Low-emission zones in North Rhine-Westphalia
Independent, non-governmental site: not an authority’s service, no sticker sales.
The list is filtered to North Rhine-Westphalia. Search for your town, including individual Ruhr cities.
Zones in this selection
17
17 active and 0 lifted
| Active in Germany | 35 |
| Lifted | 23 |
| List as of | 26 August 2026 |
North Rhine-Westphalia has more active low-emission zones than any other state. The German Environment Agency list shows 17 zones, and unlike in Baden-Württemberg none of them has been lifted. Because the Ruhr zone alone covers 13 cities from Duisburg to Dortmund, a large share of the state’s population lives inside a zone. Add to that Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Aachen, Münster, Wuppertal, Krefeld, Mönchengladbach, Neuss, Remscheid, Hagen, Langenfeld, Dinslaken, Eschweiler, Siegen and Overath. The state Environment Ministry writes that all zones in North Rhine-Westphalia may only be entered with a green sticker; most went green on 1 July 2014, while Aachen, Eschweiler, Siegen and Overath were green from the start. There are currently no diesel bans in the state. The 80-euro fine quoted by the ministry is outdated; the 100 euros in the Fine Catalogue Ordinance apply. For some smaller zones, such as Krefeld, Neuss, Remscheid or Wuppertal, the city pages could not be retrieved during our check; there the list relies on the ministry and the Agency. For Overath we found the Cologne district government’s plan but did not officially verify the start date.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
All zones in North Rhine-Westphalia
| Zone | Status | green since / lifted on |
|---|---|---|
| Aachen | active | 1 February 2016 |
| Bonn | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Dinslaken | active | 1 October 2012 |
| Düsseldorf | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Eschweiler | active | 1 June 2016 |
| Hagen | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Cologne | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Krefeld | active | 1 July 2012 |
| Langenfeld | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Mönchengladbach | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Münster | active | 1 January 2015 |
| Neuss | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Overath | active | 1 October 2017 |
| Remscheid | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Ruhr area | active | 1 July 2014 |
| Siegen | active | 1 January 2015 |
| Wuppertal | active | 1 July 2014 |
Sources
The list of the North Rhine-Westphalia Environment Ministry is the basis. For the Ruhr we read the Münster district government, and for individual cities the pages of Aachen, Cologne and Düsseldorf. Where a city and the Agency give different dates, the check follows the Agency and the city page notes the discrepancy.
Read on
The large zones have their own pages: Ruhr area, Cologne and Düsseldorf. For trips through several zones there is the route check.