The Ruhr area of Nordrhein-Westfalen has a single LEZ covering 820 km², covering the towns/cities of: Bochum, Bottrop, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Gladbeck, Herne, Herten, Mühlheim, Oberhausen, and Recklinghausen. There are also single LEZs in Nordrhein-Westfalen, in the cities of Aachen, Bonn, Dinslaken, Düsseldorf, Eschweiler, Hagen, Köln, Krefeld, Langenfeld, Mönchengladbach, Münster, Neuss, Remscheid, Siegen, Wuppertal and Overath. In the Ruhr there are recommended lorry routes. * From January 2013
- Diesel Euro 3(PM), Petrol Euro 1 / Yellow Sticker * From July 2014 - Diesel Euro 4(PM), Euro 5(PM), Euro 6(PM) and Petrol Euro 1 / Green Sticker All diesel vehicles, and petrol vehicles without a closed loop catalytic converter (Euro 1 or equivalent). All vehicles must have a sticker - see National Scheme For Herten: ![]() There is an overview and map of all 13 LEZ in the Ruhr, here From January 2012 there is a single Rhur LEZ: ![]() Key: Green area=LEZ, grey lines = exempted motorways, blue area=air quality management area A sticker must be bought before driving into the zone and displayed in the windscreen - see National Scheme. This sticker is then valid for all LEZs in Germany. Proof of emissions standard (given on German vehicle papers) is needed to purchase the sticker. Germany also accepts the stickers from Czech Republic. Buying German LEZ stickers Stickers for German and foreign vehicles can be purchased from the vehicle registration authorities, authorised local garages, vehicle test organisations like TÜV, DEKRA, or some websites.
LEZ city authorities and other cities usually sell LEZ stickers. In person from city offices they cost €5, online they can cost more, and if they need to be posted abroad it can sometimes add a little to the cost. Buy German LEZ stickers from Berlin city, in English or German (cost 6€), and the sticker is posted to you. Please allow enough time for the sticker to reach you. At times of high demand to foreign addresses it can take up to a few weeks. Please also note, for the lowest cost stickers, please buy stickers from the official sources linked to on this website. There are both fake sites and sites that charge up to 5 times as much as the official websites. Yes. Foreign vehicles are also enforced and are required to buy a sticker. Foreign vehicles emissions are taken primarily by vehicle age, as show in in this table. German vehicles need to have a particulate trap certified on behalf of the German government. Local garages can advise on which filters should be used and this page allows you to find out what particulate filter your German registered vehicle can use - now for heavy as well as light duty vehicles. See also our retrofitting section. Permanent, 365 days a year. Manual enforcement by police of sticker in the windscreen. Even if the vehicle meets the emissions standard, if there is no sticker in the windscreen, the vehicle is illegal in the zone. The penalty for entering a LEZ in Germany without the sticker required is 80 € plus an administrative fee that varies from city to city.
A National Framework sets out the Emissions Classes and main rules that can be used by cities for LEZs in Germany. The cities or regions then decide whether, where and when to do a LEZ, and what emissions standards will be required.
For foreign vehicles without a Euro standard on the vehicle papers, the following table is valid.
Electric vehicles without a combustion engine get a Green Sticker. Stickers similar to those used in Germany, and mutually accepted, exist also in the Czech Republic. Umweltzone |