German identity card
Encyclopedia
The German Identity Card (German: Personalausweis) is issued to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
citizens by the local registration office
Registration Office
A registration office commonly refers to a government agency that files compulsory information in the public interest.The most common type of a registration office is a companies registration office or a trade register office. In most countries, the trade and company register is freely accessible...
s (although today they are produced centrally at the Bundesdruckerei
Bundesdruckerei
The Bundesdruckerei is a German manufacturer for banknotes and stamps, identity cards, passports and visas, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates....
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
).
It is compulsory for all German citizens age 16 or older to possess either an identity card or a passport
German passport
German passports are issued to nationals of Germany for the purpose of international travel. A German passport is, besides the German ID card, the only other officially recognized document that German authorities will routinely accept as proof of identity from German citizens...
but not to carry one. While police officers and some other officials have a right to demand to see one of those documents, the law does not state that one is obliged to submit the document at that very moment.
As everyone in Germany must possess an ID card or a passport, acceptance of other official documents (like driving licences
European driving licence
The European driving licence is a driving licence replacing the many driving licence styles already in use in the member states of the European Union. It has the credit card-style with a photograph and possibly a microchip. They were introduced to replace the 110 different plastic and paper driving...
) as proof of identity is not guaranteed.
Germans travelling inside the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
or the Schengen Area
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...
can use their ID card, which is a machine-readable travel document
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
, instead of a passport.
Just like German passports
German passport
German passports are issued to nationals of Germany for the purpose of international travel. A German passport is, besides the German ID card, the only other officially recognized document that German authorities will routinely accept as proof of identity from German citizens...
, German identity cards are valid for ten years (six years if the holder is under 24 at the day of issue).
The current ID card costs 28.80 €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
(22.80 € if the holder is under 24 at the day of issue).
History
In 1951 both the West GermanWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and the East German authorities began issuing booklet identity cards in the ID-2 format.
In West Germany an improved identity card was developed in the 1980s and issued from April 1987 on: It consisted of a single laminate
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...
d sheet of paper with a machine-readable zone. To prevent counterfeiting, it contained watermark
Watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
s, guillochés, microprinting
Microprinting
Microprinting is one of many anti-counterfeiting techniques used most often on currency and bank checks, as well as various other items of value. Microprinting involves printing very small text, usually too small to read with the naked eye, onto the note or item. Microprint is frequently hidden in...
, fluorescent dyes and multi-colour fluorescent fibres. In addition, the holder's name was laser engraved
Laser engraving
Laser engraving, or laser marking, is the practice of using lasers to engrave or mark an object. The technique does not involve the use of inks, nor does it involve tool bits which contact the engraving surface and wear out...
into the plastic film and the holder's picture was printed on the document, so it could not be removed and replaced by a different one (unlike the older ID cards, were the picture was just glued to the document).
When East Germany joined
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
West Germany on 03 October 1990, the West German identity was introduced in the former East German territory. However, not yet expired East German identity cards could still be used until 31 December 1995, when they became invalid.
In November 2001, the so-called Identigram feature was added - a number of holographic security elements
Security hologram
Security holograms are very difficult to forge because they are replicated from a master hologram which requires expensive, specialized and technologically advanced equipment. They are used widely in several banknotes around the world, in particular those that are of high denominations...
, including a three-dimensional German Eagle
Coat of arms of Germany
The coat of arms of Germany displays a black eagle on a yellow shield ....
, a holographic copy of the holder's picture (the so-called Holographic Shadow Picture), a holographic copy of the machine-readable zone, holographic microprinting
Microprinting
Microprinting is one of many anti-counterfeiting techniques used most often on currency and bank checks, as well as various other items of value. Microprinting involves printing very small text, usually too small to read with the naked eye, onto the note or item. Microprint is frequently hidden in...
and kinematic elements.
The current ID-1 type has been issued since November 2010. It contains an RFID chip
Contactless smart card
A contactless smart card is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits that can process and store data, and communicate with a terminal via radio waves. There are two broad categories of contactless smart cards. Memory cards contain non-volatile memory storage components, and perhaps...
similar to that in biometric passport
Biometric passport
A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or ePassport, is a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers...
s: The chip stores the information given on the ID card (like name or date of birth), the holder's picture (which, unlike the picture on older ID cards, has to be a biometric
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
one) and, if the holder wishes so, also his/her fingerprints. In addition, the new ID card can be used for online authentification (e.g. for age verification or for e-government applications). An electronic signature
Electronic signature
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is any electronic means that indicates either that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message, or more broadly that the person who claims to have written a message is the one who wrote it . By comparison, a signature is a stylized script...
