Before the ubiquitous Export Z-plates of the post-war years were seen all over Europe, as Germany stepped up her motor manufacturing with vehicles the whole world wanted to buy, another, simpler form of the unique oval licence plate had been born.
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Posted by Victor Brumby
Since November 2012, we’ve seen new German number plates with long-forgotten district codes, not seen on the road for 20 years or more. These are codes which were abolished when local government was reorganised. West Germany merged many small districts in the 1970s; in former East Germany the same happened from 1993 onwards. The original number plates remained valid, but disappeared rapidly with the introduction in 1997 of tax-reduced “H” plates for historic vehicles, to the great sorrow of nostalgic plate-spotters like myself.
Under the 2012 law, each local government (Landkreis or district) can decide whether it wants to reintroduce the codes that were formerly issued on its territory. The state (Bundesland) sends all requests from its districts to the federal government in Berlin. Once Berlin has approved the request, a revived old code becomes optional in the current district where the old district (or the major part thereof) was located. For example, a resident of Vogtlandkreis in Saxony can choose either the current code V or (for an extra fee) any of the old codes AE, OVL, PL and RC. Of course the plates have to be in the current “FE” style of lettering. The classic 1956-2000 “DIN” style is not coming back.
The Europlate and AKS newsletters have covered the German reform in detail, so here I just list the old codes reissued so far, and when each code became available. I’ve grouped the codes by Bundesland to help plate-spotters watch out for interesting plates in the part of Germany they are touring. This also highlights the contrast between, on one hand, the states in eastern Germany that chose to reintroduce nearly everything, and on the other hand those where only a few districts have opted to allow the abolished codes, often after lengthy public debates. Bavaria (Bayern) has yet to decide which, if any, old codes to revive.
| state | reissued old codes | available from |
| Baden-Württemberg | BCH, GD, HCH, LEO | 25 February 2013 |
| Bayern | to be announced | July 2013 ?? |
| Berlin | none | |
| Bremen | none | |
| Brandenburg | CA, FRW, KY, NP, SEE, SFB, SRB, WK | 18 March 2013 |
| BER, EW, FOR, GUB, SPB | 19 March 2013 | |
| FI | 2 April 2013 | |
| Hamburg | none | |
| Hessen | BID, BÜD, DI, GN, HOG, SLÜ, USI, WEL, WOH | 2 January 2013 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | RÜG | 2 February 2013 |
| ANK, GW, PW, SBG, UEM, WLG | 14 March 2013 | |
| GMN, NVP, RDG | 15 March 2013 | |
| AT, BÜZ, DBR, DM, GÜ, MC, MST, MÜR, NZ, RM, ROS, TET, WRN | 18 March 2013 | |
| GDB, GVM, WIS | 2 April 2013 | |
| Niedersachsen | ALF, BRL, BRV, CLZ, DUD, EIN, GAN, HMÜ, NOR, RI | 15 November 2012 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | BLB, CAS, GLA | 13 November 2012 |
| WAT, WIT | 14 November 2012 | |
| JÜL | 19 November 2012 | |
| LÜN | 24 November 2012 | |
| DIN, LP, MO | 3 December 2012 | |
| WAN | 12 December 2012 | |
| AH, BOH | 1 February 2013 | |
| SLE | 20 February 2013 | |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | PRÜ, ZEL | 13 November 2012 |
| BIN, GOA | 14 November 2012 | |
| SAB | 19 November 2012 | |
| BKS | 26 November 2012 | |
| MY | 6 May 2013 | |
| Saarland | none |
| Sachsen | AE, ANA, ASZ, AU, BED, BIW, BNA, DL, DW, DZ, EB, FLÖ, FTL, GC, GHA, GRH, GRM, HC, HOT, HY, KM, LÖB, MAB, MEK, MTL, MW, NOL, NY, OVL, OZ, PL, RC, RG, RIE, RL, SEB, STL, SZB, TG, TO, WDA, WSW, WUR, ZI, ZP | 9 November 2012 |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | ASL, AZE, BBG, BÖ, BRG, BTF, EIL, GA, GHC, GNT, HBS, HDL, HET, HHM, HV, JE, KLZ, KÖT, MER, ML, MQ, NEB, NMB, OBG, OC, OK, QFT, QLB, RSL, SBK, SFT, SGH, WMS, WR, WSF, WZL, ZE, ZZ | 27 November 2012 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | ECK | 15 November 2012 |
| Thüringen | APD, ARN, ART, EIS, HIG, IL, LBS, LSZ, MGN, MHL, NH, PN, RU, SCZ, SDH, SLN, SLZ, SRO, WBS, ZR | 29 November 2012 |
My sources are Wikipedia, http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_aller_Kfz-Kennzeichen_der_Bundesrepublik_Deutschland and Reiko Pflug’s excellent web site http://www.kennzeichen-guide.de/
As an example here’s a new PRÜ plate, snapped last week in Prüm, a town that lost its status as a district capital already in 1969.
For comparison, a “real” PRÜ plate from 1969 or older, on an old tractor that I saw six years ago in the village of Feuerscheid.
