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Note by the editor: The lists below are a collection of the regional codes depicted on German licence plates, through the years. They are still being worked on, and can eventually, according to the majority's preference, either form a complete WP page of their own, or else be integrated into the …

List of Codes on German vehicle registration plates
The following lists explain the codes used on vehicle registration plates of Germany, both in the current system and its various predecessors. A feature common to each of these lists is a geographical reference to the seat of the owner's residence, or else to the state authority which runs the vehicle. Starting in the times of the German Reich, when the first automobiles were seen and needed to be registered with a visible number plate, the various kingdoms, fiefs and free towns comprising the Kaiser's realm showed their respective code. Through the Weimar republic and the Third Reich, this system was basically retained yet expanded. After the Second World War, however, the occupying powers not only broke up some of the former states but also introduced a new style of licence plate which referred to the occupation zone and the district within that zone.

In the 1950s, with two states emerging side by side, yet new licence plates appeared on German roads. Whereas those in the Federal Republic continued to refer to their districts within the re-established Länder (states), the East German system referred to the newly formed Bezirke (administrative districts). After German reunification in 1990, the West German system was adopted nationwide.

Contemporary German licence plates
The present style of German registration plates was introduced in 1956 and is based on the districts of Germany which are the authorities responsible for registering motorized vehicles. Their area codes of one, two or three letters form the first part of any German licence plate. In some cases, an urban district and the surrounding rural district of the same (or similar) name share their code, such as A stands for the city of Augsburg as well as the adjacent Landkreis Augsburg.

This area code is followed by a random combination of one or two letters plus a number of up to four figures.

Postwar Germany
Occupation zones

adopted from German WP
for the time being