, provided by a private company, can also be stored on the chip.
Physical appearance
The current ID card is an ID-1 (credit card size) plastic card with an embedded RFID chip. It is covered with multi-colour guillochés and appears green-brown from the distance. All the information on it is given in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
Front side
The front side shows the German EagleCoat of arms of Germany
The coat of arms of Germany displays a black eagle on a yellow shield ....
and the words "BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND / FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
/ REPUBLIQUE FEDERALE D'ALLEMAGNE" and "PERSONALAUSWEIS / IDENTITY CARD / CARTE D'IDENTITE". It contains the following information:
- Photo of ID card holder (biometric photo)
- Document number (9 alphanumericAlphanumericAlphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...
digits) - Access number for RFID chip (6 decimalDecimalThe decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations....
digits) - SurnameSurnameA surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
- Doctorate (only if holder holds this degree)
- BirthnameName at birthThe name at birth is the name a child is given by his or her parents, according to a generally universal custom, and legal requirement. What happens subsequently about this name has a substantial cultural component....
(only if differing from current surname)
- Given name(s)Given nameA given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
- Date of birth (dd.mm.yyyy)
- NationalityNationalityNationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
- Place of birthPlace of birthThe place of birth is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. The place of birth is not necessarily the place where the parents of the new baby live. If the baby is born in a hospital in...
- Date of expiry (dd.mm.yyyy)
- SignatureSignatureA signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying...
of holder
Back side
The back side shows the Brandenburg GateBrandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
. It contains the following information:
- Colour of eyes
- Height in cmMetric systemThe metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
- Date of issue (dd.mm.yy)
- Issuing authority
- ResidenceHauptwohnsitzIn German-speaking countries, Hauptwohnsitz denotes the primary place of residence. In Germany and Austria, the concept of Hauptwohnsitz has special legal ramifications, primarily involving tax....
(postal codePostal codes in GermanyGermany introduced postal codes on July 25, 1941, in the form of a two-digit system that was applied initially for the parcel service and later for all mail deliveries. This system was replaced in 1962 in West Germany by a four-digit system; three years later East Germany followed with its own...
, town, street, house number) - Religious nameReligious NameA religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purpose, and which is generally used in religious contexts. Different types of religious names may be in use among the clergy of a religion, as well in some cases among the laity....
or PseudonymPseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
(only if holder has one) - Machine-readable zoneMachine-readable passportA Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
Machine-readable zone
The three-line machine-readable zone on the back side contains the following information:First line
| positions | text | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | ID | identity document Identity document An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card... |
| 3 | D | issuing country: Germany (Deutschland) |
| 6-14 | alphanumeric Alphanumeric Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to... digits |
document number |
| 15 | decimal Decimal The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations.... digit |
check digit Check digit A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message.... over 6-14 |
Second line
| positions | text | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1-6 | decimal Decimal The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations.... digits |
date of birth (YYMMDD) |
| 7 | decimal digit | check digit Check digit A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message.... over 1-6 |
| 9-14 | decimal digits | date of expire (YYMMDD) |
| 15 | decimal digit | check digit over 9-14 |
| 16 | D | nationality of holder: German (Deutsch) |
| 30 | decimal digit | check digit over 6-30 (upper line), 1-7, 9-15, 19-29 (middle line) |
Third line
| positions | text | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1-30 | alphabetic digits<<alphabetic digits |
SURNAME<< Surname A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"... GIVEN Given name A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name... |
Empty spaces are represented by "<".
Chip
The ID card contains a RFID chip. The chip stores the information given on the ID card (like name or date of birth), the holder's picture and, if the holder wishes so, also his/her fingerprintFingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s. In addition, the new ID card can be used for online authentification (e.g. for age verification or for e-government applications). An electronic signature
Electronic signature
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is any electronic means that indicates either that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message, or more broadly that the person who claims to have written a message is the one who wrote it . By comparison, a signature is a stylized script...
, provided by a private company, can also be stored on the chip.
