Before you start

Passport or national ID for verification
A German address, for postpaid contracts
A German bank account, for postpaid direct debit

Step-by-step

1
Buy a prepaid SIM and verify your identity
Available from supermarkets, phone shops and online. Activation requires identity verification — in shop with your passport, by video call, or through the Post's identification service.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Do not attempt a postpaid contract in your first weeks
Contracts run a Schufa check and require a German bank account and registered address. With no credit history you will be declined or asked for a deposit.
OnlineWho: You
3
Order home internet the day you sign the lease
German broadband provisioning routinely takes several weeks and can require an engineer visit. Ordering on move-in day means a month of tethering.
OnlineWho: You
4
Check coverage on your regional commute
If you commute along the Rheinschiene to Bonn or Düsseldorf, compare operators on actual coverage rather than price — German rail-corridor coverage has persistent gaps.
OnlineWho: You
5
Expect networks to struggle during carnival
Hundreds of thousands of people in the same few streets saturate the mobile network on Weiberfastnacht and Rosenmontag. Agree a meeting point in advance rather than relying on being able to call or message — locals do exactly this.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Know the cancellation rules
Since December 2022, contracts continuing past the minimum term can be cancelled with one month's notice rather than auto-renewing for a full year. Check your specific terms.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport or national ID for SIM registration
Meldebescheinigung, for postpaid contracts
German bank details, for direct debit
Schufa report, which some providers request

Things most newcomers don’t know

Agree a meeting point before carnival — the network will not save you.

On Weiberfastnacht and Rosenmontag hundreds of thousands of people crowd into a few square kilometres and the mobile network saturates. Calls fail and messages arrive an hour late. Cologne locals fix a meeting point and a time in advance as standard practice, and newcomers who rely on their phones lose their friends for the day.

Source: community-reported

Even prepaid SIMs require identity verification in Germany.

Every SIM must be registered to an identified person, so a supermarket prepaid card still needs a passport check. Arriving expecting to buy an anonymous SIM off a shelf wastes an afternoon.

Source: Bundesnetzagentur

Home internet takes weeks, so order at lease signing.

German broadband provisioning routinely takes several weeks and can require engineer visits. Order the day the lease is signed with the future address.

Source: community-reported

The 2022 rules fixed a real contract trap.

German telecom contracts historically rolled over for another full year if you missed the cancellation window. Since December 2022, contracts continuing past the minimum term can be cancelled with one month's notice.

Source: Bundesnetzagentur — consumer rights