Mainz low-emission zone: lifted

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

The preset is a diesel with a yellow sticker. Choose Mainz or Wiesbaden and the date: the check shows the difference.

May I drive into Mainz?

Yes, zone lifted

Mainz zone lifted on 1 October 2025.

ZoneMainz
StateRhineland-Palatinate
Green only since1 February 2013
Statuslifted on 1 October 2025

Sources: Federal Environment Agency list · mainz.de

How the check works and its sources

Mainz lifted its low-emission zone as of 1 October 2025. The city explains that air pollution has been below the limits since 2024. Since then you no longer need a sticker in the city of Mainz. The Mainz zone was part of a joint zone with Wiesbaden that both cities introduced on 1 February 2013, and it was green from the start. The Wiesbaden part across the Rhine remains. It is based on the first update of the Rhine-Main clean-air plan, Wiesbaden sub-plan, and covers large parts of the city of Wiesbaden. So if you cross the Theodor-Heuss bridge or the Schierstein bridge into Wiesbaden, you still need a green sticker there. The Wiesbaden city page still mentions the Mainz zone even though it has been lifted; the City of Mainz page is authoritative. With the lifting in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate no longer has an active low-emission zone. If your sticker is still on the windscreen, leave it there; it is needed in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and the other Hessian zones.

Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources

Dates of the Mainz zone

German Environment Agency list
Stagefrom
Stage 1: red, yellow, green allowed1 February 2013
Stage 2: yellow and green allowed1 February 2013
Stage 3: green only1 February 2013
Lifted1 October 2025

Mainz and Wiesbaden compared

City of Mainz, City of Wiesbaden
MainzWiesbaden
zone since1 February 20131 February 2013
status 2026lifted on 1 October 2025active, green only
basisMainz clean-air planRhine-Main clean-air plan, Wiesbaden sub-plan

Further zones in the region are on the Frankfurt am Main and Hesse pages; other lifted zones on the lifted zones page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a sticker for Mainz-Kastel and Mainz-Kostheim?

Kastel and Kostheim lie on the right bank of the Rhine and belong administratively to Wiesbaden, even though their names include Mainz. Whether they lie inside the Wiesbaden zone is shown on the City of Wiesbaden’s map. For the city of Mainz on the left bank, no sticker has been needed since 1 October 2025.

Why has Wiesbaden not lifted its zone too?

Each city decides on the basis of its own sub-plan and readings. For Wiesbaden the first update of the Rhine-Main clean-air plan, Wiesbaden sub-plan, still applies. The City of Wiesbaden also calls the zone an important tool for meeting the EU limits for particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, which will be tightened in 2030. No lifting has been announced there.

Did Mainz ever have a yellow or red stage?

No. The joint Mainz-Wiesbaden zone started on 1 February 2013 directly as a green zone, as the German Environment Agency list shows; all three stages carry the same date there. Anyone who drove in Mainz between 2013 and September 2025 without a green sticker was driving in the zone unlawfully, unless an exemption applied.

Related pages and checks

Hesse

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

Frankfurt am Main

Green only since 2012, no diesel ban, airport outside: the Frankfurt zone in brief.

Lifted zones

From Balingen to Mainz: which zones have been abolished since 2020, with the date of lifting.

Outlook 2030

Zones are being lifted, but the EU tightens limits from 2030: what that means for the sticker.

Hanover

Lifted in early 2024: you no longer need a sticker in Hanover. With the conflicting dates.

Check a route

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

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

Updated on · Editorial policy · Contact

Zone list as of 2026, read on