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DRIVING

What you should do if you lose your driver’s licence in Germany

Non-EU nationals who live in Germany can often exchange their old licences for German ones. But what do you do if you happen to lose your German licence - or if it gets stolen? Here's a step-by-step guide.

Published: 30 January 2024 16:10 CET
Updated: 31 January 2024 08:59 CET
What you should do if you lose your driver's licence in Germany
Speed limit 100 from is written on a traffic sign on a motorway on the border between the Netherlands and Germany. Phtoto: picture alliance/dpa | Friso Gentsch

Losing an important document can be a nightmare scenario for foreigners in Germany – especially if it’s the one you rely on to get around. So if you search for your driver’s licence one day and suddenly realise it’s missing, you may feel the urge to panic. 

Luckily, there’s a two-step process to follow to get a replacement and ensure nobody else can misuse your licence in the meantime. However, German law requires you to act quickly.

Call the lost and found and/or file a police report

If your driver’s licence is lost or stolen in Germany, you’re required to let the police know as soon as possible. You can do this at any police station in Germany. 

There may be one place you should try first though before going straight to the police.

If you think your licence may simply have been misplaced, rather than stolen, you can call your local Fundbüro – which deals with lost property – to see if someone has returned it. Many of these are at local city halls, while many public transport companies have their own. Deutsche Bahn also runs one of these for things that are lost on long-distance trains in Germany.

If you still can’t find it, whether you’ve lost your licence or it’s been stolen, you’re required to file a police report. 

Once you’ve filed the report, the police will give you a confirmation letter. You can use this to apply for a replacement licence.

READ ALSO: How to get a German driver’s licence as a third-country national

Get in touch with the traffic office

Once you’ve filed a police report, you’ll need to get in touch with your local Fahrerlaubnisbehörde – or “traffic licencing authority” – to get a replacement licence. In Berlin, for example, you can go online and book an appointment for this.

You’ll need to bring a few documents with for your appointment to get a replacement licence. These include a biometric passport photo, the loss or theft report from the police, and a piece of legal ID. You’ll also need to pay a fee – which can vary depending on your local authority.

READ ALSO: What you should do if you lose your residence permit in Germany

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DRIVING

Christi Himmelfahrt: The German roads to avoid during the holiday week

With a national public holiday coming up in Germany, many people will be taking to the roads on vacation.

Published: 6 May 2024 15:56 CEST
Updated: 8 May 2024 11:40 CEST
Christi Himmelfahrt: The German roads to avoid during the holiday week

May 2024 is a good one for workers in Germany, with three nationwide public holidays scattered throughout the month – plus a regional one.

READ ALSO: ‘Bridge days’: How to maximise public holidays like a German this May

With Christi Himmelfahrt or Ascension Day coming up on Thursday – and with many Germans taking the Friday off as a Brückentag (bridge day) – it’s expected to busy on the transport network. 

Germany’s largest motoring club, the ADAC, warned of heavy traffic jams due to many people driving, as well a around 1,300 road works. 

“There is a particular risk of traffic jams on the motorways near urban centres, the travel routes towards the Alps and the coast and on the access routes to local recreation areas,” said the ADAC. 

Roads will start to get busy on Wednesday afternoon, the day before the national holiday.

In the states of Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia, the day after the public holiday, Friday May 10th, is officially school-free. In Schleswig-Holstein, this is also the case on Saturday, May 11th.

The wave of returning travellers will reach its peak on Sunday afternoon, May 12th, until the evening. It should be relatively quiet on the Autobahn network on Friday, May 10th and Saturday May 11th (so if you’re thinking of doing a day trip, perhaps one of these days is your best bet). 

To put it in perspective, in 2023 the day before Ascension Day was one of the busiest days of the year on the road, accounting for a massive 2,250 hours of traffic jams.

Experts say the following roads have the highest risk of traffic jams:

– Roads in and around greater Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich

– A1 Cologne – Bremen – Hamburg – Lübeck

– A2 Berlin – Hanover – Dortmund

– A3 Cologne – Frankfurt – Würzburg – Nuremberg

– A4 Kirchheimer Dreieck – Chemnitz – Dresden – Görlitz

– A5 Hattenbacher Dreieck – Darmstadt – Karlsruhe

– A6 Heilbronn – Nuremberg

– A7 Hamburg – Hanover and Würzburg – Füssen/Reutte

– A7 Hamburg – Flensburg

– A8 Stuttgart – Munich – Salzburg

– A9 Munich – Nuremberg – Berlin

– A10 Berliner Ring motorway

– A61 Mönchengladbach – Koblenz – Ludwigshafen

– A81 Stuttgart – Singen

– A93 Inntaldreieck – Kufstein

– A95 /B2 motorway Munich – Garmisch-Partenkirchen

– A99 Munich motorway ring road

Ascension Day is also a public holiday in Austria and Switzerland so keep that in mind if you’re travelling over the borders. 

This is likely to be particularly noticeable on the access roads to the excursion regions in the road network of the Alpine countries. In Austria, for instance, this includes the Carinthian lakes, the Salzkammergut, Lake Neusiedl and in Switzerland, it includes the cantons of Ticino and Valais. Longer journey times should also be planned for the Tauern, Fernpass, Brenner, Rhine Valley and Gotthard routes.

Those in the south of Germany may also travel towards Lake Garda and other holiday regions in Italy so it could be busier on roads leading to this region.

READ ALSO: Can I take my child out of school in Germany to go on holiday?

What’s open and closed on Ascension Day?

Ascension Day, which is also Vatertag (Father’s Day) in Germany is a Feiertag (public holiday) which means almost all shops, offices and schools are closed for the day. As we mentioned, some states also shut schools on the Friday after the holiday. 

Restaurants, cafes and beer gardens are usually open on the day because it is a good one for business. 

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