The German ID card: (nearly) all you need to know

I now have a German ID card. What's it for, do you really have to carry with you all the time, and what do you do if you find one lying in the street?

Music:
"Style Funk" and "Hot Swing"
Creative Commons Attribution licence

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[connectingthedots]

Thank you for this. As a German citizen I completely rely on your well researched updates to understand my country.

[paha]

Huh das mit der Post wusste ich nicht. Bin fast geneigt meinen eigenen Perso in den nächsten Briefkasten zu werfen.

[ropeburn]

Haha, that last sentence... 😂

Of course there are fixed phrases for those occasions. The most popular one translates to "I know where your house lives". Second and third place are "I know where your bed sleeps" and "I know where your fridge cools".

Ich weiß, wo dein Haus wohnt, wo dein Bett schläft, und wo dein Kühlschrank kühlt! 😂

[RepublikSivizien]

And you can open some doors with it…like, with any other card with this format and material^^

[JakobFischer]

I well remember the border from Austria to Germany in 1990 were a big sign said that entrance to Germany will be only possible with a passport or a maximum 3 month overdue health insurrance card.

[boahneelassmal]

2:10 Schengen actually does abolish the pssport because you can travel only with your ID. You don't need a _passport_ when travelling in Schengen. You only need your ID

[endlichdrin]

Your German viewers might want to know: What got the folks in the UK as proof of idendioty and when do they need it? Thank you.

[mats]

Some countries even allow you to travel there with an invalid ID card or passport, if it hasn’t been invalid for longer than 1 year...

[MysteryDetektiv]

Ich sehe mir deine Videos jetzt seit etwa 5 Jahren an und finde deine Perspektive auf alles was Deutschland betrifft immer sehr interessant.
Ich finde immernoch dass du eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit mit "Eddi" von der A Capella-Gruppe Wise Guys hast.
Schade dass die Jungs mittlerweile nicht mehr Aktiv sind.

[knux]

Thats so nice that the post man would deliver a lost id. I remember losing mine yrs ago & bc i went several months without one i ended up buying a new one & then weirdly enough my original id was sent by mail a couple of months later. So i wish that type of thing existed in the us, it prob wouldve been found sooner

[downhilltwofour]

Thanks for sharing important information! Stay safe.

[fipsvonfipsenstein]

Possibly this goes back to the occupation right. At least in West Berlin, every adult was obliged to be able to identify himself at any time (either with an identity card, a passport or a driver's license ... although I would never have recognized my father on his "rag").

[epontius]

I remember when I was a kid and lived in Germany for a few years seeing those cigarette vending machines on the street. In the early 80's they didn't have all this new technology or even really care about the health impacts of smoking. So any kid with a few marks could buy cigarettes out of those machines as long as some responsible adult didn't see you and yell at you.

[PauxloE]

I once lost my ID card (when it still had the larger format), and only noticed this when I was in the train to Slovakia. Normally there are no checks at the German-Czech border, but this time the border guards (which were walking through the train between Dresden and Bad Schandau) actually controlled me, because some "suspiciously-looking" people were sitting in the same compartment. I somehow managed to convince them to let me pass (by showing my health insurance card and my Bahncard, one of which had my photo and the other one had my birth date). Later in Slovakia it turned out that I actually needed my ID or passport number to fill a form in the hotel. I phoned home and got my passport number.

[Korschtal]

It is a very useful thing: I use my British passport when I go out of the EU, but coming back I can use my German ID card at the immigration desk regardless of which EU country I arrive in.
Also, living near the French border it means I don't have to think about carrying a passport when I go for a bike ride...

[ceber]

In Mexico our de facto ID card is our voting credential, you can't vote without one, and if is expired or you are trying to vote in the wrong polling place. When voting, you are been asked for you ID, the staff members (who are your neighbours) check if you are enlisted and also the parties representatives and observers. Then, they give you the ballots, you choose your candidate in a sort of cabin, and then you put your vote in the ballot box and the staff return to you your ID.
The thing is, that was the only official use for which it was intended. Now even the banks have some access to the National Electoral Institute (INE) database to verify your identity and biometrics. Even the tax authority, who has their own safeguards (well, their webpage and taxation systems are totally crap), revise their data with the INE database, because it is bigger and more updated. Every your go, if you want to identify yourself they will ask for your voting credential. You may ask for a credential without your address (this was implemented after the increase of kidnappings and extortions) but anybody wants (as far as I know) one, because it is useful as a proof of address.

[bigdave]

finally found the channel i have been searching for a very long time

[AvaByNight]

about the "need to carry ID in different jobs": Also in security, at least while you are working :D

[nirfz]

Intersting! Some time ago i tried to research the "Ausweispflicht" in Germany and Austria. What i came across differed from what you researched. Your rsearch is much newer so maybe something has changed. What i found years ago was: In Germany supposedly you had to have some form of ID on you, and would be fined if you could not present any when you get asked/checked by police. In Austria you would get no fine, but the invonvenience of maybe having to accompany the police to somewhere your identity can be prooven. (i guess the later one would be the same in germany).

[oliverhuhn]

Das mit dem Briefkasten ist ja cool! Again what learned :-)