Anschreiben: the German cover letter, explained block by block
An Anschreiben is the one-page cover letter at the front of a German job application: both addresses, place and date, a subject line naming the job, a greeting, a few short paragraphs, and Mit freundlichen Grüßen.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
What to do first: mine the job ad for four details
Before you write a word, open the job ad and copy four things into a note. Each one decides a line of the letter, and getting them from the ad is faster than guessing.
- The exact job title and any reference number (Kennziffer). The Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) says both belong in the subject line.
- The contact person. The BA recommends addressing that person by surname; if the ad names nobody, it suggests finding out who handles applications, by phone if needed.
- Whether the ad asks for a salary expectation (Gehaltsvorstellung) or an earliest start date (Eintrittstermin). If it does, the letter answers it; if not, both stay out.
- Whether a letter is wanted at all. The BA notes that some companies now skip the Anschreiben in online applications, so check the form before you write one.
Then pick two or three requirements you can back with something you did; they become the middle paragraph.
The DIN 5008 layout in practice
DIN 5008 is the German standard for writing and layout rules in text processing, and German business letters follow it. The standard itself is sold by DIN; we did not read it. The figures below come from a Deutsche Post teaching booklet on business letters (2021), which describes the common Form B layout.
- Margins: 2.5 cm on the left, at least 1.0 cm on the right.
- Type size: 10 to 12 point for the letter text.
- Address field: 8.5 cm wide and 4 cm high, 5.08 cm from the top edge and 2.0 cm from the left, with three lines for postal notes and six for the recipient, and no blank lines inside it.
- Subject line: two lines below the reference line or information block; it may be set in bold.
- Spacing: single line spacing, one blank line between paragraphs, two blank lines between subject and greeting.
How much of this matters in a PDF
The measurements exist so the address shows through a DIN lang window envelope. In an emailed PDF nobody measures margins; a reader notices whether the blocks come in the expected order. The BA offers free classic and modern Word templates that do the layout for you.
Where the date goes
The BA says place and date go at the top right, aligned right, in the format TT.MM.JJJJ (day.month.year), and that the date must be current. An old date left over from a previous application is one of the errors the BA lists.
Betreff, Anrede and Grußformel
Betreff: the subject line
The subject names the position with the title used in the ad, plus the reference number if there is one (BA). The BA Offenburg application guide gives the pattern 'Bewerbung als Kauffrau im Einzelhandel' followed by where and when the ad appeared. In the Deutsche Post sample letter the subject stands alone, without the word 'Betreff' in front of it.
Anrede: the greeting
Write to a named person where you can: 'Sehr geehrte Frau Meyer,' or 'Sehr geehrter Herr Meyer,'. The BA calls 'Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,' usual but impersonal, and acceptable when no contact can be found. The Deutsche Post booklet adds that Herr and Frau are not abbreviated, that Dr. and Professor stay in the greeting while other titles drop out, and that 'Guten Tag, Herr Schmidt' is a modern alternative. After the comma, the first paragraph starts with a lower-case letter, as in the booklet's sample.
Grußformel: the sign-off
'Mit freundlichen Grüßen' is the standard close named by the BA, EURES and Deutsche Post; the booklet's sample has no comma after it. The BA Offenburg guide suggests 'Freundliche Grüße' as the more modern form. Your name goes underneath, with a handwritten signature on paper, or a scanned signature in an emailed PDF; an online form with text fields needs no signature, the BA says.
Paragraphs, length and tone
The BA's own guide gives line counts for each part rather than a word count for the whole. EURES and the BA Offenburg guide both cap the letter at one A4 page.
- Opening, three to five lines: your motivation and why this company. The BA advises against starting with the stock phrase "Hiermit bewerbe ich mich".
- Main part, about eight lines: what you bring, proved by things you did rather than adjectives. Match it to the requirements you noted from the ad.
- Link between you and the job, about two lines: why you in particular fit this employer.
- Practical lines, only if the ad asked: salary expectation and start date.
- Close, one short sentence: you are ready for an interview, online too, and you ask for a reply.
Tone
The BA calls for a factual, restrained style except in creative jobs, positive wording, and verbs instead of piled-up adjectives. The BA Offenburg guide adds: avoid the subjunctive (möchte, könnte, würde), slang such as 'super' or 'toll', and wrong job titles. EURES advises applicants from abroad to say why they want to work in Germany.
Letters drafted with AI
The BA lists using AI without adapting the result as a typical mistake: the tool does not know you, so either write the text yourself or rework the suggestion thoroughly.
