The German National Identity Card is issued by the municipal registration office (Standesamt, Einwohnermeldeamt, or Bürgeramt) in the individual's district of residency.

The United Kingdom (including all dependent territories except Gibraltar), Greenland, and the non-European parts of the Netherlands do not accept the German identity card for entry.

When flying to French overseas territories, passengers may need to avoid transitional points in countries that do not recognize the ID card.

[3] It was valid for one year and allowed border crossings within the German Confederation without requiring special entry or exit permits.

Additionally, from November 1, 1953, blue identity cards in hardcover small book form were issued in the then-established German Democratic Republic (East Germany) to individuals aged 14 and above.

[citation needed][9] On November 1, 2001, the Identigram on the laminate of the ID card as an additional security feature with holographic and kinematic elements was introduced.

The former Federal Minister of the Interior Otto Schily played a significant role in the legislation through the anti-terror laws he initiated.

The changes relate to the fact that the country code "DE" is shown in white in the blue European flag on the front and that two fingerprints (as an encrypted image file) are now mandatory on the identity card.

The mandatory storage of two fingerprints (both index fingers, failing this, thumbprints) has met with criticism from data protection advocates but is intended to enable unambiguous identification.

The legend texts, as well as the terms "Federal Republic of Germany" and "Identity Card", are also translated into English and French—the two working languages of the UN.

The front side shows the German Eagle and the words "BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND / FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY / RÉPUBLIQUE FÉDÉRALE D'ALLEMAGNE" and "PERSONALAUSWEIS / IDENTITY CARD / CARTE D'IDENTITÉ".

It contains the following information: The MRZ is structured according to the ICAO standard for machine-readable ID cards: Empty spaces are represented by "<".

Names originally written in a non-Latin writing system may pose another problem if there are various internationally recognised transcription standards.

For example, the Russian surname Горбачёв is transcribed "Gorbatschow" in German, "Gorbachev" in English (also ICAO standard), "Gorbatchov" in French, "Gorbachov" in Spanish, "Gorbaczow" in Polish, and so on.

[14][15] This chip stores essential information from the ID card, including the holder's name, date of birth, and photograph.

[16] All government agencies authorized to access the chip data have been supplied with reading devices that have been certified by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

Although automatic activation of this function since July 2017 aims to boost usage,[19] trust and clear communication remain crucial.

Introducing electronic services is costly, which means that there also exist adaptation barriers from the site of the provider, especially for small administrative offices.

Identity cards in East Germany came in the form of paper booklets in a blue plastic cover, much like modern-day passports.

auszuhändigen; 2. keine eigenmächtigen Eintragungen im Ausweis vorzunehmen, diesen nicht als Pfand oder zur Benutzung anderen Personen zu überlassen bzw.