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Green sticker or no city center: the Umweltplakette
Written by
Janine El-Saghir
Janine El Saghir is an editor at How-to-Germany.com, where she specializes in the practical aspects of daily life and integration for expatriates. With years of...
Reviewed by
Erkan Boga
Erkan Boga is the founder and CEO of qmedia GmbH, the publishing house behind How-to-Germany.com. He established the platform with the clear vision of creating...
- What it is: a round sticker on the inside of the windshield that shows the car’s emissions group. Only the green one still gets you into Germany’s 35 environmental zones, which cover most big city centers.
- Who needs it: every car that drives into a zone, foreign-registered cars included. You do not need it to drive through Germany, only to enter a zone.
- Where and how much: at the registration office, at inspection organizations such as TÜV and DEKRA, and at workshops approved for emissions tests, against the registration document. The Federal Environment Ministry puts the price at €5 to €10. Entering a zone without the right sticker costs €100.
The sticker is issued once and is valid in every zone in the country. Its color depends on the car’s emissions standard, which is coded in registration document part I. Since 2012 all German zones admit green stickers only, so for practical purposes the question is whether your car qualifies for green.
Which sticker your car gets
| Engine | Standard | Typical first registration | Sticker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | Euro 4, or Euro 3 with a particle filter, and better | from 2006 | green |
| Diesel | Euro 3, or Euro 2 with a particle filter | 2001 to 2005 | yellow |
| Diesel | Euro 2, or Euro 1 with a particle filter | 1997 to 2000 | red |
| Diesel | Euro 1 or worse | before 1997 | none |
| Petrol or gas | Euro 1 and better, with a regulated catalytic converter | from 1993 | green |
| Petrol or gas | Euro 1 or worse without one | before 1993 | none |
| Electric | no combustion engine | green | |
| Sources: Federal Environment Ministry (page dated 6 July 2022) and 35. BImSchV, section 6, retrieved 4 November 2026. The emissions key in registration document part I is decisive, not the year. | |||
Retrofitting a particle filter usually moves a diesel up one group. A foreign car is classed by its first registration date unless you can show its emissions standard, so bring the registration papers that state it.
Where to get it
Any registration office, any inspection organization and any workshop approved for emissions tests issues the sticker on the spot against the registration document. The issuer writes your plate number on it. You stick it on the inside of the windshield where it is clearly visible, and it destroys itself if you peel it off, so a sticker does not move from one car to the next. The sticker can also be ordered by post, at a higher price including postage, and the inspection organizations’ offices abroad issue it to foreign cars.
Where the zones are
The Federal Environment Agency lists 35 zones in force. The list has been shrinking: 23 zones have been lifted since 2020, among them Hanover, Mainz, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Ulm, as air quality improved.
| State | Zones |
|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | Stuttgart, Pforzheim, Ludwigsburg and surrounding towns |
| Bavaria | Munich, Augsburg, Regensburg |
| Berlin | Berlin |
| Bremen | Bremen |
| Hesse | Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Marburg, Limburg |
| Lower Saxony | Osnabrück |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Aachen, Münster, Wuppertal, Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Neuss, Hagen, Siegen, Remscheid, Dinslaken, Eschweiler, Langenfeld, Overath, and the Ruhr zone covering Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Oberhausen, Mülheim, Herne, Bottrop, Gladbeck, Herten, Recklinghausen and Castrop-Rauxel |
| Saxony | Leipzig |
| Saxony-Anhalt | Halle, Magdeburg |
| Source: Federal Environment Agency, map of environmental zones, content as of 26 August 2026, retrieved 4 November 2026. | |
Stuttgart and Munich add diesel bans on top of the sticker: in Stuttgart’s zone diesels up to Euro 4 are banned, in part of the city up to Euro 5, and in Munich only Euro 5 diesels and better may enter. No new sticker exists for those bans, so a green sticker alone is not enough there if you drive an older diesel.
Who does not need one
Motorcycles and three-wheelers, agricultural and forestry vehicles, mobile machinery, cars with the German electric-vehicle plate marking, registered classic cars, vehicles of people with severe disabilities and emergency vehicles on duty are exempt. Cities can grant individual exemptions on application. Everyone else, including visitors in rental cars, needs the sticker before the zone sign.
Bottom line
Driving into a city zone? Pick up the green sticker at a registration office, inspection organization or approved workshop, and it covers every zone in the country. With an older diesel, read the emissions key first and check the extra bans in Stuttgart and Munich.
Part of driving in Germany. Related: car registration · TÜV inspection · buying a used car.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if you drive into an environmental zone. You do not need it to drive through Germany. Without proof of the emissions standard, a foreign car is classed by its first registration date. The inspection organizations issue the sticker at their offices abroad and by post.
The Federal Environment Ministry puts the price at the issuing offices at €5 to €10. Ordering by post costs more, including postage. The sticker is issued once and does not expire while the car keeps its plate.
No. The plate number is written on it and it destroys itself when peeled off. A new car, or a new plate after a move to another district, means a new sticker.
Rental cars registered in Germany normally carry one, as they are mostly new enough for green. Check the windshield before you drive into a city center, because the person driving in is the one charged €100.
In every environmental zone, yes. Stuttgart and Munich add diesel bans that the sticker does not cover: diesels up to Euro 4 or 5 may not enter even with a green sticker. Those bans are signposted separately.
The Federal Environment Agency lists 23 lifted zones, including Hanover, Mainz, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Ulm, Neu-Ulm, Reutlingen, Tübingen and Erfurt. Thirty-five zones remain, and stricter EU air limits from 2030 may bring some back.
Sources and legal basis
Sources and legal basis (retrieved on 4 November 2026)
- 35. Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes (sticker regulation), section 2 (sticker exempts from the zone driving ban), section 3 (colors red, yellow, green; plate number written on; inside of the windshield; self-destructing), section 6 (foreign cars classed by first registration date unless proven; date bands) and Annex 1 (design of the sticker).
- Federal Environment Ministry, Umweltplakette and Umweltzone (page dated 6 July 2022): issuing bodies (registration offices, emissions-test workshops, monitoring organizations such as DEKRA and TÜV, their offices abroad), €5 to €10, postal orders, valid in every zone, emissions groups by engine and first registration, electric cars green, retrofit filters, no sticker needed to enter Germany, no new sticker for diesel bans.
- Federal Environment Agency, environmental zones in Germany (1 October 2026): green only since 2012, emissions key in the registration document, exemptions under Annex 3, €100 for entering without a sticker, 35 zones in force, stricter EU limits from 2030.
- Federal Environment Agency, map and list of environmental zones (content as of 26 August 2026): 35 zones in force, 23 lifted with dates, diesel bans in Stuttgart and Munich.
- Bußgeldkatalog-Verordnung (fine catalog), Annex, number 153: entering a zone despite the ban, €100.
The ministry’s page still names €80 for entering a zone without a sticker; the fine catalog and the Federal Environment Agency give €100, which this page uses.