German IBAN Structure

Germany is one of the countries where it is easiest to extract bank information from an IBAN, because the structure of the German IBAN is clear and parseable. In this guide we explain which parts a German IBAN consists of.

Structure

A German IBAN is 22 characters and consists of the following parts:

DEkk BBBBBBBB CCCCCCCCCC

• DE — country code (2 characters)
• kk — IBAN check digits (2 characters, MOD-97)
• BBBBBBBB — BLZ / Bankleitzahl (8 digits, bank code)
• CCCCCCCCCC — account number / Kontonummer (10 digits)

Leading zeros are preserved in the account number; that is, a short account number is padded with zeros to complete it to 10 digits.

Parsing: finding the bank and BIC

The 8-digit BLZ inside the German IBAN identifies the bank. It is possible to reach the bank name and the BIC from this BLZ. To split a German IBAN into its parts and see the bank information (if any), use the German IBAN parser tool; to search for a bank only by BLZ, use the BLZ lookup tool. For more information about the BLZ, see the What is a BLZ page.

Validation

A German IBAN, like other IBANs, is validated with the MOD-97 checksum. To check the validity of an IBAN, you can use the IBAN validation tool. Remember: structural validity does not show that the account is active.

Summary

A German IBAN is 22 characters: the DE country code, a two-digit check number, the 8-digit BLZ and a 10-digit account number. Thanks to the BLZ it contains, the bank and BIC can be found. You can use our tools for parsing and validation.