Hand in or enquire about lost property

Prerequisite

• You have found something that does not belong to you and has a value of more than EUR 10.00 or
• You are missing something and can no longer find it.

Responsible department

the lost property office of your municipality or city

Procedure

You have lost an item:

First ask where you lost the item

In the case of transport companies, contact the relevant passenger service directly. You can find the contact details on the Internet, usually under the keyword "Lost property".

If you are unsuccessful there, contact the local lost property office.

Lost property is also handed in by hotels, department stores, cultural and other organisations after a certain period of time at the lost property office. You should therefore check several times at regular intervals.

You will only receive a notification if the lost property contains information about the owner or holder (name, date of birth, address).

As a rule, the person who lost the item must provide the finder or the lost property office with proof of ownership, for example

• a precise description of the item,
• Details of the place and time of loss,
• Proof of purchase, purchase contract,
• for mobile devices, the IMEI number of the device or the number of the SIM card (both can be found in the purchase documents),
• for cameras, the serial number or
• for bicycles, the frame number or coding.

Collection by a third party is possible with ID and authorisation.

You have found an item:

You must report a find with a value of more than EUR 10.00 to the responsible authority (informally).

A lost property report is recorded in the lost property office.

The lost property, the place and time it was found and your personal details will be recorded.

You can often also hand in found items to the citizens' offices or the police. Find out in advance.

If the owner does not contact you within 6 months, you are entitled to the found item. If you do not want the item or if you have found it in public buildings or on public transport, the city or municipality becomes the owner of the item.

These lost property items are then auctioned off at longer intervals after prior announcement. The proceeds from the auction are channelled into the municipality's budget.

Negative certificate for submission to the insurance company

You can also obtain a certificate from the lost property office stating that the missing item has not been handed in (so-called negative certificate). Please contact the relevant office in person.

Deadlines

The finder must report the find immediately, i.e. without undue delay.

Required documents

• Personal documents
• Proof of ownership, e.g. purchase contract, receipt, duplicate key, photos
• Description of the item
• if certificates are issued in the event of an insurance claim: insurance form, if applicable
• confirmation of the theft report from the police, if applicable

Costs

• Information from the lost property office: free of charge
• Issue of lost property or negative certificates: Administrative fee of varying amounts

Miscellaneous

As the finder, you are entitled to a finder's fee if the owner contacts you. You must settle this directly with the owner.

The amount of the finder's fee is

• for a value of up to EUR 500.00: 5 %
• for a value over EUR 500.00: € 25 (5 % of EUR 500.00) plus 3 % of the value exceeding EUR 500.00.

There is no finder's fee for items found in public transport and public authorities up to a value of EUR 50.00, above this amount

• 2.5 % for a value between EUR 50.00 and EUR 500.00 and
• 1.5 % for the value exceeding EUR 500.00.

Anyone who keeps found items belonging to others may be liable to prosecution.

Appeal

There are no separate legal remedies in relation to lost property.

Legal basis

Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB):

• § 967 Fundrecht: Ablieferungspflicht
• § 971 Finderlohn
• § 978 Fund in öffentlicher Behörde oder Verkehrsanstalt

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Justizministerium Baden-Württemberg, 10.08.2018