Access and infrastructure
Backland plot in Germany: how to secure the access
Plot behind another plot in Germany: why a right of way in the land register may not be enough for a permit, Bavaria's double easement, emergency access.
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A house in Schleswig-Holstein had no direct connection to the road. The owner drove across the neighbour's land and parked on the plot itself. The neighbour wanted to stop the parking. The Kiel Regional Court allowed it; the Schleswig Higher Regional Court banned driving in to park unless there was a compelling reason (4 April 2024, 11 U 112/23). The Federal Court of Justice restored the Kiel ruling (14 March 2025, V ZR 79/24): the emergency right of way of a landlocked residential plot in principle includes driving in by car to park on your own land.
Three courts to decide whether you may park outside your own house. If you buy a plot behind another plot (Hinterliegergrundstück), you should never need that fight. That requires knowing before you buy how the access is secured, in two separate legal systems: private law towards the neighbour, and public law towards the building authority. This guide explains both. It is general guidance; your notary, surveyor and the building authority deal with your case.
Key terms
| German | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hinterliegergrundstück | backland plot, with no frontage of its own |
| Pfeifenstielgrundstück | "pipe-stem" or flag plot: reaches the road through a narrow strip of its own |
| Grunddienstbarkeit | private easement in the land register, section II (e.g. Geh- und Fahrtrecht, right to walk and drive) |
| Baulast | public-law obligation towards the building authority, in a separate register kept by that authority |
| beschränkte persönliche Dienstbarkeit | easement in favour of a person or body, used in Bavaria in favour of the state |
| Notwegrecht | emergency right of way for landlocked land (section 917 Civil Code) |
Source: Figures from this guide, documented under “Sources”
What the building codes require
State building codes follow the same pattern: buildings may only be erected if the plot adjoins a drivable public road over an adequate width or has drivable access to one that is secured under public law. Bremen's code (section 4(1)) and Brandenburg's (section 4(1)) use that wording; Bremen allows non-drivable footpaths up to 50 m for certain small houses, and North Rhine-Westphalia ties the rule to firefighting water supply.
So there are two kinds of second-row plot:
- Flag plot: your own strip runs to the road. The question is whether the strip is wide enough and drivable.
- Backland plot: access runs over someone else's land. It must be secured under public law.
Public-law security: a Baulast, not just an easement
In states with a Baulast register, access over another's land is secured by a Baulast: the neighbour undertakes towards the building authority to allow it. It is not in the land register but in the authority's own register.
A private easement in the land register binds only the two owners. They could agree to delete it, so the authority cannot rely on it; on its own it is usually not enough for a building permit in these states. Neighbours litigate up to the Federal Court of Justice over whether a registered right of way obliges the serving owner to add a Baulast (most recently judgment of 22 October 2021, V ZR 92/20), and the Schleswig Higher Administrative Court has held that no exemption is possible from the requirement of publicly secured access for a backland plot.
Check both. The Baulast secures buildability; the easement secures your right against the neighbour to actually use the access, and should regulate maintenance and costs. Our guides on easements and building obligations and the Baulast comparison by state go further.
For foreign buyers: in many countries a registered right of way is all you need. In most German states it is half the picture. A Baulast is not in the land register but in a separate register kept by the building authority, so order that extract yourself (step 3 below) or ask the notary in writing to obtain it.
Bavaria: no Baulast, a double easement instead
Bavaria has no Baulast. Art. 4 of the Bavarian Building Code requires adequate frontage to a drivable public road; in the countryside, drivable access to a public road secured in favour of the body responsible for the building authority is enough. In practice that means two entries: a private easement for your plot, and an easement in favour of the Free State or the district.
The Bavarian Higher Administrative Court (26 April 2022, 6 ZB 21.3233) held that a private easement alone, without security towards the authority's body, was not enough: the plot was "trapped". Inside towns and villages, art. 4 of the Bavarian Building Code by its wording requires the plot to adjoin the public road; whether the authority accepts the double easement for a second-row plot there is a question for a preliminary decision.
