The .de domain is the classic domain for websites of German origin. More than 16 million .de domains are already registered today, making it probably the most significant country-code domain in the world. As the top-level domain (TLD) for Germany, .de is highly relevant for many kinds of websites – whether company websites, (private) blogs or portals of all kinds.

.de domains have existed since early November 1986 and are managed today by DENIC eG, a non-profit service provider based in Frankfurt am Main. .de domains are in very high demand worldwide and are often traded at top prices. A prominent example is the domain kredit.de, which changed hands for around 900,000 euros.

For companies and private individuals based in Germany, a .de domain is almost indispensable when registering a domain for their own online business strategy.

At a glance: key facts about the .de domain

• .de domains are popular and in demand worldwide
• Almost 16 million .de domains are already registered
• They are managed by DENIC eG, based in Frankfurt am Main
• A .de domain can be at most 63 characters long and must contain at least one character

Special features and more about the .de domain

The .de domain has a few special features. One concerns umlauts such as ä, ö, ü and the German ß. While most browsers reliably convert ä, ö and ü, only a few browsers can do this for the ß. Instead, the ß may be converted into a double s – which may then open a completely different domain.

In principle, .de domains can be registered from anywhere in the world. However, if the domain owner is not based in Germany, an authorised representative based in Germany must be named. The registrar must be provided with proof of this, including the name and address of the authorised representative.

There is no fixed term for a .de domain and it can be deleted at any time. Changing the owner or the provider is also easy. In most cases the registration itself takes only a few minutes.