Germany
Normal series plates, 1994 onwards Euro style
Pictures are to scale: 1 cm is approximately 10 pixels.
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| DIN-Euro Mixed Plate | |
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Mixed dies error plate. RS = Remscheid. The letters RS are made with the old dies from the pre-Euro series, the serial part is made with new Euro-style dies. This should never have happened, and the plate should never have received validation stickers. Obviously the error was overlooked by the registration authority. |
| Car Plates | |
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First Euro series plate. EE = Elbe-Ester. This is the first series of Euro style plates introduced only in Berlin and Brandenburg province in 1994. They have a hyphen and the smaller old style authority seal. When Euro plates were introduced in the rest of the country, the larger colored seals were introduced at the same time and the hyphen was omitted. |
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1995 onwards Euro style plates. These plates became optionally available in 1995, and became mandatory in 2000.
Here are three examples with 1, 2 and 3 letter district codes:
The first two are front plates with a hexagonal exhaust emission test sticker, the third one is a rear plate with a round general inspection sticker. On the third plate, narrower dies are used. This is done in case the number would otherwise not fit on the plate. |
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Umlaut plate. TÜ = Tübingen. The district abbreviations use umlaut characters, when applicable. Those characters are not used as serial letters. |
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Self illuminated plate, shown here in normal and back-lit view. B = Berlin. These plates were introduced in 2006. This is, however, not the first time that self illuminated plates were used in Germany. They were also available as an option until 1945. Here you can see an example of such a plate. The plate is made of plastic and is embossed like a normal aluminum plate. The white background consists of milky white translucent plastic with small dots of reflective sheeting embedded. Thus the plate works as a reflective plate when not illuminated. |
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American car plates. FS = Freising WES = Wesel If possible, American cars receive a number consisting of not more than five characters, so that it can be put on a plate that is about 12 inches long. If that is not possible, a two line small motorcycle/tractor size plate is issued. That is handled very restrictively by some authorities and only permitted when absolutely necessary. The Wesel pair thus has a normal size two line plate on the front, because there was some extra space on the car below the license plate area. |
| Motorcycle and Small Size Plates | |
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Motorcycle plates.
LB = Ludwigsburg
Until 2011, motorcycle plates were nominally identical to two line car plates. However, they are usually less wide, either by having short numbers or by using narrow dies. Sometimes the stickers are placed under the euroband to allow for a narrower plate. In 2011 a new style with smaller dies was introduced. This allows for narrower plates, because the characters themselves are narrower, and the stickers can be placed in the central area. |
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Small size plates. These plates are always used on small motorcycles and tractors. With special permission, they can also be used in cases where a full size plate would not fit (e.g. American cars). Placement of the stickers varies on those plates.
AN = Ansbach
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| Moped Insurance Plates | |
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Moped plates for 2000, 2001 and 2002. These plates are issued annually by the insurance companies. The characters are colored black, blue and green in a three year pattern. At the bottom of the plate, there is the writing "GDV" followed by the year. Moped plates are still in the old DIN style. |
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