Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Who can currently travel to Germany?
Who is allowed to visit Germany? Do they need to quarantine or is a negative coronavirus test sufficient? Entry regulations to Germany remain complicated. We provide answers to the most important questions.
After long lockdown months, the desire to travel is returning in large parts of Europe. As COVID-19 infections have declined, strict entry restrictions have also been eased in recent weeks. This applies above all to the European Union and the Schengen area. Travelers here can look forward to a vacation in a neighboring country, for example, without any major hurdles.
If you want to enter Germany, though, you still have to take a few things into account.
New travel regulations are effective as of July 28. Essentially, the entry requirements that the federal government had decided upon at the beginning of July have been extended. They are now valid until September 10.
Mandatory tests for unvaccinated people?
To travel to Germany, you should make sure whether the country you are entering from is classified by Germany as a risk area. If this is the case, a digital entry declaration has to be filled out. In addition, travelers must present a negative coronavirus test if they have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have not recovered from an infection in the past six months. Holidaymakers do not then have to undergo quarantine.
On July 1, the EU-wide digital vaccination passport was introduced. It makes it easier to enter Germany and gain access to events, for example. This makes retrieving information on the status of vaccinations, tests, and past infections quick and easy.
Due to the spread of the delta variant in Europe, the German government is planning to introduce a mandatory test requirement on August 1. Then all those entering Germany, regardless from which country and which means of transport they are using, would have to take a test.
Until now, the test was only mandatory for people arriving from high-incidence and virus variant areas, as well as all those arriving in Germany by plane. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, those who have been completely vaccinated and those who have recovered should be exempted from the planned test.
With the introduction of a general mandatory test, the category "basic risk area" (7-day incidence above 50 but below 200) could also be eliminated. However, the federal government has not yet made any specific resolutions.
Quarantine for travelers from 'high incidence areas'
At the beginning of July, the travel warnings for basic risk areas were lifted. Since then, the Federal Foreign Office no longer explicitly warns against traveling to over 80 countries around the world, but asks for "special caution."
This means that holidaymakers and those returning from non-risk areas do not have to register and test requirements — unless they arrive by plane (see above).
A travel warning now only
applies from an incidence of 200 and for areas in which dangerous virus variants have spread widely. Currently (as of July 28, 2021) there are no longer any "virus variant areas" in Europe.
In the meantime, however, popular holiday destinations among Germans such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Great Britain have been classified as high incidence areas by the Robert Koch Institute.
For travelers and returnees from these countries, there is a quarantine obligation of 10 days, which can be ended prematurely after five days at the earliest with a negative test. Those who have been vaccinated or recovered do not need to present a test upon entry or self-isolate. Incidentally, the same rules apply to children as to adults. However, since children and adolescents generally cannot yet be vaccinated, they must complete a quarantine after entering from a high incidence or virus variant area.
With the new entry ordinance from the end of July, simplified entry conditions for holidaymakers from virus variant areas also apply. The Robert Koch Institute currently lists (as of July 28, 2021) a total of 11 countries in Africa and South America, including Namibia, South Africa and Brazil, as such an area. So far, recovered or vaccinated travelers to or from Germany from those countries also have to be in quarantine for 14 days. In future, this can be ended prematurely if the affected region is no longer classified as a virus variant area during the quarantine period.
Most EU countries are currently no longer subject to entry restrictions, as they no longer fall into the group of risk areas due to low infection rates. Anyone entering Germany from these countries by land does not need to be vaccinated, recovered or tested.
However, anyone who wants to enter Germany by air must provide proof before departure that they have been vaccinated, have fully recovered from an infection or have tested negative — regardless of the country they come from and the incidence level there. The regulation also applies to travelers returning home.
Entry for tourists from third countries possible again
While tourism within the EU has been possible for a long time under certain conditions, holidaymakers from third countries were not allowed to travel to Germany. But that is gradually changing.
On June 25, the federal government lifted the entry ban for third countries. However, the regulation only applies to fully vaccinated people. Vaccines that are not approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will not be accepted. There are no entry restrictions for travelers from 26 third countries, including Israel, Australia and the USA.
For German travelers, however, this does not mean that they are now allowed to enter third countries, not even those for which there are no entry restrictions in Germany. For example, the USA does not allow German tourists into the country. This regulation will remain in place until further notice in order to avoid the spread of the delta variant, Washington authorities recently declared.
German tourism sector caught between relief and concern
The fact that far-reaching entry restrictions have now been eased for EU countries and also for third countries is good news for the German tourism industry. In recent months, it has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the lockdown.
The German tourism sector was missing US tourists in particular. After guests from the Netherlands and Switzerland, they represented the third-largest group of visitors to Germany before the coronavirus pandemic. The western university city of Heidelberg was especially popular with Americans. Here, they accounted for the largest share of foreign tourists.
However, Mathias Schiemer, managing director of Heidelberg Marketing, says that the easing of entry for third-country nationals is not yet noticeable. "This primarily affects hotels that specialize in international guests," Schiemer told DW. However, he added, the city had been focusing more on domestic tourism for some years. "This is now paying off. It's nice to see that the city is alive and vibrant again," Schiemer said.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many Germans are again preferring to travel within their own country this summer. In many places, hotels and holiday homes are already fully booked, especially in the coastal regions and in southern Germany.
According to a recent survey by the opinion research institute YouGov, two thirds of Germans are avoiding trips to risk areas. A large majority of respondents also support the current quarantine regulations.
Criticism comes from the travel industry. In particular, the classification of popular travel countries such as Spain and the Netherlands as high incidence areas and the resulting quarantine following reentry to Germany is holding vacationers back, said the President of the German Travel Association (DRV), Norbert Fiebig. The decision "destroys the vacation plans of numerous travelers and especially many families with children in the middle of the holiday season."
This article has been translated from German and has been updated since it was rst published on July 1.