TechnicalGIS

Germany GIS data sources

Region
Western Europe
ISO 3166
DE · DEU
Sources
21
Themes
14
Last verified

Where to download GIS data for Germany: 21 sources across 14 themes, led by BKG and Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe. 9 offer vector downloads such as Shapefile, GeoPackage or GeoJSON, 6 cover elevation including LiDAR. 10 are under an open licence. Every link was last checked on 18 Oct 2026.

Country atlases

National and OpenStreetMap sources for Germany

Boundaries & admin 3

Administrative boundary data for every country

  • BKG Open Data (Geodatenzentrum) (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie

    VG250 admin boundaries, DGM200 elevation, CLC5 land cover, DLM250.

    • Boundaries & admin
    • Elevation / DEM
    • Land cover
    • Transport
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland 2.0
    Formats
    Shapefile, GeoPackage, GeoTIFF
    Link
    gdz.bkg.bund.de

    Verified

  • Verwaltungsgebiete 1:250 000 (VG250) (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    BKG · Germany

    Administrative boundaries of Germany from federal state to municipality.

    • Boundaries & admin
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
    Formats
    Shapefile, GeoPackage
    Link
    gdz.bkg.bund.de

    Verified

  • geoBoundaries administrative boundaries (opens in a new tab)

    API Cost: Free

    William & Mary geoLab

    JSON API listing every available admin level with direct download links.

    • Boundaries & admin
    Licence
    Varies (open; see metadata)
    Formats
    GeoJSON, Shapefile, TopoJSON
    Link
    geoboundaries.org

    Verified

Elevation / DEM 5

Free DEM, LiDAR and elevation data for every country

  • Digital terrain model 200 m (DGM200) (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    BKG · Germany

    Nationwide 200 m elevation grid.

    • Elevation / DEM
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
    Formats
    GeoTIFF, ASCII Grid
    Link
    gdz.bkg.bund.de

    Verified

  • OpenGeodata.NRW (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Geobasis NRW · North Rhine-Westphalia

    Open ALKIS cadastre, DOP orthophotos, DGM1 terrain, LiDAR and 3D buildings for North Rhine-Westphalia.

    • Elevation / DEM
    • Imagery
    • Addresses & cadastre
    • Buildings
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland – Zero 2.0
    Formats
    GeoTIFF, LAZ, CityGML, Shapefile
    Link
    opengeodata.nrw.de

    Verified

  • OpenData Bayern geodata (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Landesamt für Digitalisierung, Breitband und Vermessung · Bavaria

    DGM1, 3D buildings, orthophotos and LiDAR point clouds for Bavaria.

    • Elevation / DEM
    • Imagery
    • Buildings
    Licence
    CC BY 4.0
    Formats
    GeoTIFF, LAZ, CityGML
    Link
    geodaten.bayern.de

    Verified

  • OpenGeoData Baden-Württemberg (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    LGL Baden-Württemberg · Baden-Württemberg

    Open terrain models, orthophotos and cadastre data for Baden-Württemberg.

    • Elevation / DEM
    • Imagery
    • Addresses & cadastre
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    GeoTIFF, Shapefile
    Link
    opengeodata.lgl-bw.de

    Verified

  • OpenGeoData Niedersachsen (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    LGLN · Lower Saxony

    DGM1, orthophotos, ALKIS and 3D buildings for Lower Saxony.

    • Elevation / DEM
    • Imagery
    • Addresses & cadastre
    • Buildings
    Licence
    CC BY 4.0
    Formats
    GeoTIFF, LAZ, CityGML
    Link
    opengeodata.lgln.niedersachsen.de

    Verified

Land cover 1

Land cover datasets for every country

  • CORINE Land Cover 5 ha (CLC5-2018) (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    BKG · Germany

    German high-resolution CORINE land cover with a 5 ha minimum mapping unit.

    • Land cover
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
    Formats
    Shapefile, GeoPackage
    Link
    gdz.bkg.bund.de

    Verified

Population 1

Gridded population data for every country

  • Zensus 2022 database (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder · Germany

    Census 2022 results by municipality, plus downloadable grid-cell (100 m/1 km) tables.

    • Population
    • Census & statistics
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
    Formats
    CSV
    Link
    ergebnisse.zensus2022.de

    Verified

Census & statistics 2

Census and statistics data for every country

  • Zensus 2022 (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder

    Census grid data (100 m, 1 km, 10 km).

    • Census & statistics
    Licence
    Datenlizenz Deutschland 2.0
    Formats
    CSV
    Link
    destatis.de

    Verified

  • Regionalatlas Deutschland (opens in a new tab)

    Web viewer Cost: Free

    Federal Statistical Office

    Interactive map of regional statistics from the federal and state statistical offices down to district and municipality level.

    • Census & statistics
    • Population
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Link
    regionalatlas.statistikportal.de

    Verified

Transport 1

Road, rail and transport data for every country

Geology 2

Geology data for every country

  • BGR GeoViewer (opens in a new tab)

    Web viewer Cost: Free

    Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe

    • Geology
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    WMS
    Link
    geoviewer.bgr.de

    Verified

  • BGR Geoportal (opens in a new tab)

    Portal Cost: Free

    Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe · Germany

    Catalogue of BGR geology, soil and hydrogeology maps (e.g. GÜK250, BÜK200, HÜK250).

    • Geology
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    WMS, Shapefile
    Link
    geoportal.bgr.de

    Verified

Marine & coastal 1

Marine, coastal and bathymetry data for every country

  • BSH GeoSeaPortal (opens in a new tab)

    Portal Cost: Free

    Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie · Germany waters

    Bathymetry, maritime spatial planning and marine environment data for the German North Sea and Baltic.

    • Marine & coastal
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    WMS, WFS
    Link
    gdi.bsh.de

    Verified

Environment 3

Environmental and protected area data for every country

  • DWD Open Data (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Deutscher Wetterdienst

    Climate and weather grids and station data.

    • Environment
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    NetCDF, GRIB, CSV
    Link
    opendata.dwd.de

    Verified

  • BfN protected areas (opens in a new tab)

    Download Cost: Free

    Bundesamt für Naturschutz · Germany

    Natura 2000 sites, national parks, biosphere reserves and other protected areas.

    • Environment
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    WMS, WFS, Shapefile
    Link
    geodienste.bfn.de

    Verified

  • Umweltbundesamt data (opens in a new tab)

    Portal Cost: Free

    Umweltbundesamt · Germany

    Air quality, emissions, water and land-use indicators for Germany.

    • Environment
    Licence
    See publisher terms
    Formats
    CSV
    Link
    umweltbundesamt.de

    Verified

Open data portal 2

Open geospatial data portals for every country

  • Geoportal.de (opens in a new tab)

    Web viewer Cost: Free

    GDI-DE

    • Open data portal
    Licence
    Varies by dataset
    Formats
    WMS, WFS
    Link
    geoportal.de

    Verified

  • GovData (opens in a new tab)

    Portal Cost: Free

    Federal Government of Germany

    • Open data portal
    Licence
    Varies by dataset
    Link
    govdata.de

    Verified

Global datasets that cover Germany

Worldwide and continental layers that include Germany, useful where national data is missing, restricted or inconsistent across borders.

Boundaries & admin
Elevation / DEM
Imagery
Land cover
Buildings
Population
Census & statistics
Addresses & cadastre
Transport
Hydrology
Geology
Marine & coastal
Environment
Open data portal

Browse all 127 global datasets

Tutorials that use this kind of data

Neighbouring countries