Salary and start-date lines
The BA Offenburg guide is clear: mention salary only if the ad explicitly asks; otherwise it is left for the interview. If it does ask, give one figure and say what it means, for example a gross annual amount. The BA's Entgeltatlas shows what people earn in each occupation, from its statistics on full-time employees, and is a sober place to check a figure before you write it.
The start date goes in when the employer wants it. The BA Offenburg guide shows the form: you can give notice at the end of July, so you are available from 1 August. If you are applying from abroad and need a visa, link the date to the visa rather than promising a fixed day you may not control. The visa itself has its own page.
Annotated skeleton letter
The skeleton below follows the order above. The sample lines are written for an invented applicant, Elif Yılmaz, a mechanical design engineer in İzmir applying to an invented company; names, numbers and dates show the form and are not facts to copy.
| Block | What goes in it | Sample line (English gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Sender | Name, postal address, mobile number, a plain email address (BA) | Elif Yılmaz, Atatürk Cad. 12, 35220 İzmir, Türkei, elif.yilmaz@example.com |
| Recipient | Company, contact person, street, postcode and city; Frau and Herrn written out | Muster Maschinenbau GmbH, Frau Anna Schneider, Industriestraße 5, 70565 Stuttgart |
| Place and date | Right-aligned, TT.MM.JJJJ, current date (BA) | İzmir, 13.10.2026 |
| Betreff | Job title from the ad and the Kennziffer, optionally bold | Bewerbung als Konstrukteurin Sondermaschinenbau, Kennziffer 2026-114 (Application as design engineer, special machinery, ref. 2026-114) |
| Anrede | Named greeting, then a comma | Sehr geehrte Frau Schneider, |
| Opening, 3 to 5 lines | Motivation and why this company, no stock opener | seit sechs Jahren konstruiere ich Montagevorrichtungen für Automobilzulieferer, und Ihre Anlagen für die Batteriemontage sind genau das Feld, in dem ich weiterarbeiten will. (For six years I have designed assembly fixtures for car suppliers; your battery assembly lines are exactly where I want to work next.) |
| Main part, about 8 lines | Two or three proofs that match the ad | Zuletzt habe ich 14 Vorrichtungen in SolidWorks konstruiert und die Risikobeurteilung nach DIN EN ISO 12100 erstellt. (Most recently I designed 14 fixtures in SolidWorks and wrote the risk assessment to DIN EN ISO 12100.) |
| Link, about 2 lines | Why you fit this employer | Ihr Schwerpunkt auf kurzen Umrüstzeiten deckt sich mit dem, woran ich in meinen letzten zwei Projekten gearbeitet habe. (Your focus on short changeover times matches what I worked on in my last two projects.) |
| Salary, only if asked | One figure and its basis | Meine Gehaltsvorstellung liegt bei 60.000 Euro brutto im Jahr. (My salary expectation is 60,000 euros gross a year.) |
| Start date, only if asked | Earliest date and what it depends on | Nach Erteilung des Visums kann ich die Stelle frühestens zum 01.03.2027 antreten. (Once the visa is issued I can start on 1 March 2027 at the earliest.) |
| Close | Ready to talk, online too; one sentence | Über ein Gespräch, gern auch per Video, freue ich mich. (I look forward to a conversation, by video if you prefer.) |
| Grußformel | Standard close, no comma | Mit freundlichen Grüßen |
| Signature | Handwritten on paper, scanned in a PDF, none in an online form (BA) | Elif Yılmaz |
| Enclosures | The word 'Anlagen'; a list is optional | Anlagen |
Two sources that disagree
On enclosures the sources differ. The Deutsche Post booklet says the enclosures can be listed one below the other; the BA Offenburg guide calls a list superfluous and says the word 'Anlage' or 'Anlagen' is enough. Neither is a rule. If you send many documents, an enclosure list (Anlagenverzeichnis) inside the application file does the listing instead.
Sources and the date we read them
Every rule on this page comes from one of these pages, all read on 12 October 2026. Links are under Sources.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Contact block, date format TT.MM.JJJJ at the right, Betreff with title and Kennziffer, line counts per part, no "Hiermit bewerbe ich mich", signature rules, AI warning | BA meinBERUF, Das perfekte Anschreiben erstellen |
| Salary only if asked, start date if wanted, one page, Freundliche Grüße, no subjunctive | BA Offenburg, Bewerbungskompass (October 2024) |
| One side of A4, why Germany, Mit freundlichen Grüßen | EURES, Living and working conditions: Germany (updated 3 July 2026) |
| Form B measurements, greeting forms, subject without the word Betreff, enclosure list | Deutsche Post, Themenheft Geschäftsbriefe (2021) |
| Earnings by occupation | BA Entgeltatlas |
When this skeleton does not fit
- University applications. A master's programme usually asks for a Motivationsschreiben, which argues for a course of study, not a job; it has its own page on the tabular CV for a master's in Germany.
