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Impressum requirements in Germany oblige anyone who offers a commercial digital service, usually a website, a shop or an app, to show who is behind it: name and postal address, legal form and representatives for a company, an email address plus a second fast way to reach you, the register and number, and the VAT ID if there is one. The information has to be easy to find and reachable from every page. Since 14 May 2024 the rule is section 5 of the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG), which replaced section 5 of the Telemediengesetz with the same content.
The German word Impressum means the legal notice, the page that answers "who runs this site". Germany is stricter about it than most countries for one practical reason: competitors and associations can enforce it with warning letters that carry costs. This guide covers who needs one, what goes in it per type of business, what a missing detail costs, how companies outside Germany handle it, and how Austria and Switzerland compare. To build yours, use our Impressum generator.
Who needs an Impressum
Section 5 DDG applies to digital services offered commercially and usually for payment. Courts read that widely: a company website that presents products or services is commercial even if nothing is sold on it, because it serves the business.
| Website | Impressum needed? |
|---|---|
| Online shop selling to Germany | yes |
| Company website presenting your services | yes |
| Freelancer or consultant site | yes |
| Business profiles on social media, such as a company page | yes, a link to the Impressum is enough |
| Blog with advertising or affiliate links | yes, plus the person responsible for editorial content |
| Purely private site with no commercial purpose | no |
A business that publishes journalistic or editorial content, such as a blog or a news section, also names a person responsible for that content, with an address, under section 18 paragraph 2 of the Interstate Media Treaty (MStV).
What goes into the Impressum, by type of business
Name and full postal address
Sole trader: your own name
GmbH or UG: with the legal form
Company from outside Germany: with your legal form at home
Who represents the business
Sole trader: not needed
GmbH or UG: the managing directors
Company from outside Germany: directors or managers
Email address
Sole trader: required
GmbH or UG: required
Company from outside Germany: required
A second fast channel, usually phone
Sole trader: required
GmbH or UG: required
Company from outside Germany: required
Register and registration number
Sole trader: if registered
GmbH or UG: court and HRB number
Company from outside Germany: the register at home
VAT ID
Sole trader: if you have one
GmbH or UG: if you have one
Company from outside Germany: if you have one
Supervisory authority, chamber, professional title
Sole trader: licensed or regulated work
GmbH or UG: licensed or regulated work
Company from outside Germany: licensed or regulated work
Person responsible for editorial content
Sole trader: with a blog or news
GmbH or UG: with a blog or news
Company from outside Germany: with a blog or news
Section 5 DDG and, for editorial content, section 18 of the Interstate Media Treaty. A missing detail can cost up to 50,000 euros in fines, and a warning letter from a competitor.
What goes into it
Section 5 paragraph 1 DDG lists the details. In plain English, and with how German readers expect them:
| Detail | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name and address | the full name of the business or the person, the legal form, and an address where documents can be served; a PO box is not enough | Beispiel GmbH, Hauptstraße 1, 10115 Berlin |
| Representatives | for a company, the people who represent it, usually the managing directors | Vertreten durch: Erika Beispiel |
| Fast electronic contact | an email address, plus a second direct channel; in practice a phone number, or a contact form that answers quickly | E-Mail and Telefon |
| Register | the commercial register and number, or the register at home for a foreign company | Amtsgericht Charlottenburg, HRB 000000 |
| VAT ID | the VAT identification number, if you have one | DE123456789 |
| Supervisory authority | only for activities that need an official licence | the authority that issued it |
| Profession | for regulated professions: chamber, professional title and the country that granted it, the professional rules | for lawyers, tax advisers, architects |
| Liquidation | a company being wound up says so | in Liquidation |
| Share capital | not required; if you state it, also state unpaid contributions | optional |
The page is usually called Impressum, linked in the footer of every page, with no more than two clicks to reach it. Courts have accepted "Impressum" and "Kontakt" as link texts; a link hidden in a privacy policy has failed.