The emergency right of way: a lifeline, not a substitute
If a plot lacks the connection to a public road needed for its proper use, its owner can require neighbours to allow passage (section 917(1) Civil Code), with direction and extent set by a court if needed. The neighbours receive an annual payment (section 917(2)). The Schleswig-Holstein case was also about that payment.
Three limits:
- No emergency right after your own subdivision. If the owner cuts off access by an arbitrary act, such as dividing the plot and selling the front part, neighbours need not tolerate it (section 918(1)). If you buy a newly divided backland plot, get the access secured by contract and entry; see dividing a plot.
- It is private law. It generally does not replace the public-law security a building authority wants for a new house.
- It is a lawsuit. The BGH case went through three courts.
Width, fire brigade, costs
"Adequate width" and "drivable" matter: construction vehicles, refuse collection and emergency services must get through. Beyond a certain distance from the road, fire brigade access rules apply. Art. 5 of the Bavarian Building Code, for example, requires access or drive-throughs to the front and rear of buildings that lie wholly or partly more than 50 m from a public road. The details are in the model guideline on areas for the fire brigade (February 2007 version) as adopted by each state; access routes need a clear width of at least 3 m and a clear height of at least 3.50 m, and where walls or pillars line both sides for more than 12 m, the minimum width rises to 3.50 m. So a house planned 60 m back from the road cannot rely on a 2.5 m footpath; ask the building authority or the fire prevention office what it requires before you negotiate.
Do the sums on a flag plot: a strip 3 m wide and 35 m long is 105 m² you pay for but cannot build on. Of 900 m², 795 m² remain for house and garden. Whether the strip counts towards the permitted building footprint depends on the development plan and section 19 of the Land Use Ordinance; ask before comparing prices per square metre. In money: at a standard land value of €350/m² (an assumption; BORIS-D shows the figure for your location), the 105 m² strip costs €36,750. A comparable backland plot with easement and Baulast but no strip of its own should be cheaper by about that amount, in exchange for sharing the drive with a neighbour. Either can be the right choice; paying building-land price for the strip without knowing whether it counts for footprint and parking is not.
The easement should say who builds, maintains and clears the drive in winter, and who pays for damage. With several backland owners on one drive, agree a cost split and register it.
State differences at a glance
| State | Public-law security | Particularity |
|---|---|---|
| Bavaria | no Baulast; private easement plus easement for the Free State or district | Art. 4 BayBO; fire access beyond 50 m under Art. 5 |
| Bremen | Baulast | non-drivable footpaths up to 50 m for certain small houses |
| Brandenburg | access must be secured under public law (section 4(1) BbgBO) | ask the building authority which form it accepts |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Baulast | access rule linked to firefighting water |
| Berlin | Baulast | registration €180 per Baulast |
Source: Figures from this guide, documented under “Sources”
What the purchase contract should say
German purchase contracts are notarised and read aloud in German; if you do not speak it, bring an interpreter and ask for the draft in advance. For a backland plot, make sure the draft contains:
- Price due only after registration of the easement in the serving plot's land register (or a priority notice securing it) and of the Baulast in the register.
- The easement's content as an annex with a site plan: width, route, driving with all kinds of vehicles, parking, utility lines, maintenance, winter clearing, liability.
- A right to withdraw if a preliminary decision from the building authority finds the access insufficient.
- Where the seller divides the land: easement and Baulast on the seller's remaining land created at the same appointment, so that section 918 cannot be used against you.
The notary drafts and reads the deed but does not check whether the plot can be built on. Those questions go to the building authority, from you or your architect.
Getting the documents from abroad
- Cadastral map: from the state geoportal (free viewing) or an official extract from the surveying office (Vermessungsamt, Katasteramt).
- Land register extracts: the notary obtains the one for your plot. For the neighbour's (serving) plot you need a legitimate interest; ask the seller to provide it, or ask the notary to inspect it while preparing the contract.
- Baulast register extract: from the lower building authority (untere Bauaufsichtsbehörde) of the district or city, for your parcel and the serving parcel. Fees are local; examples: Cologne €50 for an extract showing a Baulast (up to €150 if extensive) and €30 for a negative certificate, €15 online; Münster €50–200 depending on the number of entries, €30 negative; Wiesbaden €30 per parcel. Many authorities accept requests by email with a power of attorney from the owner.
