Area codes in Germany () have two to five digits. In addition, the prefix digit 0 must be dialed when calling from within Germany, and must be omitted when calling from abroad. When calling via fixed networks within the same area, the area code is not required. In general, shorter area codes are assigned to larger cities, and longer area codes to smaller towns. Subscriber telephone numbers are usually inversely long: those in larger cities have seven or eight digits, while those in smaller towns may have as few as three or four digits. Area codes are grouped into eight geographic dialing regions determined by the first digit (2–9). Area codes beginning with 2 are found in the west, those with 3 in the east, those with 4 in the north, those with 5 in the north central part, those with 6 in the south-central part, those with 7 in the southwest, those with 8 in the south, and the 9s are found in the southeast.
Prefixes starting with 1 are special numbers, such as mobile telephones (15, 16, 17), shared-cost services (180), televoting numbers (13), and 10 for dial-around services. The former codes of 130 for freephone numbers and 190 for premium-rate numbers are moved to 800 and 900 to meet international standards. 700 is used for personal national phone numbers.
General prefixes
1
Prefix 1 is used for special numbers, and is not tied to a geographic area.
10
10 call-by-call (dial-around-services – alternative carrier)
11
11 formerly value-added services
12
12 innovative services
12-12 Web.de, Karlsruhe, between €0.13 and €1.86 per minute
12-230 tesion, Stuttgart
12-3000 3U Telecom, Marburg
12-3131 BBA Netkom, Hamburg
12-3333 BBA Netkom, Hamburg
12-3456 CommAssist, Lübeck
13
13 voting and lottery numbers
130 formerly toll-free numbers, now unassigned (now 800) 137 Massenverkehr zu bestimmten Zielen (MABEZ) 1371 €0.14 per call 1372 €0.14 per minute 1373 €0.14 per minute 1374 €0.14 per minute 1375 €0.14 per call 1376 €0.25 per call 1377 €1.00 per call 1378 €0.50 per call 1379 €0.50 per call 138 T-VoteCall €0.14 per minute
14
14 unassigned
15
15 mobile phones
150 reserved for Group 3G/Quam
151 T-Mobile
152 reserved for Vodafone
1520 Vodafone
1521 Lycamobile
1522 Vodafone
1523 Vodafone
155 reserved for E-Plus
156 reserved for Mobilcom
157 reserved for E-Plus
1570 vistream
1573 ALDITalk
1577 E-Plus
1579 sipgate
159 reserved for O2 Germany
16
16 mobile phones, Trunked radio system, Pager
160 T-Mobile
161 formerly analog C-Netz
162 Vodafone
163 E-Plus
164 Cityruf (e*message) 165 formerly Quix 166 Telmi (e*message) 167 Trunked radio systems 1672 Dolphin Telecom 168 Scall (e*message) 169 Cityruf, Scall, Skyper (e*cityruf, e*message, e*skyper)
17
17 mobile phones
170 T-Mobile
171 T-Mobile
172 Vodafone
173 Vodafone
174 Vodafone
175 T-Mobile
176 O2 Germany
177 E-Plus
178 E-Plus
179 O2 Germany
18
18 international virtual private networks (IVPNs) and shared-cost services
180 shared-cost services
1801 €0.039 per minute
1802 €0.06 per connection
1803 €0.09 per minute
1804 €0.20 per connection
1805 €0.14 per minute
181 international virtual private networks (IVPNs) 182 closed user groups 183 closed user groups 1835 DB Netz (Deutsche Bahn) - User group for GSM-R when calling from German Telephone Network 184 closed user groups 185 closed user groups 186 closed user groups 187 closed user groups 188 closed user groups 1888 IVBB (Informationsverbund Berlin-Bonn) 189 closed user groups
19
190 formerly premium-rate services, now unassigned (now 900) 191 online services 192 online services 193 online services 194 online services 1987 Routing numbers for (0)116xxx 1988 target network service identification for routing international toll-free value-added services (Freecall) 1989 routing numbers for outgoing services 199 network-internal traffic control
2
20 – Western Ruhrgebiet (Essen and surroundings)