How to Get a SIM With a Phone Number in Germany as a Tourist Without ID
What a visitor can actually buy in Germany
You can walk into any phone shop in Germany and buy a SIM card with a phone number attached. Nobody will stop you. The card will go in your hand, the money will leave your account, and the number printed on the pack will be yours on paper. It will also be completely dead until a German retailer has checked your identity documents and pushed that check through to the network.
That gap between buying and working is the thing that catches visitors out, and it is not a shop policy you can talk your way around. It is written into telecoms law. So the practical question for a tourist is not where to buy a SIM in Germany – it is what you can get that gives you a working number without standing in a queue with your passport, and what that number actually is.
TL;DR
Every SIM sold in Germany, prepaid included, is inactive until the buyer’s identity has been verified. That has been the rule since 1 July 2017. A travel eSIM is not a German SIM, so it does not sit under that rule – a germany esim with calls and sms included activates from a QR code and the number is issued when you buy, before you have left home. The number you get is a European mobile number rather than a German one, which matters for almost nothing a traveller does and matters a great deal for one thing: keep your own home number for anything to do with your bank.
Why the ID check exists
Section 172 of Germany’s Telekommunikationsgesetz requires providers to record and verify the identity of everyone issued a mobile number. The relevant text is published by the German justice ministry at gesetze-im-internet.de. The practical effect is that there is no anonymous SIM in Germany, and no exception carved out for tourists or short stays.
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Verification can happen at a shop counter, through a post office identity service, by video call, or with an electronic ID – and the detail of what german sim registration actually involves is worth reading if you are set on a local card. For a visitor the summary is short: every route needs a document check, most need a German address somewhere in the form, and the fastest of them still costs you part of an afternoon you came to Germany to spend elsewhere.
“A SIM with a phone number” is not one product
This phrase hides a split that costs travellers money. Most travel SIMs and eSIMs sold for Europe are data-only. They give you maps, messaging apps and email, and they give you no number at all. You cannot be called on them, and no SMS will ever arrive.
The other kind includes a real mobile line – a number that rings, that receives texts, and that you can hand to a hotel or a car hire desk. If you have only ever used data-only travel plans it is worth understanding how a second line works on one phone, because the setup is what lets you keep your usual number live for your bank and your family while a second line handles everything local.
When someone searches for a SIM with a phone number in Germany, it is almost always the second kind they want and the first kind they end up buying.
The number is European, not German
Worth saying plainly rather than burying it. A Germany eSIM from Europe Number gives you German data coverage and a real +33 mobile line. The data is local. The number is French.
If you were specifically after a +49 number so that a German caller sees a German prefix, this is not that, and no travel eSIM is – a +49 number requires the identity verification described above, because that is exactly what the law is for. What you get instead is a number that is live before you land, that rings in Germany, and that works the same way in another thirty-eight European destinations if your trip crosses a border.
For a traveller the prefix almost never comes up. What comes up is whether the restaurant can call you back about the booking, whether the code for the scooter app arrives, and whether your driver can reach you when they cannot find the pickup point. A working number does all three.
What a tourist number actually has to do
Set aside the prefix and the list of real jobs is short. It has to receive one-time passwords and app verification codes so you can sign up to local transport, delivery, ticketing and marketplace apps. It has to take an inbound call from a hotel, a host, a restaurant or a hire desk. It has to send and receive ordinary texts. And it has to keep working when you move between countries, because a week in Germany often has a day in Austria or the Netherlands attached.
The pattern is the same one that makes getting a number as a tourist without a store visit such a common search in every European market – the problem is not the country, it is the counter.
One job it should not do is your banking. Banks tie security codes to the number already registered against your identity, and a travel line is the wrong tool for that. Keep your home number active for anything financial and use the travel number for everything else.
What you pay
| Plan | Data | Phone number | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany eSIM 20GB | 20GB | Included | €19.90 |
| Germany eSIM 30GB | 30GB | Included | €29.90 |
| Germany eSIM 60GB | 60GB | Included | €39.90 |
| Germany eSIM 120GB | 120GB | Included | €49.90 |
Plans run for 30 days from activation, and you have twelve months from purchase to start one – so buying before a trip you have not fully booked is not a wasted spend. Data-only Germany plans are cheaper, and if you genuinely only need maps they are the better buy. Just know what you are giving up: no number, no calls, no codes.
If what you actually want is a line you can hand out without tying it to your identity or an address, the same approach applies across the continent – a number without id or a local address covers the France version of the same problem.
Setting it up before you fly
Check your handset supports eSIM first. Most iPhones from the XS onward and most recent Samsung, Pixel and flagship Android models do, but a cheap or older handset may not, and a phone locked to a carrier will not accept a second profile.
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Buy before you travel. The number is issued at purchase and appears in three places – on the confirmation page, in your email, and on your account page – so you can pass it to a hotel or a host before you are anywhere near Germany. Install the profile over your home Wi-Fi rather than waiting for airport Wi-Fi, and leave it switched off until you land. On activation the network sends a confirmation SMS, and the number appears in your phone’s mobile settings alongside your usual line.
Then set which line does what: your home number stays on for calls from people who know it and anything financial, and the travel line handles data, local calls and codes.
What this does not solve
It is not a German number, so if something genuinely requires a +49 line – a long-term rental contract, a German bank account, certain government processes – you need the identity check and there is no way round it.
National SMS short codes are country-scoped and do not reliably route to numbers from another country. Most app sign-ups use standard international SMS and are unaffected, but a German service that sends from a five-digit short code may not reach a non-German line. If a specific German service is critical to your trip, test it before you depend on it.
And the number is temporary. When the plan ends the line is released, so anything you will need after the trip – booking references, receipts, confirmations – should go to your email rather than living in a text thread on a number you no longer hold.
Roaming inside the EU is covered by the single market rules, and the European Commission publishes the current position at Your Europe if you want to check how your own carrier should be treating you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a tourist buy a SIM card in Germany without ID?
You can buy the card, but it will not work. Section 172 of the German Telecommunications Act requires providers to verify the identity of everyone issued a mobile number, and the SIM stays inactive until that check is completed. The rule applies to prepaid cards and to visitors. A travel eSIM is not a German SIM and so is not issued under that rule.
Can I get a SIM with a phone number in Germany before I arrive?
Not a German one. A German SIM has to be activated after an identity check inside Germany. A travel eSIM with a number included is issued at the moment you buy it, so the number exists before you travel and can be given to a hotel or host in advance. The profile installs from a QR code over Wi-Fi.
What is the cheapest way to get a working phone number for a trip to Germany?
A Germany eSIM with a number included starts at €19.90 for 20GB and runs for 30 days from activation. Data-only Germany plans cost less but include no number, so you cannot be called and no SMS will arrive. If you need codes or callbacks, the data-only saving is false economy.
Will a non-German number work for German app sign-ups?
Most app sign-ups send standard international SMS, which reaches a European mobile number normally. The exception is national short codes – the five-digit senders some domestic services use – which are country-scoped and do not reliably route to a number from another country. If one specific German service is critical to your trip, test it before you rely on it.
Can I make and receive normal calls and texts in Germany on a travel eSIM?
Yes, if the plan includes a phone number. Most travel eSIMs sold for Europe are data-only and have no line at all. A plan with a number included gives you a real mobile line that rings, receives texts, and can be handed to a hotel, a host or a hire desk.
What happens to the number when the plan ends?
The line is released at the end of the plan, so the number is not yours permanently. Send anything you will need after the trip – booking references, receipts and confirmations – to your email address rather than leaving it in a text thread on a number you will not hold.
