Are electronic signatures legal in Germany? Schriftform, Textform and QES

German law has a reputation for loving paper. Ask a German HR department whether a termination can be signed with DocuSign and you will hear a firm "nein". Yet millions of German contracts are signed electronically every day, and a 2024 reform removed paper from several everyday workflows.

The key to understanding it is that German law does not really ask "electronic or paper?". It asks which form (Form) a document needs. Once you know the form, the right signature follows.

The short answer

• Most contracts in Germany have no form requirement (Formfreiheit). A simple electronic signature, a click or an email is legally valid for them.
• Where the law requires Schriftform (written form, section 126 BGB), the only electronic substitute is the elektronische Form (section 126a BGB): your name plus a qualified electronic signature (QES).
• For some documents the law excludes the electronic form altogether, so wet ink is the only option. Most importantly dismissals and termination agreements in employment (section 623 BGB) and guarantees given by private individuals (section 766 BGB).
• Textform (section 126b BGB) is the easy form: any readable, storable declaration naming the person, such as an email or a PDF. The Viertes Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz (BEG IV), in force since 1 January 2025, moved several requirements from Schriftform to Textform.
• Notarial documents: property purchases, GmbH share transfers, and wills you do not write by hand. Cannot be replaced by any e-signature.

The law: the four forms in the BGB

Schriftform (section 126 BGB)

Where a statute requires written form, the document must be signed by hand (eigenhändig) by the issuer with their name, or with a notarially certified hand mark. For contracts, both parties must sign the same document, or each signs an identical copy for the other. Section 126 also says written form can be replaced by electronic form unless the law says otherwise.

Elektronische Form (section 126a BGB)

To use electronic form, the issuer adds their name to the electronic document and signs it with a qualified electronic signature. For contracts, each party signs an identical document in this way. No other type of e-signature (not an advanced one, not a platform's standard signature) satisfies a statutory Schriftform requirement.

Textform (section 126b BGB)

Textform needs only a readable declaration on a durable medium that names the person making it. An email, a text message, a fax or a PDF with a typed name all qualify. No signature is needed at all.

Agreed form (section 127 BGB)

Parties can agree their own form in a contract (for example, "changes must be in writing"). Where they agree written form, a telecommunicated transmission such as an email is generally enough, unless they meant otherwise. Where they agree electronic form, a signature other than a QES is generally enough.

Evidence and supervision

Beyond form, there is proof. Under section 371a of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), a private electronic document with a QES enjoys the evidential presumption of a genuine signed document; the other side must raise serious doubts to rebut it. Any other e-signature is weighed freely by the court, so an audit trail matters.

The EU's eIDAS Regulation applies directly in Germany; the Vertrauensdienstegesetz (VDG) of 2017 adds national rules. The Bundesnetzagentur supervises qualified trust service providers and keeps Germany's trusted list.

Documents you cannot sign electronically (or need a QES)

A few notes on this table:

• The ban on electronic form also covers some promises of debt and acknowledgements of debt made by private individuals. A guarantee given by a merchant as part of their business is exempt from the written-form rule under the Commercial Code.
• For consumer credit, a former ban on electronic form was removed when the EU Consumer Credit Directive was implemented, which is why online banks let you sign loan contracts with a QES after a video or eID check.

Employment: what BEG IV changed

The Viertes Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz, in force since 1 January 2025, made several HR processes paperless, but not all of them.

• Nachweisgesetz. The 2022 reform of this law had expressly excluded electronic form for the record of employment terms. Employers may now give the written record of essential employment terms in Textform, for example by email, as long as the employee can access, store and print it and the employer asks for an acknowledgement of receipt. The employee can still ask for a paper version, and employers in sectors covered by the anti-undeclared-work rules (such as construction and hospitality) must still use written form.
• Retirement-age clauses. A clause ending employment when the employee reaches the statutory retirement age now needs only Textform, under a new provision in the pension law (SGB VI).
• Other fixed-term clauses did not change. A fixed term, with or without an objective reason, still needs Schriftform under section 14(4) of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act. Sign it by hand or with a QES, before work starts; otherwise the contract counts as permanent.
• Dismissals and termination agreements did not change. Section 623 BGB still requires Schriftform and excludes electronic form. A dismissal by email, PDF or even QES is invalid.
• Employment references (Arbeitszeugnis) can now be issued in electronic form (which means with a QES) if the employee agrees.
• Parental-leave requests and agency-work contracts between agencies and clients moved to Textform.

So "Arbeitsvertrag elektronisch unterschreiben" is fine for an open-ended contract; for a fixed-term one, use a QES or paper.

Leases (Mietvertrag)

Residential leases have no strict form, but a lease for more than one year is subject to the written-form rule in section 550 BGB. If it is missed, the lease is not void; it is treated as concluded for an indefinite period, so it can be terminated early under the statutory rules.

For commercial leases, BEG IV replaced written form with Textform from 1 January 2025. Leases concluded before then were given a transition period to the end of 2025; since 1 January 2026, Textform is enough for them too. This removes the old risk that a missing signature page let a party escape a long-term commercial lease.

Notices of termination for residential leases still need written form.

Company documents

• GmbH formation can be done online with a notary by video since August 2022, and more resolutions were added in 2023. But the transfer of GmbH shares still needs a notarial deed, and contributions in kind that themselves need a deed (land, GmbH shares) cannot use the online procedure.
• Board and shareholder resolutions outside these rules can generally be signed electronically, depending on the articles.

How to get a qualified electronic signature in Germany

You need a qualified certificate from a qualified trust service provider on the Bundesnetzagentur's list. Common routes:

• Remote signing (Fernsignatur): providers such as D-Trust's sign-me (Bundesdruckerei group) identify you once, often with the Online-Ausweis (eID function of the ID card) or by video, and keep your key on a certified server. You approve each signature on your phone.
• QES through an e-signing platform: many platforms offer QES via a partner provider for an extra fee.
• Signature card and reader: a traditional option, used for example by lawyers and tax advisers.

Note that the Online-Ausweis is identification, not a signature. It proves who you are to a website or to a QES provider; it does not sign a PDF by itself.

Which KovaPDF tool to use

• [Request Signatures](/request-signatures): for everything with no form requirement: open-ended employment contracts, freelance contracts, NDAs, supplier agreements, commercial leases in Textform. Signers get private links and sign in the browser; you receive the signed PDF with a certificate of completion and a trusted timestamp. These are simple electronic signatures with evidence. not a QES, so they do not satisfy Schriftform.
• [Sign PDF](/sign-pdf): for forms you sign yourself.
• [Digital Signature](/digital-signature-pdf): sign with your own .pfx or .p12 certificate, with a timestamp and long-term validation. German QES keys live on a signature card or with a remote provider and cannot be exported, so they cannot be used on KovaPDF or any other website. For Schriftform, use your QES provider's own app.
• [Verify PDF Signature](/verify-pdf-signature): check a signed PDF: whether it was altered, who signed and whether the certificate is trusted.

No online tool replaces the notary, a handwritten will or a wet-ink dismissal letter.