Postal Codes in Germany
Contents
History
West Germany established a postal code system in 1962. These postal codes were 4 digits long (zero-padded). East Germany established a similar (but incompatible) system in 1965 (despite the West German system reserving codes for East Germany and provisioning a postal code to West Berlin).
Following German re-unification, the pre-existing postal code systems were used with a prefix of "W" (for West) or "O" (for East).
The modern postal code system in Germany was established in 1993.
Specification
Modern German postal codes are 5 digits long (zero-padded).
Postal Codes by Region
The leading digit indicates a region. Note that these regions do not follow other political boundaries. Note also that Germany was divided into these regions with the intention of evenly splitting population, not area.
Postal Region |
Includes these political regions |
0 |
Saxony, southern parts of Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg, eastern part of Thuringia |
1 |
Berlin, larger parts of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, small parts of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt |
2 |
Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, northern part of Lower Saxony, Bremen, small part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern |
3 |
southern part of Lower Saxony, eastern part of Westphalia, northern parts of Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt |
4 |
north-western part of North Rhine-Westphalia, south-western part of Lower Saxony |
5 |
south-western part of North Rhine-Westphalia, larger part of Rhineland-Palatinate, small part of Hesse |
6 |
southern parts of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, small parts of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg |
7 |
larger part of Baden-Württemberg, small part of Rhineland-Palatinate |
8 |
southern part of Bavaria, south-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg |
9 |
northern part of Bavaria (Franconia), larger part of Thuringia, small part of Baden-Württemberg |
See here for more details.
Historic Code Identification
Historic German postal codes could be identified by being 4 digits long (zero-padded), or by being 4 digits long prefixed by one the letters "O" or "W".