Sending a fax to a German landline
Germany runs on +49 plus numbers of different lengths: send your PDF and let Faxeroo handle the dialing. Page one is free of charge; from the second page onward the price is €3.99 incl. VAT, tracked live as the transmission proceeds.
Every German locality has its Vorwahl, a city code starting with zero and lasting two to five digits: for Cologne, 0221; Berlin, 030; Frankfurt's code is 069; Hamburg takes 040; Munich takes 089. The subscriber number follows, often followed by a Durchwahl — the direct extension. Many business fax lines end in -99 or -20, separated by a hyphen; that suffix belongs to the number and must be copied along with it.
Germany is among fax's European strongholds. Government agencies display it at the foot of their decisions; medical practices, pharmacies, health insurance funds, and law firms use it every day. For a private individual, it's the tool for tight deadlines: sending, for example, a timestamped objection to an administration before the deadline expires.
Select Germany, then copy the number with its Vorwahl zero, without the +49, joining the direct-extension digits: the format the form expects is detailed in the table below.
The first page is sent at no charge; every additional page is billed at €3.99 including VAT, no matter how many sheets are included. To prove that a document was dispatched on schedule, PDF delivery receipts are priced at €2.99 including VAT, with payment triggered only after delivery is verified.
Germany: the number format to enter
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| International dialling code | +49 |
| ISO code | DE |
| Accepted format | Following the initial 0, there are 6 to 11 additional digits: an area code of 2 to 5 digits, then the subscriber number. Mobile prefixes comprise 015, 016 and 017. |
| Line example | 03012345678 |
| Region | Europe |
Germany: sample numbers, accepted or rejected
| Number tested | Verdict | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 030 1234567 | Valid | Berlin |
| 089 12345678 | Valid | Munich |
| 0711 123456-99 | Valid | Stuttgart |
| 0151 23456789 | Rejected | Mobile number: beyond the reach of a fax |
| 30 1234567 | Rejected | The leading zero is missing |
| 49 30 1234567 | Rejected | Dialling code given without a + or 00 in front |
Area codes of the main cities
| City or line type | Dialling code |
|---|---|
| Berlin | 030 |
| Hamburg | 040 |
| Munich | 089 |
| Cologne | 0221 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 069 |
| Stuttgart | 0711 |
Germany: organisations that still receive faxes
- The Finanzamt, the Jobcenter or the Ausländerbehörde: many official letters still list a fax line under their letterhead, right next to the Aktenzeichen, the case number to quote.
- Doctors, pharmacies and home-care teams continue to fax referral letters, lab results and prescription requests — despite the 2024 introduction of mandatory e-prescriptions.
- Courts and public prosecutor's offices receive faxes from private individuals; the decisive factor is meeting procedural deadlines, and a transmission report is preserved on record.
- Health insurers, along with banks and other insurance providers, may on occasion take signed forms and cancellation notices via fax: verify in advance which channel their terms and conditions allow.
No organisation number is published here: take the one from your latest letter, or from the official website.
The official digital channel
Every German profession has been assigned its own digital channel: beA for lawyers, eBO — the mailbox for citizens and organisations — for contacting the courts, ELSTER for tax matters, KIM for secure exchanges between healthcare providers, and a BundID account for a wide range of online procedures. Each one demands prior identification; fax asks for no such thing.
Germany: time difference and office hours
| Time zone | UTC+1 in winter (CET), UTC+2 during daylight saving time (CEST): the time zone shared by Paris and Brussels |
|---|---|
| Difference from Paris | No time difference: Paris, Brussels and Berlin all show the same time |
| Usual hours | On a typical weekday, offices keep 8 a.m.–5 p.m. hours. Many government offices open to the public only in the morning, plus one extended afternoon — usually Thursday; many medical practices close on Wednesday afternoons. |
Germany: questions about sending
- Why do German phone numbers vary in length?
- Because a Vorwahl can be anywhere between 2 and 5 digits long, and the subscriber part grows or shrinks to compensate: major cities pair short codes with long numbers, small municipalities the opposite. After the leading zero, the form takes between 6 and 11 digits.
- Should you copy the hyphen and the digits at the end of the number?
- Yes, without hesitation: this suffix is the direct-dial extension, the direct line where the fax machine answers within the company or administration. Leave it out and your transmission reaches the switchboard instead. The hyphen itself can stay as is — the form doesn't mind.
- Will a German court accept my fax as a valid filing?
- If you are acting on your own behalf, yes: Section 130 of the ZPO, Germany's Code of Civil Procedure, names fax explicitly. Lawyers are the exception, since they must file through the beA. Whoever sends it, leave a comfortable margin before the deadline and store the transmission report carefully.
Send a fax to Germany
The other six countries
Countries covered
This topic
- Countries covered
- Dial code +34 — An 8 or a 9 opens a landline, which runs to nine digits with the province code; a leading 6 or 7 marks a mobile
- Dial code +39 — Keep the 0 in front and type the 5 to 10 digits after it; a number opening with 3 belongs to a mobile
- Dial code +351 — Nine digits starting with 2, including the area code; numbers beginning with 9 are mobiles
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