Parking fines in Germany: what each offence costs
The yellow slip under your wiper is usually a warning fine with no fees and no points; a handful of cases cost more.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Most parking offences in Germany cost between 20 and 55 euros in 2026 and are dealt with as a Verwarnungsgeld, a warning fine that carries no fees and no Flensburg points. The price jumps when someone is obstructed: parking on a pavement or cycle path in a way that blocks others costs 70 euros and one point (catalogue no. 52a.1), double parking that obstructs traffic 80 euros and one point, and blocking a fire service access while an emergency vehicle needs it 100 euros and one point. An expired pay-and-display ticket starts at 20 euros and reaches 40 euros after more than three hours. Disabled bays, EV charging bays and car-sharing bays each cost 55 euros. If the authority cannot find out who parked, the registered keeper pays only the procedure costs under Section 25a of the Road Traffic Act, a fee of 20 euros, never the fine itself.
What you pay, case by case
German parking penalties come from the national fine catalogue (Bußgeldkatalog), numbers 51 to 63. Cities do not set their own fines; they only enforce the national amounts. Each basic offence has variants for obstructing others, for staying too long, for endangering someone or for causing damage, and those variants decide whether you pay a small warning fine or receive a formal notice with fees. The cases newcomers meet most often:
| Situation | BKat no. | Fine | Points | Total with fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expired ticket, up to 30 min | 63.1 | €20 | 0 | €20.00 |
| Expired ticket, over 3 hours | 63.5 | €40 | 0 | €40.00 |
| Parked where stopping is banned | 52 | €25 | 0 | €25.00 |
| On a pavement or cycle path | 52a | €55 | 0 | €55.00 |
| Pavement or cycle path, obstructing | 52a.1 | €70 | 1 | €98.50 |
| Disabled bay without a blue badge | 55 | €55 | 0 | €55.00 |
| EV charging bay without right to use it | 55a | €55 | 0 | €55.00 |
| Double parked, obstructing | 58.1 | €80 | 1 | €108.50 |
| Double parked for over 15 minutes | 58.2 | €85 | 1 | €113.50 |
| Fire access, emergency vehicle held up | 53.1 | €100 | 1 | €128.50 |
The last column is what you actually transfer. Up to €55 it equals the fine. Above that limit the authority adds five per cent as a fee, at least €25, and €3.50 for delivering the notice.
Reading the slip under your wiper
A parking officer from the local Ordnungsamt (public order office) leaves a note with the offence, the time and often a reference number for an online payment. That note is an offer of a warning fine under Section 56 of the Administrative Offences Act (OWiG). It becomes binding only if you pay within the period stated, which the law says should normally be one week. No fees are charged at this stage. If you pay the wrong reference or miss the date, a letter to the keeper follows, and later possibly a fine notice with the minimum fee, which is how €20 turns into €48.50. For the steps after that, see the page on the German fine notice.
Pay-and-display, apps and parking discs
Germany uses three systems side by side: ticket machines, phone apps and the blue parking disc (Parkscheibe) that you set to your arrival time in zones with a free maximum stay. Catalogue number 63 treats them all alike and charges by how long you overstayed: €20 up to half an hour, €25 up to an hour, €30 up to two hours, €35 up to three and €40 beyond. Parking without a disc where one is required falls under the same number, so it is worth checking the glovebox of a hire car before you set off.
Pavements, cycle lanes and double parking
Parking with two wheels on the kerb is common in older streets, but it is allowed only where a blue sign showing a car on the pavement, or painted bays, permit it. Without that, it costs €55. Blocking pedestrians, staying more than an hour, endangering someone or causing damage each bring one point and €70 to €100. Stopping on an advisory cycle lane, the dashed line along the edge of the road, has its own entry (54a): €55, or €70 and a point if a cyclist has to swerve.
Double parking for a quick delivery is €55. If a bus or a neighbour cannot get out, it is €80 and a point, and after 15 minutes it is €85 and a point even if nobody was held up.
Reserved bays and fire lanes
Disabled bays need the blue EU parking card issued in Germany or another EU country. Charging bays are marked with an electric-car symbol and an extra sign that says who may use them, often only while charging. Car-sharing bays are reserved for the operator named on the sign. Each costs €55 without a point. Fire service access routes, marked Feuerwehrzufahrt, cost €55; if a fire engine or ambulance is actually blocked, €100 and a point. Towing is possible on top in all these cases, and the towing charge is set locally, not by the catalogue.
Stopping is not parking
German rules draw a line at three minutes. Under Section 12(2) of the Road Traffic Regulations (StVO), you park as soon as you leave the vehicle or stop for longer than three minutes; anything shorter with you at the wheel is stopping. The difference matters on streets with a no-stopping sign (a red cross on blue) and those with a restricted-stopping sign (a single red diagonal), where dropping someone off or loading is allowed but leaving the car is not. Stopping where it is banned costs €20, or €35 if you obstruct traffic. Parking where even stopping is banned costs €25, €40 with obstruction and €40 after an hour. Hazard lights do not turn parking into stopping.
Supermarket car parks and private garages
The national catalogue covers public roads only. In a supermarket car park, a private multi-storey or the courtyard behind an apartment block, the operator enforces its own terms and may claim a contractual penalty for overstaying. That claim is a private debt, not a fine: it brings no points, is not collected by a public authority and follows civil-law time limits. An official ticket names a public office, usually the Ordnungsamt or the police, quotes an offence number and gives a file reference. A private notice comes from a company and points to the terms displayed at the entrance.
Residents' parking zones
Many inner-city districts reserve kerbside spaces for residents with a permit (Bewohnerparkausweis), shown by a blue parking sign with an extra panel. Once you register your address in such a district, you can apply for a permit at the local office. Until then, read the extra panel closely: some zones let non-residents park with a ticket during set hours, others not at all. Either way the catalogue amounts for these cases stay at warning-fine level unless you also obstruct someone.
A worked example
Say you double-park outside a bakery, a delivery van cannot pass and an officer notes it. That is number 58.1: €80 and one point. Because the amount is above €55, you receive a formal notice rather than a slip, with a fee of €25 and €3.50 for delivery, €108.50 in all. The same stop without the van would have cost €55 and left no trace in Flensburg. Any other offence can be run through the fine calculator.
Points and the probation period
Only the aggravated parking cases appear in annex 13 of the Driving Licence Ordinance, which lists the offences that carry points. If you are in your two-year Probezeit (probation for new licence holders, which also applies when you move to Germany with a recently obtained EU licence), these count as B offences under annex 12. Two B offences mean a compulsory remedial course; the details are on the probationary licence page. To see how points add up, read the guide to Flensburg points.
Company cars and the keeper rule
A parking fine is a personal penalty, so the driver pays it. When nobody owns up, Section 25a of the Road Traffic Act lets the authority close the case and charge the keeper the costs, with a flat fee of €20 under Section 107(2) OWiG plus expenses. The rule covers stopping and parking only; speed cameras and red lights are handled differently. Employers who run a fleet often pass this charge on to the employee who had the car. Parking cases also become time-barred after 6 months unless the authority interrupts the period, which the page on limitation periods explains.