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).
How it escalates
- 01The authority continues the procedure and may issue a Bußgeldbescheid based on the evidence in the file (OWiG §§55, 66).
- 02Ignoring the identity-confirmation part risks a separate fine of up to €1,000 (OWiG §111).
- 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).
- 04A Bußgeldbescheid, once served, starts its own strict 2-week Einspruch period (OWiG §67).
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.