Forbidden license plates: What is not allowed on license plates

“HH-SV”, “SE-X”, “Du-MM”-with German license plates, you can drive all sorts of nonsense. For many vehicle owners, the so -called license plate is the only choice when it comes to admission. A statement can be combined in particular with the longer license plates – be it a stupid saying, the favorite football club or your own abbreviation and year of birth. If already license plates, then please something personal.

But there are limits. Paragraph 8, paragraph 1 of the vehicle approval regulation says: “The character combination of the recognition number as well as the combination of distinction signs and the identification number must not violate the good customs”. This somewhat spongy -formulated sentence offers theoretically large scope for its interpretation. What are good customs?

The fact is that everything that can be associated with National Socialists and the Second World War is taboo. A license plate with the abbreviations HJ (Hitler Youth), concentration camp (concentration camp), NS (National Socialism), SA (storm department) and SS (protection relay) therefore falls through the registration office throughout Germany.

There are also regional bans. For some offices, signs with the identifiers AH (Adolf Hitler), HH (Heil Hitler) and SD (security service) are also sorted out. In 2016, the city of Düsseldorf banned the abbreviation “IS” (Islamic State) for a while, but the signs can now be reserved again. Incidentally, only the recognition numbers are affected by the prohibitions. The “HH” of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg is therefore permitted as a sign of distinction.

It can also happen that supposed harmless recognition numbers are not allowed if they result in an undesirable combination together with the distinction sign. For example, Stuttgart does not offer any license plates with the letters “S”, “A” or “D”. Together with the “S” of Stuttgart, the Nazi grid SS, SA and SD result. There is therefore no license with “Z” in Cologne, Nuremberg prohibited “PD” and “SU” and the district of Dithmarschen (Hei) does not offer the “L”.

The digits on a license plate can also cause problems: Depending on the district or city, combinations such as 88, 888, 8888, 188, 1888 and 8818 do not get any further. Explanation: If you take the respective letters in the alphabet instead of the number, there are abbreviations that can be read as “HH”, for example, what “Heil Hitler” can stand. In general, most right -wing extremists are blocked.

There are loopholes: A quick test shows, for example, that the city of Augsburg allows signs with the identification “A-HH 180” for the reservation.

In places there can even be problems with the numbers 14 or 28. The “14” is a symbol of the slogan of the American neo-Nazi leader David Lane, which consists of 14 words in English. “28” represents the letters “B” and “H”, which is associated with the right -wing extremist network “Blood & Honor”.

The development of license plans is quite dynamic. In some places, for example, the letter “Z” is prohibited because the Russian army uses it as a distinguishing sign on tanks and military vehicles after the invasion of Ukraine.

Such innovations usually do not have a retrospective effect. Anyone who already has such a license plate will be allowed to keep it.