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Traffic · Germany

Anhörungsbogen — the questionnaire before a fine, not the fine itself

An Anhörungsbogen is a questionnaire sent to you as the suspected offender before any fine is issued — usually after a speed-camera or parking violation. Confirming your identity is mandatory; commenting on the accusation is not.

How serious: routineAlso called: Anhörung des Betroffenen, Anhörung zum Vorwurf einer Ordnungswidrigkeit

Before a fine can be issued in an administrative-offense case, the law requires that you get the chance to respond to the accusation (OWiG §55). The Anhörungsbogen is that chance: it states the alleged offense with place and time, asks you to confirm your personal details, and lets you comment if you wish.

It is not yet a fine. It is the hearing stage of the Bußgeld procedure — typically triggered by a speed camera or a parking violation.

Two different duties hide in one form. Identity details must be provided — refusing or giving false personal data to the competent authority is itself an administrative offense fined up to €1,000 (OWiG §111). Statements about the accusation itself, on the other hand, are voluntary: 'Angaben zur Sache müssen Sie nicht machen', as the Berlin Bußgeldstelle puts it.

Who sends it

The Bußgeldstelle — the administrative fines office of the police or a municipality (for example the Bußgeldstelle der Polizei Berlin) that investigates traffic and other administrative offenses.

Header of a Bußgeldstelle or the police, the words 'Anhörung' or 'Anhörungsbogen', 'Zeuge/Betroffener', a description of the Tatvorwurf with date, time, place and legal provisions, a form for your Personalien, often a photo reference or an online-portal access code, and a requested return date.

The deadline

The authority sets its own short response window — e.g. Hamburg states the Anhörung can be submitted 'innerhalb von einer Woche nach Erhalt des Anschreibens'; there is no nationwide statutory response deadline.

There is no nationwide statutory response deadline — the authority sets its own short window, printed on the letter. Hamburg, for example, states the Anhörung can be submitted within one week of receiving the letter.

If you do nothing

You are not obliged to comment on the accusation — but identity details must be provided: refusing or giving false personal data is itself fined up to €1,000 (OWiG §111). If you stay silent on the merits, the authority simply decides on the file, typically by issuing a Bußgeldbescheid. Prosecution of ordinary traffic offenses becomes time-barred six months after the act (StVG §26 Abs. 3).

Compute your date

The rule above is what the law sets. Put in the dates on your own letter and it becomes a date.

That date is on the envelope or the delivery stamp, not in the letter — enter it and we count the deadline for you.

How it escalates

  1. 01The authority continues the procedure and may issue a Bußgeldbescheid based on the evidence in the file (OWiG §§55, 66).
  2. 02Ignoring the identity-confirmation part risks a separate fine of up to €1,000 (OWiG §111).
  3. 03If the authority cannot identify the driver at all, the case may be dropped against you — but the vehicle keeper then risks a Fahrtenbuchauflage, a logbook order (StVZO §31a).
  4. 04A Bußgeldbescheid, once served, starts its own strict 2-week Einspruch period (OWiG §67).

Your options, procedurally

  • The personal-details part can be confirmed or corrected and the form returned — this part is mandatory.
  • A comment on the accusation can be made in the form or via the authority's online portal — this part is optional.
  • If someone else was driving, the actual driver can be named — the form provides a field for this.
  • Saying nothing on the merits and waiting for the authority's decision is a legally permitted choice.

How to respond

Response types

  • Confirm receiptRücksendung des Anhörungsbogens mit Bestätigung der Personalien · § 55 OWiG (Anhörung des Betroffenen); § 111 OWiG (falsche Namensangabe)Form: The Anhörungsbogen supplied by the Bußgeldstelle, or its online equivalent opened with the access code printed on the letter
  • Ask for clarificationÄußerung zur Sache (optional) / Benennung des tatsächlichen Fahrers ('Äußerung II') · § 55 OWiGForm: The 'Äußerung' section of the Anhörungsbogen, or the equivalent field in the authority's online service
  • Confirm paymentZahlung des angebotenen VerwarnungsgeldesForm: The payment slip or online payment route referenced on the letter

Where and how

  • Brief an die Bußgeldstelle
  • Einschreiben (Übergabe-Einschreiben / Einschreiben mit Rückschein)
  • Telefax
  • Erklärung zur Niederschrift bei der Bußgeldstelle
  • Einfache E-Mail
  • Telefon

What makes it count

A response is in time only when it has reached the Bußgeldstelle that issued the notice — the administrative authority, not a court and not the police. §67(1) OWiG gives two weeks from service and allows the Einspruch schriftlich oder zur Niederschrift bei der Verwaltungsbehörde, die den Bußgeldbescheid erlassen hat. The date of posting does not preserve the period. Where it is missed, the criminal-procedure rules apply through §46(1) OWiG, so Wiedereinsetzung runs one week from the day the obstacle falls away and the missed act must be performed inside it (§45 StPO).

Common questions

Do I have to answer at all?

The identity part, yes — refusing or giving false personal data is itself fined up to €1,000 (OWiG §111). The part about the accusation is voluntary: 'Angaben zur Sache müssen Sie nicht machen'.

Is this already a fine?

No. It is the hearing stage the law requires before a fine (OWiG §55). A fine would come later as a Bußgeldbescheid — which then has its own 2-week Einspruch period (OWiG §67).

Is there a time limit on the whole case?

Prosecution of ordinary traffic offenses becomes time-barred six months after the act (StVG §26 Abs. 3).

Sources

Facts verified against the sources below on 28 August 2026.