# Security Services in Germany Canonical page: https://closeprotectionhire.com/countries/germany/ Security services in Germany. Close protection and Bewachungsverordnung-compliant operators for Berlin and major German cities. ## Regulations - **Licensing**: Anyone who guards the life or property of others commercially needs a permit under section 34a of the Gewerbeordnung from the competent local authority. The person running the business must pass the Sachkundeprüfung before the Industrie- und Handelskammer (IHK). Every guard needs at least the IHK Unterrichtung certificate, and the Sachkundeprüfung is also required for listed activities such as patrols in public areas, door work at nightclubs and leading roles at large access-controlled events. Since 1 June 2019 businesses and their guards are entered in the national Bewacherregister, run by the Federal Statistical Office since 10 October 2022. - **Firearms**: Under section 28 of the Waffengesetz, a security business may acquire and hold firearms only where it takes on assignments that require them to protect an endangered person or object. Each guard who is to carry the firm's weapons must first be reported to the authority, which must approve that guard, and the weapon may be carried only while the specific assignment is being carried out. Most private close protection in Germany is unarmed. - **Foreign operators**: The section 34a permit applies to anyone carrying on the business in Germany, wherever the firm is based. A provider established in another EU or EEA state that wants to serve clients in Germany temporarily must notify the authority under section 13a of the Gewerbeordnung, and the authority may check the provider's qualifications before the first service (Bewachungsverordnung, section 13). Ask any provider for its section 34a permit and each officer's IHK certificate. Sources, checked 2026-10-07: - [Gewerbeordnung, section 34a (text, dejure.org)](https://dejure.org/gesetze/GewO/34a.html) - [Waffengesetz, section 28 (text, dejure.org)](https://dejure.org/gesetze/WaffG/28.html) - [Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, Bewacherregister](https://www.bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de/Redaktion/DE/Artikel/Mittelstand/gewerberecht-bewacherregister.html) - [Bewachungsverordnung 2019, section 13 (text, lxgesetze.de)](https://lxgesetze.de/bewachv/13) ## Cities covered - **Berlin**: Germany's capital and a major corporate and diplomatic centre. FCDO assesses the terrorism threat in Germany as 'very likely'. Both Islamist extremist and far-right threats are active. Overall street crime is moderate by European capital standards, concentrated around specific transport hubs rather than the city generally. - **Munich**: Bavaria's capital and the country's most operationally comfortable major city for executive security. The Munich Security Conference brings a concentrated high-profile diplomatic presence each February, and Oktoberfest generates a sharp seasonal spike in opportunistic theft. - **Frankfurt**: Germany's financial capital and seat of the European Central Bank. The Bahnhofsviertel station district is the city's clearest crime concentration; corporate espionage awareness is the more operationally relevant concern for senior banking visitors. - **Hamburg**: Europe's third-largest seaport, cleanly split between a low-risk commercial and residential core and a more complex nighttime environment around the Reeperbahn after 22:00. - **Bremen**: Home to Airbus's second-largest German production site and the Bremen-Bremerhaven port complex. Petty crime concentrates in the Bahnhofsvorstadt and Gropelingen districts, both avoidable for standard corporate itineraries. - **Dusseldorf**: A major trade fair city and home to the largest Japanese business community in Germany. The Rosenmontag carnival parade brings a material seasonal rise in crowd-related petty theft. - **Leipzig**: An automotive manufacturing centre for BMW and Porsche, and the site of periodic political demonstrations in the Connewitz district, including large protests following the 2023 Lina E. verdict. - **Stuttgart**: Home to Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Porsche AG headquarters. The long-running Stuttgart 21 rail construction project affects Hauptbahnhof-area transit, and the Cannstatter Volksfest draws exceptional festival crowds each autumn. - **Nuremberg**: Bavaria's second city and a major trade fair destination, hosting Spielwarenmesse, the world's largest toy trade fair by exhibitor count. Also a significant institutional and diplomatic destination given the Nuremberg Trials memorial at the Palace of Justice. - **Hannover**: Home to Hannover Messe, widely described as the world's largest industrial trade fair, and to Continental AG's global headquarters campus, opened in December 2023. Germany is the largest economy in the European Union and a major corporate travel destination. Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, and Hamburg concentrate most international business and event activity, alongside a distinct trade-fair circuit running through Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Nuremberg, and Hannover, and an automotive-manufacturing corridor through Stuttgart, Leipzig, and Bremen. The CP market in Germany is smaller than France or the UK but consistent, driven by corporate visitors, diplomatic activity, trade fair traffic, and a specific HNWI sector. FCDO assesses the terrorism threat in Germany as 'very likely'. This is the highest category in the FCDO threat scale and puts Germany in the same assessed tier as France and Belgium. The threat comes from Islamist extremist networks and, separately, from far-right actors. The 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack and the 2020 Frankfurt knife attack demonstrate the range of threat actors and methodologies. ## The Bewachungsverordnung framework Anyone who guards people or property commercially in Germany needs a permit under section 34a of the Gewerbeordnung. The person running the business must pass the IHK Sachkundeprüfung, and every guard needs at least the IHK Unterrichtung certificate. Since 1 June 2019 firms and their guards are entered in the national Bewacherregister. The IHK certificates set a legal baseline. They are not equivalent to the SIA CP licence standard or to professional military or police CP qualification. Operators who rely solely on the IHK examination as their CP credential require supplementary assessment. ## Unarmed operations as the standard Germany's unarmed default is different from most P1 and P2 countries in the network. Principals arriving from regions where armed CP is standard require briefing on this constraint. The absence of armed private CP does not mean the threat environment justifies no protection. It means the protective methodology adapts: advance work, route planning, and surveillance detection become more important when no armed deterrent is available. ## Berlin and the diplomatic environment Berlin hosts a concentrated diplomatic community, significant UHNWI visitors, and a large international corporate travel flow. The city's political environment includes active far-right protest and counter-protest activity, which creates periodic disruption. Areas around the Reichstag, Alexanderplatz, and Potsdamer Platz have hosted significant protest events. Security planning for political or high-profile visits must include protest calendar monitoring. Source: FCDO Travel Advice: Germany (2026). BKA Annual Report on Terrorism (2025). Gewerbeordnung section 34a and Waffengesetz section 28 (sources listed under the regulations above). Deutsche Messe AG and NürnbergMesse trade fair data. Continental AG headquarters announcement (December 2023). Our vetted operators provide [close protection and executive protection](/services/executive-protection/) and [security driver services](/services/security-drivers/) across Germany's business and trade fair circuit. For a detailed local assessment, see our [Berlin city briefing](/cities/berlin/), our [Frankfurt](/cities/frankfurt/) financial-sector briefing, or our [Nuremberg](/cities/nuremberg/) and [Hannover](/cities/hannover/) trade fair city guides. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the terrorism threat level in Germany? FCDO assesses the terrorism threat in Germany as 'very likely'. Germany has experienced multiple Islamist-linked attacks, most notably the December 2016 Berlin Christmas market truck attack (12 killed). Far-right violence is also an active documented threat. The BKA (Federal Criminal Police Office) and the BfV (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) maintain active monitoring. German counter-terrorism capability is substantial. ### Is armed close protection available in Germany? Rarely. Under section 28 of the Waffengesetz a security business may hold firearms only where an assignment to protect an endangered person requires them, and each officer who is to carry one must first be approved by the authority. Professional CP operations in Germany default to unarmed. This is a material operational difference from countries like South Africa, Colombia, or the UAE where armed private CP is standard. ### What does the Sachkundeprüfung mean for operator quality? The Sachkundeprüfung is the IHK examination that the person running a security business must pass, and that staff in listed activities such as patrols in public areas must pass. Other guards, including close protection officers, need at least the shorter IHK Unterrichtung. Both establish a baseline. It is not a rigorous professional qualification by international CP standards. Our Germany network operators hold the IHK certification as a minimum and carry additional CP-specific training beyond the regulatory requirement.