.DE is the country code TLD for Germany, and is regulated by the DENIC Registry.

Registration term: 1 year

DNS requirements: 2-6

Whois Privacy: Not available

Domain Locking: Not available

Grace Period: None

Redemption Period: 30 days

Authcode required for transfers: Yes

In order to register a .DE domain name, either the Registrant (Owner) or the Administrative Contact must be based in Germany with a verifiable German address.

In order to activate a .DE domain, you must provide at least two functional nameservers; however, you may provide up to five nameservers per domain. Additionally, the two required nameservers must be active on two different subnets and must be authoritative for the domain name at the time of registration. If the name is registered and the nameservers are not active, the Registrant has thirty (30) days in which to activate and park the name on them. If the nameservers are not activated at the end of the 30-day period, DENIC deletes the name without refund. The nameservers associated with the domain name can be modified during the 30-day period, subject to DENIC verification. If the nameservers do not meet DENIC criteria, the change request is ignored.

All .DE domains are set to auto-renew. To delete the name or allow it to expire, complete and submit the deletion form at least 5 days prior to the expiry date. 

Redemption Grace Period is 30 days after deletion. Within this period, the domain concerned can only be re-registered on behalf of the last domain holder or in the name of a third party defined by the domain holder. 

• OpenSRS provides 24/7 Reseller Support via telephone or email. Visit our Contact page for complete details.
• Accepted payment methods along with terms and conditions are available here.

Unlike .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, .NAME, .ME, .MOBI, and .US which have a sixty (60) day post-registration transfer-hold restriction for Registrar to Registrar transfers, .DE transfers in and out are not restricted to any type of hold period. This means that a transfer can be performed at any time after a domain is registered.

Authcodes are required for all .DE transfers and can be obtained from the current registrar for the domain. The Authcode expires after 30 days. If you try to use an Authcode after it has expired, you will see a message saying that the Authcode is undefined. You can generate a new one via the MWI or the Control Panel.

Please note: the transfer authorization email will be sent to the admin contact specified in the transfer order, rather than the admin contact for the domain.

For more information on transfers, see "Transferring domains and changing domain ownership"

Changing ownership of a .DE domain follows the process outlined in Transferring domains and changing domain ownership.