Making phone calls in Germany
Stay connected while overseas
While stationed abroad, it's more important than ever to stay in touch with your family, friends, and loved ones. But before you dial, there are a few things that you should know about making telephone calls in Germany.
On this page we will provide some general guidelines and dialing codes for making both domestic and international phone calls. If you're new in Europe, this information will be very useful in getting you up to speed on using your TKS telephone service.
Germany calls
If you are using German phone service to call another German number, simply dial the entire number, including the initial 0. If calling landline-to-landline within the same area code you can drop the area code.
- First dial the area code including the first 0. For example, 0631 for the Kaiserslautern area.
- Then dial the telephone number.
NOTE: It's normal for European area codes and telephone numbers to vary in length.
International calls
When calling someone outside of Germany, be sure to use the correct international dialing format: international access code / country code / area code and number.
- Dial the international access code, 00 from a landline or mobile phone. (On mobile you may use the + symbol instead of 00.)
- Then dial the country code, for example 44 for the UK.
- Dial the area code and telephone number, but drop the initial 0. (Exception: When calling Italy, include the initial 0.)
USA calls
From a German landline or mobile phone, here's how to call the USA.
- Dial 00, the international access code. (On mobile you may use the + symbol instead of 00.)
- Then dial 1, the country code for the U.S. and Canada.
- Dial the area code and telephone number. NOTE: Be sure to drop the initial 1 in the USA telephone number.
Calling Germany from the USA
If you'd like to share your German telephone number with friends and family in the states, they'll need to use the American dialing format: international access code 011 / country code Germany 49 / German area code and number (without the initial 0).
Example
0631 3522 499 (TKS hotline)
Dialed from USA
011 49 631 3522 499
European country codes
Very often you will come across foreign telephone numbers and business listings that do include their respective country codes. In this case, refer to the list of common EU country codes below and convert the “local number” into its international equivalent: 00 / country code / local number (without the initial 0)
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country code list
COUNTRY
COUNTRY CODE
Austria 43 Belgium 32 Bosnia-Herzogovina 387 Croatia 385 Czeck Repubic 420 Denmark 45 Estonia 372 Finland 358 France 33 Germany 49 Gibraltar 350 Greece 30 Hungary 36 Ireland 353 Italy* 39 Latvia 371 Montenegro 382 Marocco 212 Netherlands 31 Norway 47 Poland 48 Portugal 351 Russia 7 Slovakia 421 Slovenia 386 Spain 34 Sweden 46 Switzerland 41 Turkey 90 UK 44 *When calling Italy: Do not drop the local number’s initial 0 (zero) as with other countries.