Entering Germany Unvaxxed

I’m interested in this also. We are all triple vaxed but my pre teen son is double (waiting for fall for booster if possible). This latest link shared now says that two shots qualify as fully vaxxed which is a change from previous info that required three. Very confusing .

I just posted on another post that I flew Lufthansa this past Monday, through Munich, to Zagreb. All they asked me for at check in was my passport.

Ok, I just did a deep dive on this, and I think I have understood it.

According to three German government sources, all of which have been recently updated and are the main official sources, it is not possible for unvaccinated Americans to enter Germany for tourism at this time. (Sources here, here, and here).

The recent change announced in the media only affects residents of other EU member countries, who are no longer required to be vaccinated.

I went looking for an explanation of this, and found the following in a German business association website (translation from DeepL, an automated translator)

Für die Einreise aus Nicht-EU-Ländern gelten unabhängig von der
CoronaEinreiseV zusätzliche Beschränkungen, die letztlich auf
Empfehlungen des Rates der Europäischen Union beruhen. Unter anderem
herrscht grundsätzlich Impfpflicht bei der Einreise aus solchen
Ländern. Über die Details informieren das deutsche Auswärtige Amt und
die Website "Re-open EU" der Europäischen Union .

For entry from non-EU countries, additional restrictions apply
independently of the Corona Entry Regulation, which are ultimately
based on recommendations of the Council of the European Union. Among
other things, vaccinations are mandatory for entry from such
countries. The German Foreign Office and the "Re-open EU" website of
the European Union provide information on the details.

I found similar language in a few other news reports, including here, and travel websites, here (all in German, but you can use DeepL or GoogleTranslate).

Obviously, this is just my best reading of this information, and not in any way definitive.

Thank you for the research Azra. Two of the links also state that only two shots are now required (three starting October).

My pleasure. It was a bit to untangle, because the original press reports (even in German) did not make the specificity about EU vs. non-EU, and the law itself is, as all German legal writing is, completely unintelligible and requires a magical decoder ring of some sort.

I will update if I see anything that contradicts this in German sources in the next few days.

Okay, I realize the NYTimes is not official but I wrote to them yesterday because I was confused about their recent article saying that US travelers who were unvaccinated could visit the US. Here is her response (copied and pasted from the email to me):
▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️
Thanks so much for the note. Things are changing very quickly indeed! Here is where the information in the article is coming from:
First, on this government page, under "main updates," you can see:
1 June 2022: As of 1 June the requirements to register before entry, provide a negative test result and to quarantine only applies to travellers who have stayed in an area of variant of concern. Extension of the Ordinance on Coronavirus Entry Regulations until 31 August 2022.
This is confirmed in this Q&A on the website of the German Health Ministry:
Was ist neu seit dem 1. Juni 2022?
Die neue Coronavirus-Einreiseverordnung ist zum 1. Juni 2022 in Kraft getreten. Die Änderungen betreffen die Abschaffung der Kategorie der Hochrisikogebiete, die grundsätzliche Abschaffung der 3G-Kontrolle bei der Einreise sowie die Anerkennung weiterer Impfstoffe zum Zwecke der Einreise.
Die Kategorie der Hochrisikogebiete wird gestrichen. Einreisende brauchen keinen Nachweis mehr, dass sie geimpft, genesen oder getestet sind, sofern die Einreise nicht aus einem Virusvariantengebiet erfolgt.

What's new as of June 1, 2022?
The new coronavirus entry regulation went into effect on June 1, 2022. The changes include the elimination of the high-risk area category, the basic elimination of 3G control at entry, and the acceptance of additional vaccines for the purpose of entry.
The high-risk area category will be eliminated. Entrants will no longer need proof that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested, unless the entry is from a virus variant area.
And then there's this document from the Robert Koch Institute (Germany's CDC):
The following states/regions are currently considered to be areas of variants of concern:
No states/regions are currently considered to be areas of variants of concern.

