Low-emission zones · Germany
Do I need a green sticker to drive into a German city?
Checked 18 September 2026 on the federal and city pages · skynomad
Verdict
Yes, in every Umweltzone, and a foreign plate is no exemption.
Buy the green Feinstaubplakette before you drive into a German city with an Umweltzone; a foreign number plate is not an exemption.
What to do before you go
Order the green Feinstaubplakette by post before you go, or buy one on arrival at a TÜV, DEKRA, GTÜ, KÜS or FSP test centre or a vehicle registration office. It is tied to the number plate, never expires, and is valid in every German Umweltzone.
- Cost
- €5–€10 at an issuing point in Germany (the federal environment ministry's published range). Berlin's registration office: €5 at the counter, €6 posted. TÜV SÜD posts one for €17.50, DEKRA for €19.90.
- Lead time
- 7–14 days by post from Berlin; the city tells visitors from abroad to apply about 3 weeks ahead. Over the counter it is done while you wait.
service.berlin.de ↗
Who is allowed to sell it
Only vehicle registration offices and accredited emissions-test bodies (TÜV, DEKRA, GTÜ, KÜS, FSP) and workshops licensed for the Abgasuntersuchung issue the sticker. The ministry publishes the fee as €5–€10; anything far above that is a reseller's markup.
Germany polices its low-emission zones the old way: a coloured disc inside your windscreen, read by an officer standing next to the car. Every Umweltzone in the country is now green-sticker-only, and a foreign number plate is not an exemption. A car hired in Germany already has one. A car you drive in from abroad almost certainly does not.
Germany: getting the green sticker
The thing you want is the Feinstaubplakette, also sold as the Umweltplakette. It costs between €5 and €10 at an issuing point in Germany, which is the range the federal environment ministry publishes. It never expires, it carries your number plate, and it works in every Umweltzone in the country.
Three ways to get one:
- By post, before you travel. Berlin's vehicle registration office takes applications from anyone, foreign-registered cars included: €5 at the counter, €6 posted, 7 to 14 days to arrive. Berlin tells visitors from abroad to apply about three weeks ahead, and I would take that seriously in August. The counter is at Kfz-Zulassungsbehörde Lichtenberg.
- By post from a test house. TÜV SÜD posts one for €17.50 including VAT and shipping, DEKRA for €19.90. More money than Berlin wants, but they ship abroad and they are used to reading a non-German registration document.
- On arrival. Any TÜV, DEKRA, GTÜ, KÜS or FSP test centre, any workshop licensed for the emissions test, and any registration office will hand one over while you wait. The car does not have to be shown. The paperwork decides.
Bring the registration document: Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, or your own country's equivalent — V5C, carte grise, libretto di circolazione. For a car registered outside Germany the class is worked out from the European emissions standard, or from the date of first registration when the document does not state one.
Those offices and test bodies are the only official issuers. My rule is simple: standing in Germany, anything over €10 means you are paying a middleman.
Germany: which cities have an Umweltzone
Around 35 Umweltzonen are live. These are the ones a road trip actually runs into.
Low-emission zone
Berlin
Umweltzone Berlin
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 January 2010
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- German E-Kennzeichen cars are exempt by Berlin order; a foreign electric car may show the blue E-Plakette instead
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
The city inside the S-Bahn Ring; the ring roads themselves form the boundary
Berlin is the only city that lets an electric car in without the green sticker; buy one anyway if you are driving on.
Official page ↗Parking in Berlin ParkingInEurope ↗
Low-emission zone
Munich
Umweltzone München
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker, plus diesel Euro 4/IV and worse even with a green sticker
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included; the diesel rule applies to them too
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100; the city publishes €128.50 with fees
Where the boundary runs
The Mittlerer Ring and everything inside it; the ring road itself is in the zone
Diesel stage 1 (Euro 4/IV and worse) has applied since 1 February 2023 and runs until further notice. Stage 2, which would have banned Euro 5/V diesel, was suspended in July 2023 and formally not implemented in April 2024.
Official page ↗Parking in Munich ParkingInEurope ↗
Low-emission zone
Stuttgart
Umweltzone Stuttgart
- When
- 24 hours, every day, all year
- Kept out
- No green sticker; diesel Euro 4/IV and worse city-wide since 1 January 2019; diesel Euro 5/V and worse in the inner area since 1 July 2020
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included; both diesel bans apply to them
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100; the city publishes €128.50 with fees and costs
Where the boundary runs
The whole city for the green sticker and the Euro 4 diesel ban; the Euro 5 diesel ban covers the Talkessel plus Bad Cannstatt, Feuerbach and Zuffenhausen
Both diesel bans were still in force on the city's own page dated 24 February 2026. Euro 6/VI diesel is not affected.
Official page ↗
Low-emission zone
Cologne
Umweltzone Köln
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 July 2014
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
137 km² on both banks of the Rhine. Motorways are outside the zone, and the boundary streets can be driven without a sticker
No diesel ban. The zone is large enough that the ring motorways are the only clean way past the city.
Official page ↗Parking in Cologne ParkingInEurope ↗
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 January 2012
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
The city inside the motorway ring: A5 to the west, A3 to the south, A661 to the east and north. The motorways themselves are outside
A diesel ban was ordered by a court in 2018 and then struck down; none is in force.
Official page ↗Parking in Frankfurt am Main ParkingInEurope ↗
Low-emission zone
Düsseldorf
Umweltzone Düsseldorf
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 July 2014
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
About 80 km² of the city, the size it reached on 1 February 2013
The 2022 air quality plan dropped the diesel ban as disproportionate; none is in force.