- Pre-application (Bauvoranfrage) for a preliminary decision (Vorbescheid) that expressly asks whether access is sufficient, if the drive is long or narrow.
Step 1 you can do from home with the GrundCheck report: parcel boundaries, the adjoining road, development plan and a dated aerial photo, each with its source, for €29 (€39 in English and German). Order the report for the parcel → · See a sample report
What securing access costs
| Item | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Registering a Baulast | Berlin €180 per Baulast; Hamburg €62–1,000 | local fee schedule |
| Private easement (notary, land registry) | under the Court and Notary Fees Act, by value of the right | agree the value in the deed |
| Payment to the neighbour | negotiated | one-off or annual |
| Building the drive | construction cost | put maintenance rules in the easement |
When the answer is bad
Easement only, no Baulast, in a Baulast state. Make the seller obtain the Baulast before completion; the notary can make the purchase price due only once it is registered.
Bavaria, private easement without the state easement. That is the 2022 Munich case. Have the second easement created before you buy.
Newly divided plot, access not yet secured. Because of section 918(1), you cannot later rely on an emergency right over other neighbours. Buy only with both securities registered on the seller's remaining land.
Drive too narrow or too long for the fire brigade. Ask the authority whether widening, a passing place or a hard-standing area would do, and whether the neighbour must give up more land. Without a solution, a new house cannot be approved.
Utility lines in the strip without a utility easement. Have one registered; utility companies generally require it before laying connections over third-party land.
Checklist
Ask the seller, in writing, who has maintained the drive so far and whether there has ever been a dispute with the neighbour about it.
- Cadastral map: own strip to the road? How wide?
- Land register of the serving plot, section II: right to walk and drive for your parcel; in Bavaria also the easement for the state or district.
- Baulast register (except Bavaria): access Baulast for your parcel.
- What the easement covers: driving, parking, utility lines, maintenance.
- Water, sewage and power in the same strip, with a utility easement.
- Fire brigade and refuse access for long drives, with the building office.
- No contract on a newly divided backland plot without the securities registered by completion.
The GrundCheck report shows parcel boundaries, position relative to the public road, development plan and a dated aerial photo, each with its source: €29 in one language, €39 in English and German. Easements and Baulasten are not on maps; you get them from the land registry and the building authority. Select the plot on the map → · See a sample report
Sources
- Federal Court of Justice, V ZR 224/87 (3.2.1989), V ZR 218/91 (3.7.1992), anwalt24.de, V ZR 165/22 (30.6.2023), gesetze.co, accessed via search engine 2.11.2026.
- Model guideline on areas for the fire brigade (February 2007), as quoted in the Rheingau-Taunus district guidance, rheingau-taunus.de, and the Siegburg fire brigade guidance, siegburg.de, accessed via search engine 2.11.2026.
- Federal Court of Justice, judgment of 22.10.2021, V ZR 92/20, rewis.io; Schleswig Higher Administrative Court on secured access, rechtslupe.de; GÖRG legal update on easements and Baulast (12/2023), goerg.de (secondary), 2.11.2026.
- Art. 5 BayBO, rewis.io; Bavarian fire brigade areas guideline, bauministerium.bayern.de, 2.11.2026.
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Baulast fees: Cologne, stadt-koeln.de; Münster, stadt-muenster.de; Wiesbaden, wiesbaden.de; Berlin Treptow-Köpenick, berlin.de, 2.11.2026.
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Bremen building code section 4, haufe.de; NRW building code 2018 section 4, lexmea.de, accessed via search engine 1.11.2026.
- Bavarian Building Code art. 4, gesetze-bayern.de, 1.11.2026.
- Bavarian Higher Administrative Court, 26.4.2022, 6 ZB 21.3233, gesetze-bayern.de, 1.11.2026.
- Civil Code sections 917, 918, gesetze-im-internet.de, 1.11.2026.
- Federal Court of Justice, 14.3.2025, V ZR 79/24, reports at lto.de and beck-aktuell.de, 1.11.2026.
- Land Use Ordinance section 19, gesetze-im-internet.de, 1.11.2026.