International driver license

It's an International Driving PERMIT, not license (and requires your valid drivers license from home along with it). The IDP is simply a legally-certified translation of your valid license.

An IDP has nothing to do with renting a car (the rental staff won't care, there's no risk that they'll be sitting in jail, but you might).

It has everything to do with meeting a legal requirement if you are stopped by a police officer, or worse, if you are involved in an accident. How important is that? That's your call.

Short version: Many of us consider this (complying with the legal requirement, and a minor courtesy we can provide for a foreign cop) very cheap insurance and a complete no-brainer. Others see it as an outrageous scam. YMMV.

There are hundreds of threads on this subject. For more insights (or at least more opinions on the subject), use the forum's search function.

The international drivers permit is always recommended. It is a translation of your current driver's license. Even if the local rental agency is not concerned, the local police maybe very concerned if requested. It is small item to have. Answer the question --- Is it better to have it and not need it or to need it and not have it? You decide the risk you want to take.

Contrary to David's experience, we have had the rental agency ask to see the permit along with our license. Not often but a couple of times.

I understand that Germany doesn't require the International drivers permit. Also, the UK does not require it.

However, most other countries in Europe do require it.

I live in many miles from a large city and it would not be convenient to acquire the permit.

This might be informative, it also includes information about how to apply for an IDP if you do not have an AAA office near you:

https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-tips/international-driving-permit-faq/international-driving-permit-germany/

Short answer: Yes, you an IDP to drive in Germany.

Long answer: A summary of the official rules is that unless your licence was

• issued in a Member State of the European Union (EU) or a state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), or
• is in the German language, or
• it complies with the provisions of the Convention on Road Traffic of 8 November 1968 (Annex 6).

Then you need to bring a translation of the licence or an IDP.

I live in many miles from a large city and it would not be convenient to acquire the permit.

Do you have access to a post office or mail service? Then you can apply by mail.

You need the permit.

While I was never stopped in Germany, I have been stopped in Portugal, Spain and Italy. All were non English speaking. The IDP was what made the stops easy. They looked at the DL and the IDP and we were on our way. Why was I stopped? Once a drunk driver road check and the other two times the stops were random.

So get the permit.

IF you want to apply for the IDP, here is a link to the form to print out and mail to any AAA office:

https://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpapplc.html

No Badger you don’t need a IDP in Germany as long as your visit is temporary. Knowing this go to AAA and get one. Why does this keep coming up? There must be thousands of posts answering this question.

Why does this keep coming up? There must be thousands of posts
answering this question.

Out of curiosity I checked, IDP is mentioned 1910 times and International Driver's Permit is mentioned 2027 times.

Official regulation regarding "Validity of foreign driving licences in the Federal Republic of Germany" by Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport.

So, full support to Badger's statement which contains partly the original formulation in the first chapter.

you don’t need a IDP in Germany as long as your visit is temporary

Lifetime travel, since this is contrary to the published extracts of the German law which have been shared here over the years, please share your source

thanks

No Badger you don’t need a IDP in Germany as long as your visit is
temporary. Knowing this go to AAA and get one. Why does this keep
coming up? There must be thousands of posts answering this question.

My statement was partly copied from the same source that MarkK links to, which is as official as it gets.

So as mentioned above, please state your source Lifetime travel. If you want to claim that the Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr (Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport ) doesn't know what they're talking about you really need a good source.

As I recall, one of the previous 1900 responses to this question mentioned the possibility of invalidating vehicle insurance if experiencing a mishap on the road without the IDP.
It's not worth the risk - just get one.

Always have one and have never needed it. The piece of mind is worth the $20 and passport photos.

I'm glad to see the unanimity on this. (It's French law, too.)
I remember just a few years ago most of the answers pooh-poohed the IDP requirement because the rental offices never ask for them, and then some people started linking to the laws and the question of insurance validity came up.

To make this also clear to everybody.

The fact that a rental car company is checking your driver's license and hands out a car is NO check if you have the permission to drive with that license plus paperwork in Germany. This is neither the responsibility nor the task of a rental car company. It is the driver's responsibility.

In case of police control: Driving a vehicle without permission ("Fahren ohne Fahrerlaubnis") is handled by German law as a crime (§21 StVG) which is minimum followed by penalty payment (up to 180 times your income per day / "Tagessätze") or worse by a sentence to jail (max. 6 months if "fahrlässig" only).

Worse in case of accident you may lose insurance coverage fully or partly if your driver's license plus other paperwork is not sufficient to prove that you have driving permission in Germany.

Just to complete the picture: if you have driving permission in Germany but you forgot the paperwork in the hotel this "Fahren ohne Führer­schein" is just an order violation which is followed by a 10 EUR payment penalty, likely with an official order to show it the next day at a police station.

As this topic occurs again and again I am thinking of putting this into a Medium article instead of writing it again and again.

Do you mean that if I am stopped while driving in Europe and don't have an IDP, I can't just say I live too far away from a place to get one and the officer will let me go?

What if I throw in a "I'm an American and I know my Constitutional rights." Does that help?

How about..."We won the war.."

I don't drive in Europe. But I always have a current IDP on me just in case I change my mind. It's a $20 insurance policy against a much pricier ticket.

Do not make it the American way which is systematic no-friends-communication.
In Germany the what we call the "Mitleidstour" (compassion) combined with trustworthy statements works better: "I am from a country without free education, so I can't understand regulations from other countries."

And I agree that it is most clever to avoid this by having valid IDP with you.

MarkK: Taken from the same website you got your information from:
Your driving license is valid if your stay in the Federal Republic of Germany is temporary.
If you hold a valid domestic driving license or International Driving Permit, you may drive all categories of vehicle indicated on your license in the Federal Republic of Germany. If there are any conditions or restrictions on your driving license, you must also comply with them when driving here. However, your driving license is not valid if you have not yet reached the minimum age required for the appropriate category in the Federal Republic of Germany and your driving license was not issued by another Member State of the European Union or another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. You must carry your driving license with you when driving or riding a motor vehicle.
No where on your website supplied does it say a US driver need an IDP.

1. Taken from the website "Know Germany" and the second one is from Auto Europe one of the bigger car rental firms in Europe and as a matter of fact I could sit here and find many more. I didn't tell the poster not to get a IDP in fact I told them to get it.
   

Do I need an IDP to drive in Germany?
If you are visiting Germany as a tourist or for a short-term stay, you do not need an IDP as long as you have a valid driver’s license from your home country. However, if you plan to stay in Germany for more than six months, you will need to exchange your foreign driver’s license for a German one.

INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS PERMIT OR LICENSE
An international driver's license or permit, often called an IDP or IDL, is required for international travelers looking to drive in certain countries. It is easy to obtain an IDP through your local AAA branch. You can go to your local branch to pick one up or mail in a request form along with a $20 payment. Please find more information on getting an international driver's permit for your next trip with us.

Countries that Require an IDP
Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain

No where on your website supplied does it say a US driver need an IDP.

It says so very clearly. And if you had continued reading after the paragraph you quoted you would have seen that.

In the FWIW department AutoEurope says that an IDP is required for Americans renting a car in Germany.
I won't quote chapter and verse here - my interest in this dead horse only goes so far ...