I've also heard from a reader who landed in Germany recently, coming from the US, and he confirmed that he wasn't asked to provide any proof of vaccination or negative test result (though he had both ready to show!).
Thanks again for the note and safe travels,
Paige McClanahan
Samoëns, France

Mardee, if you look at the first link in that email and click through to the "entry restrictions", you will find this text:

In principle, entry is possible from:
EU member states states associated with Schengen: Iceland, Norway,
Switzerland and Liechtenstein other countries from which entry is
possible in light of the epidemiological situation assessment by the
EU. Entry from any other Country (except for China due to mutual entry
restrictions) for any purpose (including visits and tourism) is only
possible for fully vaccinated people. The vaccination must have taken
place with one or different of the following vaccines:

That text appears on a page with text about which vaccines are accepted that has been updated in the newest ordinance, so the website has at least partly been updated in recent days.

Right under the June 1 update, the website also says that there are EU-wide entry requirements, and that one must check with the BMI. When one clicks on that link, one finds this text under the entry from non-EU countries:

Residents of other non-EU countries are only permitted to enter
Germany if they serve in an important role or if they have an urgent
need to travel (please see "What constitutes an urgent need for
travel?") or if they are fully vaccinated (please see “What rules
apply for fully vaccinated people?”).

Again, other sections of this website have also been updated to reflect the new rules.

And then, the clearest statement, from this BMI website (my emphasis in bold):

The Federal Government has agreed to amend the Ordinance on
Coronavirus Entry Regulations (Coronavirus-Einreiseverordnung). As of
1 June 2022, most travellers entering Germany no longer have to show
that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, have recovered from
COVID-19 or have tested negative for COVID-19. However, travellers
entering from virus variant areas still have to show that they have
been vaccinated, have recovered or have tested negative for the virus.
This requirement may apply to travellers entering from other countries
outside the EU as well. Until further notice, travellers from many
non-EU countries who enter Germany still have to show that they are
fully vaccinated. This requirement may be waived if the journey is
urgent.

So, it looks like it is in motion, but as of the current situation, I think the American paper got this one wrong. But, who knows.

Ok so y’all are saying but you can enter Germany unvaccinated if you were coming from another EU country, not the United States. This is crazy because I have flights booked in and out of Munich, two weeks from now.
So unless I have an urgent need, which we are just going for tourism, we cannot enter unvaccinated?

Was it also discussed that those are the rules but nobody is checking?? 😳

Azra, that's possible, but to me the language makes it sound like it only applies to virus variant countries, and there are none right now.

But heck, what do I know? I would certainly bring my vaccination cards with me if I was traveling to Europe regardless.

@betsy.moore, I'm a little confused by your post. For at least 6 months, Germany has had a requirement that you be fully vaccinated or be able to show a Covid recovery letter. I'm assuming that you did not book your ticket in the last few weeks, so how can you now be upset because you need to be vaccinated? That has always been the case for awhile now - and even if Azra is right (and I'm assuming he is), that law only went into effect 7 days ago, which (I'm assuming) would have been before you bought your tickets.

Thanks everyone for chipping in. My current understanding has landed where Azra highlighted.

"And then, the clearest statement, from this BMI website (my emphasis in bold):

The Federal Government has agreed to amend the Ordinance on
Coronavirus Entry Regulations (Coronavirus-Einreiseverordnung). As of
1 June 2022, most travellers entering Germany no longer have to show
that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, have recovered from
COVID-19 or have tested negative for COVID-19. However, travellers
entering from virus variant areas still have to show that they have
been vaccinated, have recovered or have tested negative for the virus.
This requirement may apply to travellers entering from other countries
outside the EU as well. Until further notice, travellers from many
non-EU countries who enter Germany still have to show that they are
fully vaccinated. This requirement may be waived if the journey is
urgent.

So, it looks like it is in motion, but as of the current situation, I think the American paper got this one wrong. But, who knows."

There was a lot of hoopla in some media outlets a couple of weeks ago that Germany was dropping all covid entry requirements as of June 1, but either that isn't really happening or they are just slow in releasing the details. I'm not sure what else to do except wait and see what happens.

There it is. It just took them 10 days to get it sorted out and communicated.

Yes, on quick glance, I agree that this looks like the definitive policy change.