In Berlin a towed car usually has not gone far. The police move it to another legal space on a public street — the German word is Umsetzung — and send you the bill, up to €225 for an ordinary car. So when the space is empty, do not report a theft first. Ring the police information line on 030 4664-709800 and ask where it was put.
The other number to know is €4 an hour: the top street rate in Mitte and on the Kurfürstendamm, charged in steps of €1 per quarter of an hour.
First lookA runway where people fly kites
The city's biggest open space was an airport. Flights at Tempelhof ended in 2008, and the field is now a free park the operators say could hold 420 football pitches. I drive past it on the way in and it still looks like it is waiting for an aircraft — two runways, a taxiway, and people on bicycles where the planes landed during the airlift of 1948–49.
That is Berlin for a driver: wide streets, a lot of space, and history where you least expect it.
Tourist trapsZone 29 does not take Sunday off
Almost everywhere in Berlin, paid street parking stops on Sundays and public holidays. Mitte's zone 29 is the exception: it charges every day from 09:00 to midnight, 365 days a year. Zones 1, 2, 15 and 35 run to 22:00 from Monday to Saturday, and zone 3 stops at 20:00 on weekdays and 18:00 on Saturday. The sign at the machine is the only rule that counts.
The second trap is the garage by the Brandenburg Gate. The Adlon garage charges €3 per half hour and up to €66 a day, with a 1.80 m roof. I park further out and walk.
Local pickThursday night in a market hall
Every Thursday from 17:00 to 22:00, Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg fills with food stalls — Street Food Thursday, running since 2013. It is where I take friends on the first evening, because it tells you more about how Berlin eats now than any restaurant list.
Survival ruleMoved, not stolen — and the sticker that EVs may not need
If the car has gone, ring the police Auskunfts- und Fahndungsstelle on 030 4664-709800. The call is free, and they tell you the street it was moved to. The service line 115 answers questions Monday to Friday 08:00–18:00.
The Umweltzone covers everything inside the S-Bahn Ring, and every car needs the green Feinstaubplakette. Berlin is softer on electric cars than Cologne or Düsseldorf: German E-plates are exempt, and a foreign electric car may show the blue E-Plakette instead. Petrol and diesel from abroad need the green one, like everywhere.
01 · Parking€4 in Mitte, €20 a day at the Europa-Center
Low-emission zones in Europe: Umweltzone Berlin
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
- EV
- German E-Kennzeichen cars are exempt by Berlin order; a foreign electric car may show the blue E-Plakette instead
Berlin is the only city that lets an electric car in without the green sticker; buy one anyway if you are driving on.
On the street, Mitte's central zones — 1, 2, 3, 15, 21, 29 and 35 — cost €1 per 15 minutes, €4 an hour; most other Mitte zones are €3, a few €2. The Kurfürstendamm stretch in Charlottenburg is also €4. You can pay by girocard, credit card, cash or phone. No ticket is €20 up to 30 minutes, rising to €40 after three hours.
The garages vary by a factor of three. At Alexanderplatz, Alexa charges €2 for the first hour, then €2.50, and €25 a day — but it is open only 06:00–00:30. In the west, the Europa-Center is €2.50 an hour and €20 for 24 hours, the best value I found near the centre. At the main station, Hauptbahnhof P1 is €3.30 an hour and €27 a day.
Once parked, public transport does the rest: a single AB ticket is €4.00, a 24-hour AB ticket €11.20.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | EV |
|---|---|---|
| Parkhaus Europa-Center (Contipark)Nürnberger Straße 5-7 — by the Kurfürstendamm and the Zoo station | **€2.50 an hour, €20 for 24 hours.** 954 spaces, height 1.90 m, open 24 hours. | Not stated. |
| Parkhaus Alexa (APCOA)Grunerstraße 20 — at Alexanderplatz | **€2 for the first hour, then €2.50 an hour, €25 a day.** 1,595 spaces, height 1.90 m. **Open 06:00–00:30 only.** | 4 charging spaces. |
| Tiefgarage Hauptbahnhof P1 (Contipark / DB BahnPark)Clara-Jaschke-Straße 88 — under Berlin Hauptbahnhof | **€3.30 an hour, €27 a day**, €65 a week. About 814 spaces, height 2.00 m, open 24 hours. | Charging available. |
| Tiefgarage Adlon (APCOA)Unter den Linden 77 — beside the Brandenburg Gate | **€3 per 30 minutes, up to €66 a day.** 161 spaces, height **1.80 m**. The location is the price. | 10 charging spaces. |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | Parkhaus Alexa (APCOA) | €4.50 | no 24 h rate — not for overnight · height 1.90 m · €2 first hour, then €2.50 |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, Mitte (€4 zones) | €8 | €1 per 15 minutes. Most central zones charge until 22:00 Monday to Saturday; zone 29 charges every day until midnight, Sunday included. No ticket is €20–€40. |
| A full day (10 h) | Parkhaus Europa-Center (Contipark) | €20 | height 1.90 m |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, Mitte (€4 zones) | €40 | €1 per 15 minutes. Most central zones charge until 22:00 Monday to Saturday; zone 29 charges every day until midnight, Sunday included. No ticket is €20–€40. |
| 24 hours | Parkhaus Europa-Center (Contipark) | €20 | height 1.90 m |
02 · TowedUp to €225, and usually just round the corner
The police order an Umsetzung: the car is towed to another permitted space on public street land nearby. The official maximum for a car up to 3.5 tonnes is €225; over 3.5 tonnes, €565. The parking fine comes on top.
