Freiburg Environmental Zone 2026: Ended, EUR 0 to Pay
Umweltzone · Germany · Abolished on 22 April 2025 — no longer in force
Source: official source · Verified: 2026-09-19
Freiburg has had no environmental zone since 22 April 2025, so there is no green Plakette to buy and no EUR 100 fine — but check the rest of your route, where zones remain.
Freiburg Umweltzone Map
Interactive map of the zone location — zoom in to see the streets around the marker, and confirm the exact boundary signs on arrival.
Requirements
No zone is in force here, so there is nothing to comply with.
Who pays in a hire car, whether insurance covers it, and how to appeal.
This zone is not in force — no vehicle check applies
Freiburg abolished its Umweltzone on 22 April 2025. No green Umweltplakette is required to drive here any more, and no low-emission fine applies. Source: Umweltbundesamt federal register.
Planning a wider trip? Check the zones that do apply on your route.
Exemptions
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Freiburg’s environmental zone — the Umweltzone — was withdrawn on 22 April 2025, after 15 years in force since 1 January 2010. No green Umweltplakette is required to drive here in 2026 and there is no emission-zone fine, though the €100 penalty applied right up to the withdrawal date, and the nearest German cities that still enforce a zone are Pforzheim (118 km), Stuttgart (131 km) and Ludwigsburg (141 km).
Your case: A Plakette bought for an earlier trip is not wasted — run the rest of your German route through the emission zone checker to see which cities still turn your car away without one.
Freiburg has no Umweltzone any more
Freiburg withdrew its Umweltzone on 22 April 2025. You do not need a green Umweltplakette to drive here, and there is no emission-zone penalty — the green circular signs that used to mark the boundary have been taken down. The zone had been in force since 1 January 2010.
This matters because the old rule is still repeated almost everywhere. Sticker resellers, hire-car counters and most travel guides have not updated, so drivers still buy a EUR 5-15 sticker they no longer need for Freiburg. The authority here is the federal register kept by the Umweltbundesamt, which lists the zone as withdrawn.
What changed, and what did not
| Until 22 April 2025 | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Green Plakette required | Yes | No |
| Penalty for non-compliance | EUR 100 | None — no zone to enforce |
| Boundary signs | In place | Removed |
| Applies to hire cars | Yes | No |
Normal traffic law is unchanged: speed limits, parking rules and any resident-only or pedestrian streets in the Freiburg centre still apply. Removing the Umweltzone did not open anything else up.
Where you still need the green sticker
Germany still has active Umweltzonen, and the nearest ones to Freiburg are:
- Pforzheim — about 118 km away
- Stuttgart — about 131 km away
- Ludwigsburg — about 141 km away
If your route crosses any of those city centres, the green Plakette is still compulsory and the usual penalty applies. A sticker bought for an earlier trip stays valid — they do not expire.
If you were fined here before it closed
A penalty issued while the zone was still in force remains valid. The withdrawal on 22 April 2025 is not retroactive, so an old ticket does not disappear — it only means no new ones can be issued.
Source: Umweltbundesamt federal Umweltzonen register, checked 29 August 2026.
Part of the TyreMap Emission-Zone Dataset — 596 verified European emission zones, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Freiburg abolished its Umweltzone on 22 April 2025, so no Umweltplakette is required and there is no emission-zone check when you drive in. Many guides and sticker resellers still say otherwise — the federal Umweltbundesamt register is the authority, and it lists the zone as withdrawn.
There is no fine, because there is no zone. Until 22 April 2025 the penalty was EUR 100; since the zone was withdrawn there is nothing to enforce.
Zones were withdrawn once nitrogen dioxide and particulate readings stayed under the EU limits without them — older, dirtier vehicles had largely left the fleet, so the zone no longer changed the measurements. The withdrawal is recorded in the federal register kept by the Umweltbundesamt.
No. The sticker does no harm and it is still valid in the cities that do keep a zone, so leave it where it is if you plan to drive elsewhere in Germany.
The closest German cities that still operate an Umweltzone are Overlingen (102 km), Konstanz (106 km), Pforzheim (117 km). If your route passes through any of them you still need the green Plakette.
No. A penalty issued while the zone was in force stays valid; the withdrawal on 22 April 2025 is not retroactive. It only means no new penalties can be issued.