The document number, the photo and the fingerprints can be read only by law enforcement agencies
Law enforcement in Germany
Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Therefore, unlike France, Italy, the United States, Canada or many other countries, Germany has no federal police force comparable to the Italian...
and some other authorities.
To use the online authentification function, the holder needs a six-digit decimal
Decimal
The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations....
PIN
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...
. If the holder types in the wrong PIN, he has to type in the six-digit decimal access code given on the ID card to prove he/she really possesses the ID card. If the wrong PIN is used three times, a PUK
Personal Unblocking Code
A PIN Unlock Code , also known as a PIN Unlock Key , is used in GSM mobile phones and some smartcards to unblock a blocked card.Most mobile telephones offer the feature of personal identification number protection...
must be used to unlock the chip.
The data on the chip are protected by Basic Access Control
Basic Access Control
Basic Access Control is a mechanism specified to ensure only authorized parties can wirelessly read personal information from passports with an RFID chip. It uses data such as the passport number, date of birth and expiration date to negotiate a session key. This key can then be used to encrypt...
and Extended Access Control
Extended access control
Extended Access Control is a mechanism specified to allow only authorized Inspection system to read sensitive biometric data such as fingerprints from ePassports...
.
Security features
The identity card contains the following security features:- multicoloured guillochés
- microprintingMicroprintingMicroprinting is one of many anti-counterfeiting techniques used most often on currency and bank checks, as well as various other items of value. Microprinting involves printing very small text, usually too small to read with the naked eye, onto the note or item. Microprint is frequently hidden in...
: BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND - fluorescentFluorescenceFluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...
elements which luminesce in various colors under UV lightUltravioletUltraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
:- UV overprint:
- eagles and BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND (in macroprinting): red-orange
- BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND (in microprinting): yellow
- guillochés: turquoise
- randomly distributed fluorescent fibres: red, yellow, turquoise
- UV overprint:
- tactile features:
- access number for RFID chip and date of expire are tactile
- surface embossing: map of Germany and microlettering BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
- security threadSecurity threadA security thread is a security feature of many bank notes to protect against counterfeiting, consisting of a thin ribbon that is threaded through the note's paper....
: colour changes when viewed under different angles; is personalized: NNNNNNNNNN< - changeable laser imageLenticular printingLenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles...
: shows either the date of expire or the holder's portrait depending on angle - color-changing inkOptically Variable InkOptically variable ink is an anti-counterfeiting measure used on many major modern banknotes.The ink displays two distinct colors depending on the angle the bill is viewed at. The United States fifty-dollar bill, for example, uses color shifting ink for the numeral 50 so that it displays copper at...
: the colour of the text BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND changes from black to green to blue - 2D and 3D holographic security elementsSecurity hologramSecurity holograms are very difficult to forge because they are replicated from a master hologram which requires expensive, specialized and technologically advanced equipment. They are used widely in several banknotes around the world, in particular those that are of high denominations...
:- colour-changing holograms: colour changes depending on angle (violet-blue-turquoise-green-yellow-orange-red)
- holographic portrait: holographic reproduction of the holder's picture
- four eagles at the left side of the holographic portrait: change their colour under a different angle than the portrait itself
- document number: NNNNNNNNN, 9 digits
- holder's name: SURNAME<
- green kinematic structures above the conventional picture:
- eagle: bright eagle on dark hexagon changes to dark eagle on bright hexagon to letter D in hexagon when document is tilted
- hexagon: moves across the picture when document is tilted
- stars: change their size when document is tilted
- letter D: moves across the picture and turns into a star
- text on the left side of the picture; visible only under a certain angle
- macrolettering: BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
- microlettering: BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND
- machine-verifiable structure: a red spot which can be checked by machines
- 3D eagle: a red-gold eagle visible only under a certain angle
- colour-changing holograms: colour changes depending on angle (violet-blue-turquoise-green-yellow-orange-red)
External links
- General information about the new German ID card on personalausweisportal.de (German)
- General information about the new German ID card on bundesdruckerei.deBundesdruckereiThe Bundesdruckerei is a German manufacturer for banknotes and stamps, identity cards, passports and visas, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates....
(English)
- Security features of the new German ID card on bundesdruckerei.de (English)
- Security features of the 1987-2001 ID card on PRADO (English)
- Security features of the 2001-2010 ID card on PRADO (English)
- Security features of the current ID card on PRADO (English)
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