. The plate starts
with the letter code denoting the town or province.This is followed with up to a 6 digit serial number. There is NO hyphen . On the far right of the plate is a 55mm Yellow band.With in the yellow band is the day ,over the month , over the year of validity. This is black on yellow. The town/province seal is Black on Blue. This plate is valid for 5 days only and the vehicle can only be driven in Germany.

MILITARY PLATE

The military uses a plate that is white with black lettering. This plate starts with
the black , red and gold tricolour followed with the letter Y. The letter Y is followed with a hyphen and then up to a 6 digit number. The rear plate carries the Federal seal.
Nato vehicles are assigned th eletter X  followed by a 4 digit number.