Germany is located in the Central Europe. It shares its borders with Denmark in the north, Austria and Switzerland in the south, and Poland and Czech Republic in the east. In the northwest and northeast, it connects with France and Luxemburg, and Belgium and Netherlands respectively. 

You must be wondering if this geography affects how they write the address formats. Yes, it does. To make the matter more complicated, there are multiple types of addresses in Germany like military addresses, residential addresses, PO box addresses, and so on.  Each address has its specific requirement of address elements. If you want to send mail to your client or customer, we will help you learn the right address format for different purposes.

Recipient Name

Write the full name of the person in the first line. You can add a title like Hern for Mr. and Herrin for Mrs. If you are sending the mail to a business, write the company’s name in the first line. Proceed by writing the person’s name and then their department. To ensure that the internal mail distribution system lands the right desk and office, you can write ATTN. in front of the person’s name.

Street Address

For the residential and business address, write the name of the street and house/building number. In case the recipient uses a PO box, add Postfach and then the box number.

Postal Code and City or Town

Write them in the aforementioned order. The postal codes are called Postleitzahl in Germany and they are five digits long. Some of the major cities in Germany are Berlin, Munich and Hamburg.

Country Name

Write the name of the country in the last line. When you are sending international mail to Germany, write the country name in capital letters.

Spacing in PO Box Number

Write the PO box number in two-digit groups, separated by a space, which starts from the last number.

Residential Address Format

Write the recipient’s name, street address, or PO box number, postal code, city or town, and country name.

Rural Address Format

Streets in rural areas do not have a formal name. In this case, write the name of the village, followed by the nearest larger town, and then the rest of the address elements.

Business Address Format

Write the name of the company in the first line, the person’s name in the second line, and their department in the third line. The rest of the address elements will remain in the same place as the residential address.

International Address Format for NGOs and Organizations

Write the name of the organization in the first line and the specific department in the second line. Place all the other address components in the same way as the residential address.

PO Box Address Format

In the residential address, instead of the street address, write Postfach and then the PO box number.

Military Address Format

The military address format is the same as the residential address format except for the first two lines. In the first line, write the rank and full name of the person. In the second line write the military unit number.

Government Office Address Format

In the residential address, write the office and department name on the first line and second line respectively.

Address Format for Multiple Recipients

If you are sending mail to multiple people in the same family or business, write their names in separate lines.

Address  Format for Courier Services

If you are sending mail via courier services like DHL or FedEx, write the contact details of the recipient in the last line of the residential address.

Deutsche Post is the national postal service provider of Germany and it was established in 1409. It is responsible for managing all domestic and international mail deliveries. It is one of the largest courier service providers that serves over 200 countries. Initially a public institution, it became a private company in the 1990s. Since then it has expanded its infrastructure and become a significant postal service provider in the world. There are over 173 subsidiaries and 14,000 post offices in Germany working under the Deutsche Post. It has ventured into other services like direct marketing, in-house postal services for big banks, electronic transfer of letters, and online shopping.

So you have learned how to structure the address format to a recipient in Germany. But to ensure your address is reaching the intended recipient, you need a verified address. PostGrid address verification solution verifies, standardizes, and offers address autocomplete suggestions in real-time. Whether you want to verify a single address or bulk address, we provide correct, complete, and up-to-date addresses in sync with the official postal service provider for over 245 countries and territories. 

If you are curious about the format of any other country, visit our international address format page and learn the address format followed in countries around the world.