Official page ↗Parking in Düsseldorf ParkingInEurope ↗
Low-emission zone
Leipzig
Umweltzone Leipzig
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
One zone covering the inner city, in force since 1 March 2011; the boundary is signposted at every entry road
Official page ↗
Low-emission zone
Bremen
Umweltzone Bremen
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 July 2011
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
Altstadt, östliche Vorstadt, part of Schwachhausen and much of the Neustadt; the edges are signposted
Bremen's own page still quotes the older €80; Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Regensburg all publish €100.
Official page ↗
Low-emission zone
Ruhr area (Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund and 10 more)
Umweltzone Ruhrgebiet
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 July 2014
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
One continuous zone of about 850 km² running from Duisburg to Dortmund across 13 municipalities
The rules were unified across the 13 towns in 2011, so one sticker covers the whole run.
Official page ↗
Low-emission zone
Regensburg
Umweltzone Regensburg
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker, parked as well as driven; in force since 15 January 2018
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- The city states it plainly: even an electric car on German E-plates must carry a green sticker here
- Fine
- €100 plus administration fees
Where the boundary runs
The old town, between the ring road and the Danube
Mopeds, scooters and motorcycles are outside the rules.
Official page ↗
Low-emission zone
Augsburg
Umweltzone Augsburg
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Kept out
- Anything without a green sticker; green only since 1 June 2016
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- Electric
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
Where the boundary runs
The extended inner city
Official page ↗
Some famous names have dropped out. Hamburg never had an Umweltzone at all and lifted its two diesel street bans in 2023. Hannover ended its zone on 22 February 2024, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe on 1 March 2023, Freiburg on 2 May 2025. Mannheim, Ulm, Tübingen and Reutlingen went in 2024.
Germany: what the fines cost
Driving or parking inside an Umweltzone without a valid sticker is €100. Munich and Stuttgart both publish the full bill with fees and costs: €128.50. There is no grace period, no first-offence warning and no visitor discount.
A German fine of €70 or more can be enforced against you at home under the EU mutual-recognition rules, so €128.50 clears the bar comfortably. In a hire car the rental company passes on your details and adds an administration charge of its own on top.
Parking counts as much as driving. A car left standing inside the zone without a sticker is the same offence.
Germany: electric, hybrid and older cars
An electric car needs the green sticker like everything else. Battery cars are put in pollution group 4 and get a green disc, and Regensburg spells it out: even an electric car on German E-plates has to carry one there.
Berlin is the single exception. Cars on German E-Kennzeichen are released from the sticker requirement by a Berlin order, and a foreign-registered electric car may show the blue E-Plakette instead. That exemption stops at the city limit.
Petrol cars with a catalytic converter get green almost without exception. Diesels need Euro 4 or better for green — and in Munich and Stuttgart green is no longer enough on its own.
Germany: three ways visitors get caught
- Assuming the hire car came with one. A car picked up in France, Austria, Poland or the Czech Republic and driven over the border usually has no German sticker at all.
- Buying the green sticker and then taking a Euro 4 diesel into Munich or Stuttgart. Green gets you into the zone; the diesel rule is a second, separate ban sitting on top of it.
- Ordering from whichever site comes up first. The counter price is €5 to €10, and the official list of issuers is short.
Parking on the way
Where to leave the car, from our sister site. Each card is the short version; the full guide has every car park, the tow pound and the charging points.
ParkingInEurope
Berlin
A towed car is usually moved round the corner, not stolen. €4 an hour in Mitte, free on Sunday except in zone 29, and charging bays that cost nothing to park in.
- Best bet
- Parkhaus Europa-Center: €2.50 an hour, €20 for 24 hours, open round the clock. At Alexanderplatz, Alexa is €25 a day but closes 00:30–06:00. Then a 24-hour AB transit ticket for €11.20.
- Watch out
- Mitte zone 29 charges every day 09:00–24:00, Sunday included. Green sticker needed inside the S-Bahn Ring; German E-plates are exempt and a foreign EV may show the blue E-Plakette.
- Best bet
- A Park+Ride on the U-Bahn: €1.50 for 24 hours at Fürstenried West, Neuperlach Süd or Feldmoching, €1.00 at Garching-Forschungszentrum. The U3 from Fürstenried West runs to Marienplatz with no change.
- Watch out
- Saturday is charged until 23:00. Enforcement runs Monday to Saturday, 09:00–23:00. Only Sunday is free. In the Altstadt you may not stay longer than two hours, 08:00–19:00, whatever you pay.
- Best bet
- The city garage under the cathedral: €0.80 per 20 minutes, €24 a day at Tiefgarage Am Dom. On the street, machines with a blue band sell 24 hours for €5; the rest charge €4 an hour in the centre.
- Watch out
- Green sticker compulsory in the 137 km² Umweltzone, electric and foreign cars included — €100 plus fees. Sunday is free at the kerb except near the LANXESS arena, the Zoo and the Messe.
ParkingInEurope
Frankfurt
Free park and ride on the U-Bahn, a €1-an-hour garage across the river, and €4 an hour at the kerb. The cathedral garage is 1.95 m high and shuts at midnight.
- Watch out
- Green sticker compulsory inside the A5/A3/A661 motorway ring, foreign and electric cars included. The Dom-Römer garage is 1.95 m high and open only 06:00–24:00. The Christmas market has no parking at all.
- Best bet
- Tiefgarage Grabbeplatz: €2 an hour, €30 a day, €10 from 23:00 to 08:00, under the K20 on the edge of the Altstadt. Height 1.80 m. For a full day near the Kö, Grupellostraße is €24.
- Watch out
- The Rheinufer garage charges €5 per started hour (€6 on Saturday), up to €42. Green sticker compulsory in the 80 km² Umweltzone, electric cars included. Altstadt kerb charged until 22:00.