Documents you need to rent a car in Germany

To rent a car in Germany you need three things: a valid driving licence, an official photo ID — a national identity card or a passport — and a payment card issued in the main driver's name. If your licence comes from outside the EU and is not written in the Latin alphabet, add an International Driving Permit, always carried together with the original licence.

That sounds simple, and usually it is. Things get awkward at the edges: mismatched names, debit cards, young drivers, additional drivers who do not come to the counter in person. Those are exactly the cases we work through here.

The driving licence: EU, EEA and everything else

The licence is the one document nothing can replace. Without the original there is no vehicle. A photo on your phone, a photocopy or a police report of loss will not do anywhere.

Licences from the EU and the EEA

An EU photocard licence is valid in Germany as it is, whichever member state issued it, and no International Driving Permit is needed. If you still hold one of the old grey or pink paper licences, check the exchange with your local Führerscheinstelle, the driving licence authority: the deadlines expire in stages, and at the counter a very old document invites questions.

Licences from outside the EU

What matters here is the alphabet, not the country. Someone at the counter has to read your name, your categories and the expiry date, and that is what the International Driving Permit is for: a certified translation, not a licence in its own right.

• Licence in the Latin alphabet: the original on its own is usually enough.
• Licence in Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese or any other non-Latin script: an International Driving Permit in addition to the original.
• Apply for the permit before you travel, in the country that issued your licence. You can only obtain one in Germany if you are registered as resident here.
• Keep both documents together in your hand luggage, not in the suitcase.
• If you move to Germany for good, a foreign licence has to be converted after a transition period. The Führerscheinstelle where you live explains the deadline and the procedure.

Identity card or passport: not the same thing

The ID proves who you are, the licence proves you may drive. Both are asked for, never one instead of the other. Which ID document fits depends on where you are registered.

• Registered in Germany: the Personalausweis, the national identity card, is accepted almost everywhere.
• Travelling in from abroad: bring your passport, even if you hold a national identity card.
• Some branches compare the address on the ID with the booking address. After a move, it pays to keep your registered address up to date.
• A driving licence is almost never accepted as a substitute for ID, photo or no photo.

The card: the most common reason for a no at the counter

In Germany most rentals fall over not because of the licence but because of the card. It has to be in the main driver's name, first name and surname. A card belonging to a partner, a parent or the company is refused even when that person is standing right there and agrees.

• Credit card in the main driver's name: the most reliable route, because the deposit is only blocked against your limit rather than debited.
• Debit card carrying a Visa or Mastercard logo: accepted more often than it used to be, frequently with conditions such as a fixed return date or restricted vehicle categories.
• A plain Girocard, the German bank card, without a co-badge: not an accepted means of deposit at many branches.
• Prepaid cards, virtual cards and stored-value cards: refused almost everywhere.
• Cash as a deposit: the exception, and usually tied to extra proof of identity or address.

Your available limit matters just as much. The deposit is blocked for the whole rental period, and that amount has to be free on the card on top of everything else you spend on the trip. After you return the car the release takes a few working days, which is normal.

Minimum age, licence-holding period and young drivers

Driving is governed by your licence; renting is governed on top of that by the rental company's own terms. The second hurdle is usually the higher one.

• Most branches rent from the age of 21, and only from a considerably higher age for powerful or premium vehicles.
• Many rental companies require a minimum licence-holding period, often from one year, and longer for special vehicle categories.
• That period counts from the issue date of the relevant category, not from your birthday.
• During the probationary period and for everyone under 21, Germany applies an absolute alcohol ban, meaning 0,0 per mille. For all other drivers the limit is 0,5 per mille.
• A young-driver surcharge should appear in the total price before you book, not at the counter.

Additional drivers: who is actually allowed to drive

On long journeys, on holiday or during a house move, rarely does just one person want to drive. For that to be lawful, every further driver has to be named in the rental contract. This is not a formality: it is the basis of the insurance cover.

1. 1Each additional driver is entered in the rental contract by name.
2. 2They have to be there in person at hand-over and show their own licence and their own ID or passport.
3. 3They sign the contract too, otherwise the entry does not count.
4. 4Anyone not listed must not drive, not even for a few kilometres.
5. 5You can add a driver during the rental, but only in person at a branch.

Pick-up normally has to be done by the main driver, since the contract and the deposit are in their name. The return can usually be handled by a registered additional driver as well.

Locals and travellers: the documents at a glance

What else belongs in the vehicle

Your own papers are only half of it. Some things belong to the car itself, and it is worth a quick look at hand-over.

• Compulsory equipment: a warning triangle, a high-visibility vest and a first-aid kit must be carried in the vehicle.
• The Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, the vehicle registration document, and the rental contract stay in the car.
• Low-emission zones: many German cities let only vehicles with the right Umweltplakette, the emissions sticker on the windscreen, into their Umweltzone. The rules differ from city to city and they change, so the city authority's own information is what counts.
• Winter tyres are required according to the situation: what counts is the road conditions, not a fixed date in the calendar.
• If the trip continues into Austria or Switzerland, a vignette is required there. Check first whether trips abroad are permitted at all.

And on speed, because few subjects are so persistently misreported: 50 km/h applies in built-up areas and 100 km/h for cars outside them. On a large part of the Autobahn network there is no general speed limit; where nothing is signposted, the advisory speed of 130 km/h applies, and that is a recommendation, not a limit. Drive faster and you can be held partly liable in a crash. Elsewhere the posted limit applies. For cars the Autobahn is toll-free.

Why a transparent price is half the battle

Most paperwork problems are really information problems: somewhere it said which card is accepted and how large the deposit is, just not where the booking was made. DRIVO is a European marketplace where you book directly with vetted independent and local rental agencies and with private vehicle owners, Germany included. Every cost is shown before you pay, with the service fee on its own line, refunded if you cancel free of charge or if the agency cancels.

In practice that means you see the deposit and what is included before you book, confirmation is instant, and you can cancel free of charge up to 48 hours before pick-up. If you want to reduce the excess, you can add the optional full protection at checkout. Listings and support come in five languages, with WhatsApp and in-app concierge help. Beyond cars, you will also find vans, motorhomes and campervans where local supply exists.