What a missing detail costs
Two things can happen. The authorities can fine a breach of section 5 DDG up to 50,000 euros under section 33 DDG; that rarely happens for small mistakes. More often, a competitor or a qualified association sends a warning letter (Abmahnung): a formal demand to correct the Impressum and sign a declaration with a penalty clause, with the lawyer's costs attached. The Act against unfair competition (UWG) treats a missing or incomplete Impressum as unfair commercial practice, because the information is required by law.
The same culture produced the wave of letters over Google Fonts in 2022; see are Google Fonts GDPR compliant. A complete Impressum is the cheapest protection a German-facing site has.
Companies outside Germany
The answer depends on where you are established.
- In another EU countryThe EU e-commerce directive, article 5, asks every member state to require the same core information, and its country-of-origin principle means your home rules on provider information generally apply. A Belgian company, for example, already has to show its company number and details on its site under Belgian law; see company number on your website. In practice, German customers and competitors look for a page called Impressum, so most EU sellers add one in German with the same details.
- Outside the EU, such as the UK or the USThe country-of-origin principle does not cover you. If your site is aimed at German customers, German courts apply German rules: add a complete Impressum.
Either way, use your own legal form as it is called at home (BV, NV, SRL, Ltd, LLC), name the register at home and your number in it, and give an address where documents can be served. Our Impressum generator handles a foreign company as its own case.
Austria and Switzerland
| Country | Rule | What differs from Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | section 5 DDG, section 18 MStV | the reference: register, VAT ID, representatives |
| Austria | section 5 E-Commerce-Gesetz, sections 24 and 25 Mediengesetz, section 14 Unternehmensgesetzbuch | a disclosure under media law (Offenlegung) for every website, and company details under commercial law |
| Switzerland | article 3 paragraph 1 letter s of the Unfair Competition Act | for online shops: identity, postal address and email address |
A site for the whole German-speaking market can show one page with everything the three countries ask.
Your Impressum among the other German rules
The Impressum is the first of several German requirements a foreign online shop meets. The others, from the accessibility law to the withdrawal notice and packaging registration, are in selling online in Germany, and the accessibility law alone in the German Accessibility Act.
A worked example: a Belgian company selling to Germany
A company in Ghent with a shop for German customers shows the same details it shows under Belgian law, in the order German readers expect, on a page called Impressum:
| Heading | What it says for this company |
|---|---|
| Angaben gemäß § 5 DDG | the company name with BV as its legal form, the street address in Ghent, and Belgien as the country |
| Vertreten durch | the managing director (zaakvoerder) by full name |
| Kontakt | an email address that is read every day, and a phone number with +32 |
| Registereintrag | the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises and the company number |
| Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer | the Belgian VAT number, BE followed by the ten digits |
Nothing is translated into a German legal form: a BV stays a BV, and the register stays the Belgian one. If the company publishes a blog for German readers, it adds the person responsible for that content. The Impressum generator builds exactly this page from your own details, and Belgium's own rule for the company number is in company number on your website.
The mistakes we see most
- Only a contact formThe law asks for an email address; a form alone does not meet it.
- A trading name without the legal entityThe Impressum names the company that is party to the contract.
- A missing managing directorfor a GmbH, a BV or a Ltd.
- The register number without the register,or a VAT ID copied with a typo.
- The Impressum only in Englishon a German-language site, or hidden two levels deep.
- A stale pagea director who left, an old address after a move. Review it whenever your register entry changes.
Impressum questions from foreign businesses
Do I need an Impressum if my company is not German?
If your commercial site is aimed at German customers, yes in practice. Outside the EU, German rules apply directly; inside the EU your home rules apply, but German customers and competitors expect an Impressum with the same details.
What is the fine for a missing Impressum?
Up to 50,000 euros under section 33 DDG. The more common cost is a warning letter from a competitor, with lawyer's fees and a declaration to sign.
Can I use a PO box in the Impressum?
No. The address must be one where documents can be served, so a street address.
Is a contact form enough instead of a phone number?
An email address is required. As the second fast channel, courts have accepted a contact form that gets answered quickly; a phone number is the safe choice.