How to send a letter in Germany

Publish date: 2024-08-28

How do you send a letter in Germany? And why would you need to know this? No one ever sends letters by mail anymore, right? Not quite. Germany often requires legal documents to be sent by the postal service. And even when it isn’t a requirement, sometimes it can make sense to send a physical letter with tracking. Of course, there’s also the undeniable joy of receiving a handwritten letter or postcard. 

So, let’s assume you’ve finished writing your letter and are ready to post it. We’ll walk you through the necessary steps and show you how to pick an envelope and stamp, where to write your address, where to post your letter and how much to pay. Need to send a parcel? No worries — we’ve got you covered there, too.

  • Picking an envelope format and the right stamp
  • How to address a letter in Germany
  • How to find a post box 
  • How to send a parcel 
    Pick a company: Deutsche Post, DHL and others

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    1. Picking an envelope format and the right stamp

    When it comes to letters in Germany, size matters. So does weight. Both determine how much it costs to send a letter. These costs are covered by the stamp. Prices can range from €0.85 for a standard letter of up to 20 grams to €2.75 for a maximum letter weight of up to 1,000 grams. 

    International mail is more expensive, with prices ranging from €1.10 to €17 per letter. You can check your German letter envelope format on the Deutsche Post website, where you can also calculate the costs and print out stamps. Speaking of which… 

    Where to buy envelopes and stamps

    You can purchase envelopes and stamps at your local post office or at any Paketshop with a Deutsche Post or DHL Sticker in the window. 

    You can also order stamps and packaging materials online. With the Post & DHL app, you can not only buy stamps, but you can also print them, receive them as a QR code or get a code to write on the envelope instead of the actual stamp. The app comes with a lot of useful features, such as tracking. This is always a good idea when sending official documents.

    2. How to address a letter in Germany

    Writing a letter is an art that comes with many rules. These rules extend to how you address the letter. In Germany, letters are sorted by machine. For the machine to be able to read the address on your letter correctly, you must stick to a certain format:

    Max Mustermann/Familie Mustermann/Mustermann GmbH
    Musterstr. 37
    12345 Musterstadt
    DEUTSCHLAND

    If you are writing to a specific person within a household or a company (or to an authority such as the citizen’s office), you can insert the name in the second line with z.Hd. for zu Händen, which is used just like c/o (care of). The address of the addressee goes on the middle or bottom right of the envelope. You can put your own address on the top left. The top right is reserved for the stamp. Don’t write too close to the edges, and leave the side with the flap empty. 

    3. How to find a post box 

    You can post your letter at a local post office, a Paketshop or one of the characteristically yellow post boxes with the DP (Deutsche Post) symbol. You can find the nearest place to post your letter with this location finder. 

    Post boxes are emptied several times a day, as indicated on the post box. Alternatively, you can arrange for your letters to be picked up at your door.

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    4. How to send a parcel

    Now you know all about how to post a letter in Germany. But what about a parcel? If you want to send a parcel filled with German gifts to your friends and family back home, you can follow the same steps you use when sending a letter by post in Germany: 

  • Buy the packaging material and necessary stamps. You can calculate the costs and purchase the shipping via the app. 
  • Send the parcel from a local post office, a Paketshop or a Packstation. Alternatively, you can just go to your local post office and have the staff calculate the price and buy your stamp there. At the Packstation, you can leave your parcel 24/7 in a locker, where it will be picked up by a postman for shipping. You can use the same service to receive packages.

    • Pick a company: Deutsche Post, DHL and others

    Until the 1990s, Deutsche Post was the one and only state-owned postal service in Germany. After its privatization, it is still the most commonly used provider to send a letter in Germany. DHL is the international logistics company of Deutsche Post. If you want to send a parcel in Germany, you will likely use DHL, although there is more competition than in the letter market. The main competitors you may want to consider include Hermes, UPS, DPD, GLS and FedEx/TNT.

    How to send a letter by post in Germany

    To send a letter in Germany, follow these easy steps: Write your letter, choose the right German envelope format, buy a stamp, post the letter. For your letter to be shipped without problems, pay attention to how to address a letter in Germany. If you did everything right, your letter should reach its German destination within one or two working days. So, put in some German practice and write a letter to a friend!

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    Sandra Köktas

    Sandra lives in Istanbul, together with her kids, cat and dog. As a historian she thrives exploring this ancient city with her two- and four-legged loved ones. Together, they also love to go on adventures through all of Turkey and its neighboring countries. The perfect opportunity to put all the language learning into practice. If she’s not on the road, Sandra is busy putting her experiences into writing as a freelance copywriter for the travel industry and everything related to language, culture and family. Her particular interest lies in providing information on animal welfare with her website contentrundumstier.de

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