Police and you: rights during a check

If police stop you: stay calm, hands visible, do not reach. You must give name, birth date, address — and show ID if you have it. Everything else is "I exercise my right to silence" — Schweigerecht. A search needs a court order or imminent danger (Gefahr im Verzug). In the car: you may refuse the breathalyser — then comes a blood test.

• ●ID duty: from 16 you must have ID (for Germans; foreigners always)
• ●Sign nothing on the spot — first lawyer and interpreter
• ●Every officer gives a service number — note it in a dispute