Survey and boundaries
Find a parcel number in Germany (Flurstück) by address
How to find the Gemarkung, Flur and Flurstück for a German house or plot: seller's documents, free state map viewers such as TIM-online, cadastral office.
On this page
German property listings often give an area and a village but no parcel number. Without it you cannot look the property up anywhere official: not in the land register, not on the cadastral map, not in the development plan and not in the land value maps. Whether you are buying a building plot or a house with a garden, the parcel reference is the key to every other check. This guide shows where to get it, including from abroad.
What the reference means
German land is identified in the cadastre (Liegenschaftskataster) by three items:
| Item | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Gemarkung | Cadastral district, often a village or old parish | Nordfeld |
| Flur | Section of the district | Flur 3 |
| Flurstück | Parcel number, often written as a fraction | 110/2 |
Source: Figures from this guide, documented under “Sources”
A parcel number is used only once within a Gemarkung, so the three items together identify the land without ambiguity, as the North Rhine-Westphalia map service explains. Fractions usually come from splits: parcel 110 becomes 110/1 and 110/2.
A house may sit on several parcels: the house plot, a garden strip bought later, a share in a private access road. Ask for every one.
Route 1: the seller's documents
- The seller's purchase contract. Bremen's guidance on the 2022 property tax declaration says owners could take the parcel data from their purchase contract.
- The land register extract. The property list (Bestandsverzeichnis) gives district, section, parcel, use and area. Our guide to reading a land register extract walks through it.
- Property tax papers. Owners had to list their parcels for the property tax reform, so the seller has them written down.
Ask the agent in writing for the Gemarkung, Flur and every Flurstück. A seller who will not give them is a reason to slow down.
Route 2: a free state map viewer
Most German states publish the cadastral map in a free online viewer where you search by address and click the parcel. Several were built or extended in 2022 for the property tax declaration.
| State | Viewer | How to search |
|---|---|---|
| North Rhine-Westphalia | TIM-online, layer "Liegenschaftskataster (ALKIS)" | by "Gemeinde Straße Hausnummer" or by parcel; data free under open-data rules |
| Hamburg | Geoportal Hamburg, property tax info | by address or by district, section, parcel |
| Hesse | State geoportal viewer | by address or parcel (numerator/denominator); free parcel record including the land register sheet number |
| Saxony | Tax administration viewer | "search by address" or "search by parcel number" |
| Saarland | Property tax viewer in the geoportal | parcel search through the central search |
Source: Figures from this guide, documented under “Sources”
Other states have their own geoportals; see our comparison of German geoportals.
Steps:
- Open the viewer and switch on the cadastral layer (Liegenschaftskataster or ALKIS).
- Type the address and zoom in.
- Click the plot: district, section and parcel appear.
- Check whether the garden, garage or driveway is a separate parcel; boundaries are drawn on the map.
An empty plot often has no street number. Search for the neighbour's address or the street and count along on the map.
Route 3: the cadastral office
The surveying or cadastral office of the county or city (Vermessungsamt, Katasteramt) issues official extracts. According to the offices, extracts without owner data, such as the cadastral map or parcel record, are available to anyone; extracts with owner data require a legitimate interest. Fees are set by each state; Berlin sends a fee notice with the document. Some cities sell the official map online as a PDF; Cologne, for example, lets you search by cadastral reference or address.
Three surprises the cadastral map reveals
Click the parcel in the viewer, compare it with the listing, and you will often find one of these:
1. The garden is a separate parcel. The listing says 820 m²; the house parcel in the cadastre has 640 m². The other 180 m² sit on a second parcel that the seller may have bought later, or may only rent. If that parcel is not in the property list of the seller's land register sheet, the seller does not own it. Ask for the land register extract for every parcel you think you are buying.
2. The driveway is shared. A narrow parcel between the road and the plot, often labelled as a traffic area, is typically a private road held in shares by several neighbours. Your share must be included in the purchase contract, or you have no legal access.
3. The fence is not where the map puts the boundary. The map in the viewer is a depiction, not a survey. Where the difference is visible, a licensed surveyor or the cadastral office can show or determine the boundary on site. Costs and procedures vary by state; ask for a quote before you buy.
For a house purchase these points matter as much as for a building plot: the garage, garden shed or driveway is often exactly on the parcel that is missing from the contract.
What you do with the number
With the parcel reference you can check the land register, look up the development plan, read the official land value (Bodenrichtwert), ask the building authority for registered building encumbrances (Bavaria keeps no such register) and compare the cadastral area with the listing.
You also use it to pick the property on the map in a GrundCheck report, which brings together the development plan, protected areas, flood maps, contamination suspicion and other layers, each with source and date. Select the parcel on the map and order the report, from €29 → · See a sample report
From abroad
All the viewers above work from outside Germany and need no account. They are in German; the search fields are labelled Adresse (address), Gemarkung, Flur and Flurstück. For an official extract, ask the cadastral office how it handles orders and payment from abroad.
Check the planning and risk maps for your parcel in a GrundCheck report, from €29 → · See a sample report
Sources
- North Rhine-Westphalia / City of Cologne, TIM-online and online cadastral map (address or parcel search, open data, uniqueness of parcel numbers), stadt-koeln.de (1), stadt-koeln.de (2), accessed via search engine 2.11.2026.
- Hamburg, cadastral guide (property tax info), dokumente.hamburg.de; Hesse tax administration, parcel search guide, finanzamt.hessen.de; Saxony tax administration, user notes, finanzamt.sachsen.de; Saarland property tax viewer, geoportaltest.saarland.de, accessed via search engine 2.11.2026.
- Bremen, property tax declaration guidance (data from the purchase contract), amtsgericht-blumenthal.bremen.de; Berlin, cadastral extracts, service.berlin.de, 2.11.2026.