Low Emission Zones (LEZ) in Germany
Umwelt zones, are across Germany. Originally established in 2008 there are now over 80 Umwelt zones across Germany.
Do I need an Umwelt sticker to drive in Germany?
You don't need an Umwelt sticker to traverse Germany by motorway, or to drive in Germany in general. You only need the Umwelt sticker if you wish to drive within an Umwelt zone. Then your vehicle is classified as Green: Diesel engines built after 2006. Yellow: Diesel after 2001 and Red: Diesels engines after 1997. Before then they are unclassified. The Unwelt signs details what colour stickers are allowed, increasingly this is only green.
Is it possible to avoid Umwelt zones?
It is completely possible to avoid Umwelt zones if you do not have an unwelt sticker. The zones are clearly signed on approach, with distances indicated to the start of the zone. We visited the Dusseldorf motorhome show in September 2024 and did not have an Umwelt sticker. The show was outside the Umwelt zone but we couldn't drive to the local supermarket which was inside the zone. We then spent a few days in Germany staying on motorhome Aires, known as Stellplatze. The Reise Mobile Bord Atlas guide book we used clearly identified which Aires were inside an Unwelt zone and we simply avoided them.
What are Umwelt zones and where are they?
Unwelt zones were established to reduce vehicle pollution within urban areas. Therefore Umwelt zones tend to be in city centres. There are now 80 unwelt zones across Germany. As of September 2024 the following Germany towns and cities had Umwelt zones: Aachen, Augsburg, Balingen, Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Bottrop, Bremen, Castrop-Rauxel, Darmstadt, Dinslaken, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Eschweiler, Essen, Frankfurt a.M., Freiburg in Breisgau, Gelsenkirchen, Gladbeck, Hagen, Halle Saale, Hamburg, Hannover, Heidelberg, Heidenheim, Heilbronn, Herne, Herrenberg, Herten, Ilsfeld, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Krefeld, Langenfeld, Leipzig, Leonberg/Hemmingen and surrounding, Limburg, Ludwigsburg and surrounding, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mannheim, Marburg, Mönchengladbach, Mühlacker, Mülheim, Munich, Münster, Neu-Ulm, Neuss, Oberhausen, Offenbach, Osnabrück, Overath, Pfinztal, Pforzheim, Recklinghausen, Regensburg, Remscheid, Reutlingen, Ruhr area, Schramberg, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Siegen, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Ulm, Urbach, Wendlingen, Wiesbaden, Wuppertal
What if I stray into an Unwelt zone without a sticker?
If caught in an Umwelt zone without a sticker, or without the correct sticker displayed in the correct place on your windscreen, the fine is now €100 plus a €25 administration fee.
How do I buy an Unwelt sticker online?
Applying for your sticker is fairly simple and cheap. You will need a credit/debit card and a copy of the page of your V5 logbook detailing your vehicle age, registration number and engine type. This copy can be a scan or photograph in .pdf or .jpeg format. Once you have saved this, go to the Berlin Umweltzone Portal and follow the instructions. Once the form is complete you will be directed to a payment page and charged €6. Once your application is complete you will receive an email confirmation. The sticker should take 1-2 weeks to arrive. Do not use any other website to apply for your sticker as it could be an ‘agent’ charging considerably more.
Can I get an Umwelt sticker in Germany?
The unwelt sticker can be purchased in Germany at a DEKRA (MOT station), but they will need to see your V5 logbook to process it.
