As in other countries, the German system allows German motorists to obtain personalised plates, although the options are heavily restricted. They can only choose characters forming the unique identifier, i.e. the last six characters at most. On the other hand, this limitation is reflected in the price, with vanity plates costing just EUR 10.20 (plus a EUR 2.60 fee for online booking, where appropriate). There are two conditions: the selected combination must not already have been registered and must not be prohibited.
The list of prohibited combinations is longer than in other countries because of Germany’s troubled history. Besides the “conventional” ban on rude, offensive and swear words, combinations associated with Germany’s Nazi past are also disallowed.