Exemptions and exemption permits
Independent, non-governmental site: not an authority’s service, no sticker sales.
Pick your case: the check shows whether Annex 3 exempts you everywhere or whether you need a permit from the city.
Ordinary car
Sticker needed
no general exemption in Annex 3
| Without sticker in a zone | €100 fine |
| Otherwise possible | city exemption permit (s. 1(2)) |
A green sticker covers every active zone unless a diesel ban applies.
For the diesel bans in Stuttgart, Munich and Darmstadt, the exemptions of each city’s own order apply.
35th BImSchV, Annex 3: vehicles exempt from the sticker · BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 278
There are two kinds of exemption, and they are often confused. The first applies by law and everywhere: Annex 3 of the 35th BImSchV lists eleven groups of motor vehicles that may enter any low-emission zone without a sticker, including motorcycles, ambulances, vehicles with special rights, classic cars with an H plate, vehicles carrying people with the disability marks aG, H or Bl and, since October 2026, vehicles with an e-plate. Nothing has to be applied for. The second is the individual exemption permit under section 1(2) of the ordinance. It is granted by the competent authority of the city concerned, or by the police in urgent cases, for trips to and from specific facilities when there is a public interest, such as supplying the population, or when overriding and urgent individual interests require it, for example when production processes could not otherwise be maintained. Such a permit is only valid in the zone it was issued for, is usually time-limited, carries a fee and, in many cities, requires proof that the vehicle cannot be retrofitted.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The eleven general exemptions
| No. | Vehicles |
|---|---|
| 1 | mobile machinery and equipment |
| 2 | work machines |
| 3 | farm and forestry tractors |
| 4 | two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles |
| 5 | ambulances, doctors’ cars marked “Arzt Notfalleinsatz” |
| 6 | vehicles driving or carrying people with the marks aG, H or Bl |
| 7 | vehicles with special rights under StVO section 35 |
| 8 | vehicles of non-German troops from non-NATO states on urgent military trips |
| 9 | civilian vehicles on urgent sovereign Bundeswehr duty |
| 10 | classic cars with H or 07 plates, equivalent classics from the EU, EEA and Turkey |
| 11 | vehicles with an e-plate (since 1 October 2026) |
The city’s individual permit
For everything else there is only the permit under section 1(2) of the 35th BImSchV. Each city sets its own fee, duration and paperwork; the Berlin Senate Department and the city of Stuttgart describe their procedures online. There is no nationwide fee, so we do not quote an amount.
What the check above cannot do
It shows whether a case falls under Annex 3. Whether your city will grant you an individual permit is something no calculator can say; the authority decides at its discretion. For trucks and buses and motorhomes that cannot be retrofitted, it is often the only way into the zone.