Alexander Kavka
Eu.575
2 Comments | Europe, Germany | Permalink
Posted by eu575
Most European countries have a special plate system for vehicles bought within their jurisdiction, but which are intended for permanent export. These are bought free of local taxes, which are charged when they reach their destination country. Germany and France were the first to formalise such systems and here are some examples from the 1960s and on from round Europe.
FRANCE. Export. TT=Titulaire Temporaire or Transit Temporaire?? 73 is from Savoie, seen in Ste. Maxime (83-Var) circa 2005, and seems oddly old for that time, as this series ran 1955-84. A false plate? Brumby archive
GERMANY – Export Customs (Zoll) oval plate . This once-common Z-plate series was issued between 1951 & 1988 as tens of thousands of German cars were collected for export. 818 Z-9348 was seen in London in 1960 prior to its ultimate export to Argentina (RA). Brumby archive
FRANCE TT. On its way to the Central African Republic, Pontiac Bonneville 9 TT 10 first enjoys a drive along the Promenade des Anglais in 1964 Nice. 10= département of Aube, which seemed not to register many of this category! Brumby archive
GB Foreign brand Export. QL 1052 – Peugeot 404L bought in London 1969, for export to Canada. (In fact this car never left, and was re-registered with a normal mark, GGN 157 J.) (Brumby archive/car)
ITALY 1964 Export ‘EE‘ Brumby archive
DENMARK. An export Volvo destined for Canada, seen in London 1964. The red Copenhagen ‘K‘ with the white lining indicates temporary validity. Brumby archive
SWEDEN – export Volvo from Gothenburg (O) valid during 1964, seen in London. Brumby archive
FINLAND 1994 Export duty-free. The letter is serial, not a regional code. Brumby archive
SWITZERLAND. 1975 Export Vaud 6018 Z. Z=tax unpaid. Brumby archive
LUXEMBOURG – 1978 Export 616. Brumby archive
SPAIN – Export 2004 T 4361 BBC , expiring October 2004. Brumby archive
BELGIUM – some early Export plates and others. Note colour changes. Brumby archive
MONACO – 1979 Export in red on white – TT 51. Brumby archive
Here is a strange sighting, 27 years later, in Monte Carlo…
MONACO TT 51 Export again, in the later style reflective etc. Front plate at upper right, carries no legend. Brumby archive
Liechtenstein – Export 1963 – FL 9043 Z in London. Z means tax unpaid. Brumby archive
SAN MARINO – Export 1992. Thornley album
1 Comment | Denmark, Europe, Export plates, Finland, France, Germany, Historic, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland | Permalink
Posted by Victor Brumby
I hope this is of some kind of interest for this Blog – last year from January to November 2012, I noted the registration of the many German rental cars that visit the streets of Paris.
Here is an overview of the regions and sequences used by the main German rental-car companies:
Hansestadt Hamburg
This Lander uses particular sequences in the following order
1- HH-Bx-8xxx
Overall sequence from HH-BJ 8532 to HH-CI 8795 (not observed from BA to BI then CC to CF and CH)
(Numerical sequence observed from 8033 to 8999)
1 – HH-Ox-7xxx
HH-OA 7172 to HH-OT-7726 (not observed OC to OF OH to OJ, OK, ON, OQ and OR) (Numerical sequence observed from 7019 to 7726).
Observation from HH-OA-7172, HH-OB 7019 then HH-OG 7xxx, HH-OI 7620 to HH-OL 7xxx, HH-OM 7421 then HH-OO 7xxx, OP 7xxxx & HH-OS 7xxx, OT 7726
3 – HH-Px-7xxx (May be the next sequence)
One observation HH-PE-7093
Düren
Düren uses two sequences in this order
1- DN-Hx-xxxx
Overall sequence from DN HO 3746 to DN-HZ 8852 (all series DN-HO to HZ-observed) (numerical sequence observed from 10xx to 9xxx)
2- DN-AA-xxxx (Must be the next sequence) One observation DN-AA 7032
Wiesbaden
Only one sequence observed for Wiesbaden
Overall sequence from WI-AG 8889 to WI-AK 8068 (all series observed from WI-AG to AK) (numerical sequence observed from 1791 to 9694)
München
München’s area seems to have several sequences at the same time, no specific order
M-OA to M-OJ (all series M-OA to OJ observed) (numerical sequence observed in 10xx 9xxx)
M-GA 5042 to M-GD 6556 (all series observed from M-GA to M-GD) (numerical sequence observed from 50xx to 6xxx)
M-AB to M-AG 2912 (not observed AD and AE) (numerical sequence observed from 4226 to 6556)
Neuss
Only one sequence observed from NE-RQ 4573 to 5365
Bonn
Only one sequence observed from BN-P 744 to BN-P 3168
All photos come from Bruno Vernhes’ collection
Hansestadt Hamburg Europcar HH-Ox-7xxx sequence
Hansestadt Hamburg Europcar HH-Bx-8xxx sequence
Hansestadt Hamburg Europcar HH-Cx-8xxx sequence
Düren DN-Hx-xxxx sequence
Mûnchen M-Gx-xxxx sequence
Bonn BN-P-xxx and xxxx sequence
Neuss NE-RQ-xxxx sequence
3 Comments | Europe, Germany, Rental/Hire | Permalink
Posted by brvernhes
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