- The Chancenkarte. The letter for the opportunity card follows the points you claim, and that page covers it.
- Creative jobs. The BA itself exempts creative professions from its advice to keep the tone restrained.
- Online forms with free-text fields. Paste the paragraphs, drop the address blocks, and skip the signature.
- Speculative applications to small firms. The BA Offenburg guide suggests phoning first to ask how detailed the application may be; often a letter and CV are enough.
Writing the Anschreiben in English
If the ad is in English and the team works in English, an English letter with the same blocks is normal: subject line, named greeting, short paragraphs, one page. How to decide between English and German for the whole application is covered on its own page.
Next steps and other ways to write it
| Option | What it gives you | Fits you if |
|---|---|---|
| BA Word templates | Free classic and modern Anschreiben templates on the BA application pages | You want the layout done and will write every line yourself |
| BA advice and BIZ events | Appointments and application workshops at the Agentur für Arbeit and its career information centres | You live in Germany and want someone to read your draft |
| CitedCV | A German letter with the fixed frame and body paragraphs written from facts you confirmed | You already keep your CV facts in CitedCV |
What CitedCV does and does not do here
For a German letter, CitedCV writes the frame from code, not from a model: the date line in TT.MM.JJJJ, with your city in front if you gave one, 'Bewerbung als' plus the job title as subject, a named or neutral greeting, and 'Mit freundlichen Grüßen'. Between them it writes up to four body paragraphs, each only from facts you gave it and citing them. Cover letters come with any credit pack and cost 4 credits. The fixed opening is one plain sentence naming the job ('ich bewerbe mich um die Stelle als ...'), without the 'Hiermit' formula the BA advises against; your motivation comes in the first paragraph. One limit: the recipient block prints the company name, not a full postal address, so add the address yourself for a letter sent by post.
The documents that go behind the letter, and their order, are on the page about German application documents.
Questions people ask
What does Anschreiben mean?
Anschreiben is the German word for the cover letter in a job application. It is a one-page business letter that sits in front of the Lebenslauf and the certificates.
How long should an Anschreiben be?
One A4 page at most, according to EURES and the BA Offenburg guide. The BA suggests three to five lines for the opening, about eight for the main part and about two linking you to the job.
Can I write an Anschreiben in English?
Yes, when the job ad is in English or the company works in English. Keep the German structure: subject line, named greeting, short paragraphs and a single page.
How do I start an Anschreiben without "Hiermit bewerbe ich mich"?
Start with your motivation and why this company, in three to five lines. The BA advises against the stock opener, and the sample above opens with what the applicant has been doing.
Should I put my salary expectation in the Anschreiben?
Only if the job ad asks for it, the BA Offenburg guide says. Then give one figure and say it is a gross annual amount; otherwise leave salary for the interview.
What is the cover letter format in Germany?
A business letter following DIN 5008: sender, recipient address, place and date at the right, subject line, greeting, paragraphs separated by a blank line, sign-off, signature and enclosures.
Do I sign an Anschreiben sent by email?
Yes, with a scanned signature in the PDF, or by printing, signing and scanning the page, the BA says. In an online form with text fields no signature is needed.
Is an Anschreiben the same as a Motivationsschreiben?
No. The Anschreiben answers a job ad; a Motivationsschreiben usually argues for a place on a study programme or adds a separate page of background to an application.
Sources
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit (meinBERUF), Das perfekte Anschreiben erstellenwww.arbeitsagentur.de/bildung/bewerbung/anschreiben
- Agentur für Arbeit Offenburg, Bewerbungskompass: Arbeitsstellensuche (October 2024)www.arbeitsagentur.de/vor-ort/datei/bewerbungskompass-arbeitsstelle_ba272278.pdf
- EURES, Living and working conditions: Germanyeures.europa.eu/living-and-working/living-and-working-conditions/living-and-working-conditions-germany_en
- Deutsche Post, Post und Schule: Themenheft Geschäftsbriefewww.deutschepost.de/dam/jcr:df2156f4-6bef-4ab8-b8a1-6354b8057b4a/dp-post-und-schule-themenheft-geschaeftsbriefe-022021.pdf
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Entgeltatlasweb.arbeitsagentur.de/entgeltatlas/