Ring 030 4664-709800 for the location; the information itself is free, and the bill follows by post. Have your passport or ID card to hand. In a hire car, ring the rental company too; the car is registered to them. The police's hall at Biesdorf is for seized vehicles, not for ordinary tows, so do not drive out there on a guess.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- The police order an Umsetzung: the car is moved to another permitted space on a public street nearby, and the bill is sent afterwards.
- Phone
- Police Auskunfts- und Fahndungsstelle — where the car was moved: 030 4664 709800
Berlin service line, Monday to Friday 08:00–18:00: 115 - Collect it at
- Usually on a nearby street — the police line gives the location. The police hall at Biesdorf is for seized vehicles, not ordinary tows.
- Hours
- Ring the police line at any time; the 115 service line answers Monday to Friday 08:00–18:00.
- What it costs
- Up to €225 for a car up to 3.5 tonnes, €565 above that — the official maximum. The information call is free. The parking fine comes on top.
- Bring
- Passport or ID card. In a hire car, ring the rental company as well; the car is registered to them.
03 · EVCharging bays are free to park in, without a time limit
Berlin's rule is generous: on a bay reserved for charging, no parking fee is due and there is no time limit — as long as the car is actually charging. Park there without charging and you can be towed.
The municipal utility, Berliner Stadtwerke, charges walk-up €0.55 per kWh AC and €0.65 DC, with no session fee, paid by QR code or tapping a card. A blocking fee of €0.02 a minute starts after four hours on AC and two on DC, capped at €20 — and on AC it is not charged between 22:00 and 06:00. I plug in at night and collect in the morning.
Where to charge
- Charging bays — no parking fee, no time limit — Reserved on-street bays across Berlin. By Senate rule, no parking fee is due on a bay reserved for charging and there is no time limit — but only while the car is charging. Parked there without charging, it can be towed.
- Berliner Stadtwerke — €0.55 AC, €0.65 DC — The municipal utility's public chargers. Walk-up €0.55 per kWh AC, €0.65 DC, no session fee, pay by QR code or card. Blocking fee €0.02 a minute after 4 h AC and 2 h DC, capped at €20; none on AC 22:00–06:00.
04 · Free spotsSundays, and a charger that doubles as a parking space
The honest free parking in Berlin is Sunday and public holidays in every paid zone except zone 29. The other is the charging bay: plugged in, you pay for electricity and nothing for the space. Garages charge every day; the cheapest full day I found in the centre is €20 at the Europa-Center.
Free or nearly-free spots
Sundays and public holidays — except zone 29
Paid street parking stops on Sundays and public holidays in Berlin's zones. Mitte zone 29 is the exception: it charges every day 09:00–24:00.
A charging bay, while you charge
Plugged in on a reserved charging bay, you pay for the electricity and nothing for the space, with no time limit.
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- Mitte zones 1, 2, 3, 15, 21, 29 and 35 cost €1 per 15 minutes (€4 an hour); most other Mitte zones €3, a few €2. The Kurfürstendamm is €4.
- Zones 1, 2, 15 and 35 charge Monday to Saturday 09:00–22:00; zone 3 to 20:00 on weekdays and 18:00 on Saturday; zone 29 every day 09:00–24:00.
- No ticket: €20 up to 30 minutes, then €25, €30, €35, and €40 after three hours.
- Green Feinstaubplakette compulsory inside the S-Bahn Ring. German E-plates are exempt; a foreign electric car may show the blue E-Plakette. Fine €100 plus fees.
Take these places with you
Every place on this page as a file you can keep — car parks with their prices, the free and park-and-ride spots, the chargers and the pound.