Frankfurt am Main low-emission zone

Independent, non-governmental site: not an authority’s service, no sticker sales.

The preset is a Euro 4 diesel with a green sticker. Change the details and check your vehicle for the Frankfurt zone.

May I drive into Frankfurt am Main?

Yes, you may enter

Frankfurt am Main zone: a green sticker is enough.

ZoneFrankfurt am Main
StateHesse
Green only since1 January 2012
Statusactive

Sources: Federal Environment Agency list · landwirtschaft.hessen.de

How the check works and its sources

Frankfurt’s low-emission zone was set up in October 2008 and has been a green zone since 1 January 2012: only vehicles with a green sticker or an exemption may enter. The legal basis of stage three is the first update of the clean-air plan for the Rhine-Main conurbation, Frankfurt am Main sub-plan; the second update of that sub-plan has applied since 28 December 2020. The plan is the responsibility of the state of Hesse, which lists the Frankfurt zone alongside those in Darmstadt, Offenbach, Wiesbaden, Marburg and Limburg. Frankfurt currently has no diesel ban; a diesel from Euro 4, or a Euro 3 diesel with a particle filter, gets green and may enter. The airport lies to the south outside the zone, and access via the A 3 and A 5 motorways is free. The city of Frankfurt’s zone page blocked automated access during our check, so the information here comes from the state’s page and the German Environment Agency list. Driving in Frankfurt without the right sticker costs 100 euros, as everywhere.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources

Stages of the Frankfurt zone

German Environment Agency list
Stagefrom
Stage 1: red, yellow, green allowed1 October 2008
Stage 2: yellow and green allowed1 January 2010
Stage 3: green only1 January 2012

Zones in the Rhine-Main area

Hesse Environment Ministry, City of Wiesbaden
Citygreen sincestatus
Frankfurt am Main1 January 2012active
Offenbach am Main1 January 2015active
Darmstadt1 November 2015active
Wiesbaden1 February 2013active
Mainz1 February 2013lifted on 1 October 2025

More on Hesse’s zones on the Hesse page, and on the lifted zone on the Mainz page.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I see the exact boundary of the Frankfurt zone?

On the map in the Rhine-Main clean-air plan, Frankfurt am Main sub-plan, published by the state of Hesse, and on the city’s page. The city page blocked automated access during our check, so we do not describe the boundary here. On the ground the signs decide: sign 270.1 stands at every entry into the zone.

Do I need a sticker for Frankfurt airport?

Not for the airport itself, which lies outside the zone at the Frankfurter Kreuz interchange. Driving from the airport to the centre, the banking district or Sachsenhausen, however, requires the green sticker. Rental cars from German stations usually carry one already; check the windscreen when you collect the car.

Does Offenbach have its own zone?

Yes. Offenbach am Main has had its own green zone since 1 January 2015. Its legal basis is the second update of the Rhine-Main clean-air plan, Offenbach sub-plan, in force since 24 November 2014; the third update has applied since 12 October 2020. The rules are the same as in Frankfurt: green only, or an exemption.

Related pages and checks

Hesse

Six green zones from Frankfurt to Limburg, plus the open question of Darmstadt’s diesel routes.

Check a route

Up to five places at once: which zones lie on your way and whether your vehicle may enter each one.

Green sticker

Who gets group 4, why yellow and red no longer work anywhere, where green is not enough.

Particle filter

When a retrofitted filter lifts an old diesel from yellow to green, and when it does not.

Mainz

Lifted since 1 October 2025, while Wiesbaden across the Rhine stays: what applies now.

All zones

Every active low-emission zone by state, with the date of the green stage and its source.

Sources

Written by

Publisher of an independent reference on German low-emission zones that traces every zone back to the Federal Environment Agency register and the clean-air plan behind it

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Zone list as of 2026, read on