The Gaststättenerlaubnis — colloquially "Konzession" — is the official licence to run a hospitality business serving alcohol in Germany. If you only serve food and non-alcoholic drinks, you generally need no licence, just the trade registration (Gewerbeanmeldung). Hospitality licensing is state law: North Rhine-Westphalia and most states retain the licence requirement for serving alcohol, while some states have replaced it with notification duties — your location is decisive.
| Business | Required |
|---|---|
| Café/snack bar without alcohol | Trade registration + food-law duties (health instruction, HACCP) — no licence. |
| Restaurant/bar serving alcohol | Restaurant licence (tied to person, premises and business) before opening. |
| Club or street festival | Temporary permit for special occasions — much simpler, from the municipality. |
| Hotel with restaurant | Accommodation itself is licence-free; serving alcohol in restaurant/bar requires the licence. |
Tick what you already have — the progress shows how application-ready you are.
Typical requirements; municipalities may add items. Realistic processing time 2–8 weeks — start early.
Depending on municipality and business size, usually between €100 and over €1,000 in administrative fees, plus roughly €100–200 for certificates and instructions.
With complete documents realistically 2–8 weeks. The time sink is almost always building law — clarify in parallel and don't plan the opening on a knife edge (see pre-opening).
No — required are the IHK instruction (half a day) and personal reliability, not formal training.
No — it is tied to person and premises. New operator or new site means a new application; takeovers are bridged by the provisional licence.