Essen registration office: two addresses, one code
In Essen the registration office and the licensing office are in different places. Anyone handling both should know before setting off.
The city of Essen registers vehicles at Altendorfer Straße 101, postcode 45143, west of the city centre. The licensing office, by contrast, belongs to the residents’ office and is listed in the Federal Motor Transport Authority’s directory at a different address, Kaiser-Otto-Platz 1 - 5 in 45276 Essen. Anyone who wants to re-register a car and exchange a licence on the same day therefore needs two appointments in two places. Essen shares the code E with no other district, and no phased-out codes are listed for the city. On 1 January 2026 Essen had 300,335 cars and 23,554 motorcycles; there were 523 cars per 1,000 residents. Fully electric cars made up 4.2 %, rank 137 of 398 districts, and diesel cars 20.1 %. Fees are those of the federal ordinance: €23.60 to re-register in person keeping the old plate.
Register a new car · Stadt Essen
€30.00
GebOSt fee; with seals and the KBA share €31.90 to €37.30
| District plate codes | E |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Online would cost less by | €16.90 |
| City’s own amount | not published by the city |
Registration office: Stadt Essen
- Main office Essen
Altendorfer Str. 101, 45143 Essen
Tel. 0201-88-33999
kfz@einwohneramt.essen.de
Driving licence office
- Stadt Essen
Kaiser-Otto-Platz 1 - 5, 45276 Essen
Tel. 0201/88-33797
300,335 cars registered (1 January 2026), 4.2 % fully electric; 523 cars per 1,000 residents.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Registration office addresses
Altendorfer Straße runs west out of the city centre. Phone number and address are in the table; the city books appointments online.
| Type | Location | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main office | Essen | Altendorfer Str. 101, 45143 Essen | 0201-88-33999 |
Licensing office and vehicles
| Licensing office | Address |
|---|---|
| Stadt Essen · Der Oberbürgermeister · Einwohneramt | Kaiser-Otto-Platz 1 - 5, 45276 Essen |
| Vehicles | Essen | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Cars | 300,335 | 49,486,487 |
| Cars per 1,000 residents | 523 | 592 |
| Share of fully electric cars | 4.2 % | 4.1 % |
| Share of plug-in hybrids | 2.9 % | 2.3 % |
| Share of diesel cars | 20.1 % | 27.0 % |
| Motorcycles | 23,554 | 5,071,468 |
For Gelsenkirchen, Bottrop or Mülheim the search above names the right office. If you only ride a motorcycle in summer, the rules are under seasonal plates; the licence exchange is covered by the exchange calculator.