Diesel bans in Germany

This article is dated as shown. Laws, fees and prices have changed since then. Check the figures before you rely on them.

This article describes the debate on diesel restrictions as of December 2018. It is not a current map of bans. Hamburg lifted the restrictions on Max-Brauer-Allee and Stresemannstraße in September 2023; the rules of other cities need to be checked separately.

• The decisions and plans mentioned for individual cities belong to the 2018 overview. Check the local restrictions in force before you travel.
• The decisions and plans mentioned for individual cities belong to the 2018 overview. Check the local restrictions in force before you travel.
• The restrictions on the two Hamburg streets named here were lifted in September 2023.

What do diesel bans put at risk?

In February 2018 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that a ban for drivers of diesel vehicles is permissible even without a uniform federal regulation. Where emission limits are exceeded, the responsible state authorities must draw up a clean air plan. It sets out the measures needed to comply with the limit values. These also include bans on diesel cars. Alongside heating systems and power plants, they are the main cause of the limit values being exceeded.

Where and since when do diesel driving bans apply?

• Hamburg: the restrictions described for Max-Brauer-Allee and Stresemannstraße were lifted in September 2023. The old fines and zones from the 2018 article cannot be used as current guidance.
• The description of the decision or plan for this city refers to December 2018; check the local rules in force before you travel. From the article of 22.12.2018: “Stuttgart: a driving ban in the existing low emission zone for all diesel cars of Euro 4 and below comes into force in January 2019. The fine for a violation is to be 80 euros.”
• From the article of 22.12.2018: “Frankfurt: from September 2019 a ban in the city centre applies to all cars with an emissions class lower than Euro 6.”
• From the article of 22.12.2018: “Aachen: Aachen too faces a driving ban from January 2019 following a ruling by the local administrative court. The government of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has appealed against the ruling.”
• From the article of 22.12.2018: “Berlin: from the end of June 2019 the German capital faces a ban on diesel cars on the following routes: Leipziger Straße, Reinhardtstraße, Brückenstraße, Friedrichstraße, Kapweg, Stromstraße, Leonorenstraße and Alt-Moabit. In addition, a driving ban is possible on 117 road sections.”

Which cities still face a law banning diesel cars?

From the article of 22.12.2018: “Further bans are likely in more than 30 cities because they exceed the limit values. Of the total number of lawsuits on compliance with emission protection, 28 were filed by the German environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH).”

From the article of 22.12.2018: “Alongside the cities already mentioned, this also affects major cities such as Munich, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bonn, Mainz and Wiesbaden. Bans are also being tested in court in the smaller towns of Düren, Paderborn, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Limburg, Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Backnang, Esslingen, Marbach and Reutlingen. In total, the limits are exceeded in more than 60 cities. Regulations banning diesel cars are therefore possible there as well in principle.”

From the article of 22.12.2018: “In February 2018 the Federal Administrative Court decided that a zonal driving ban for Euro 5 cars is only permissible from September 2019. From that point on, all cars below the Euro 6 standard are barred. This currently covers around 80 percent of all diesel vehicles. Nevertheless, a ban on vehicles meeting the Euro 6 standard is also quite possible in future. Tests have shown that in part they emit more pollutants than Euro 5 cars.”

From the article of 22.12.2018: “However, as the Federal Administrative Court made clear, bans on diesel cars must be proportionate. Exemptions for tradespeople, taxi drivers and others particularly affected by the law must therefore be taken into account.”