🇩🇪 Listenhunde: the breed lists of the sixteen states
Germany has no national breed list. It has sixteen state laws, and a dog that is a Listenhund in Bavaria can be an ordinary dog two hours up the motorway in Lower Saxony. Five states have dropped their lists since 2016. Here is what is on the books now, and what being on a list actually costs.
The one federal rule
Only one dog law in Germany applies everywhere, and it is about the border rather than the pavement. The Hundeverbringungs- und -einfuhrbeschränkungsgesetz bans bringing four breeds and their crosses into the country: Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier and Bullterrier.
Those same four are the backbone of almost every state list, which is why they turn up again and again in the table below. Everything else — what you may own, under what conditions, and what you pay for it — is state law.
Where the lists stand
Eleven states still keep a breed list. Five have dropped theirs: Schleswig-Holstein in 2016, Thuringia in 2018, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2022, Brandenburg in 2024, and Lower Saxony, which has run without one since its 2011 law and did so after nineteen of twenty consulted experts advised against lists.
This table is a summary and it is not the law. Each state's own ordinance is the authority, it changes without much fanfare, and the date at the foot of this page tells you when we last read them.
| State | Breed list | Category 1 | Category 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | Yes | American Staffordshire Terrier, Bullterrier, Pit Bull Terrier | Alano Español, Bullmastiff, Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino, Dogue de Bordeaux, Fila Brasileiro, Mastiff, Mastín Español, Mastino Napoletano, Presa Canario, Rottweiler |
| Bayern | Yes | American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bullterrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Tosa Inu | Alano, American Bulldog, Bullmastiff, Cane Corso, Dogo Argentino, Dogo Canario, Mastiff, Mastín Español, Mastino Napoletano, Perro de Presa Mallorquín, Rottweiler |
| Berlin | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bullterrier | — |
| Brandenburg | Dropped 2024 | — | |
| Bremen | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | — |
| Hamburg | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | Bullmastiff, Dogo Argentino, Dogue de Bordeaux, Fila Brasileiro, Kangal, Kaukasischer Owtscharka, Mastiff, Mastín Español, Mastino Napoletano, Rottweiler, Tosa Inu |
| Hessen | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | Bullmastiff, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Mastiff, Mastín Español, Mastino Napoletano, Rottweiler, Tosa Inu |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Dropped 2022 | — | |
| Niedersachsen | Dropped 2011 | — | |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bullterrier | Alano, American Bulldog, Bullmastiff, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Mastiff, Mastín Español, Mastino Napoletano, Rottweiler, Tosa Inu — plus every dog over 40 cm or 20 kg |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | — |
| Saarland | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | — |
| Sachsen | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | — |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | Yes | Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier, Bullterrier | — |
| Schleswig-Holstein | Dropped 2016 | — | |
| Thüringen | Dropped 2018 | — | |
Category 1 and category 2 — the difference that matters
States that split their list into two are drawing a line between a presumption you cannot rebut and one you can. A category 1 dog is dangerous as a matter of law, and no test changes that. A category 2 dog is presumed dangerous, and the presumption can be lifted.
What lifts it is the Wesenstest — a temperament assessment by an appointed vet or expert, testing how the dog behaves under provocation, around strangers, other dogs and noise. Pass it and many states issue a Negativzeugnis, which takes the dog off the restricted footing: no muzzle requirement, often no permit, and in a lot of municipalities the punitive dog tax drops back to the normal rate. The test is worth doing early — it is cheaper than a year of the higher tax in most cities.
What being a Listenhund actually costs
Four things, roughly in this order. A permit from the local authority, which usually wants a clean criminal record, proof you can afford the dog's upkeep and a legitimate interest in keeping it. A Sachkundenachweis, the competence certificate. Liability insurance, compulsory for listed dogs in every state that has a list and compulsory for all dogs in seven states. And muzzle and lead in public, which is where the daily reality of it lands.
Then there is the tax, which is the part that surprises people most and is large enough to have its own page.
The rule that catches dogs no list names
North Rhine-Westphalia has a second regime running alongside its list, and it has nothing to do with breed. Under the Landeshundegesetz, a dog over 40 cm at the withers or over 20 kg is a Großer Hund and brings its own duties — a competence certificate, insurance, registration — whatever it is.
Since a Labrador clears both thresholds comfortably, this catches far more dogs in Germany's most populous state than the breed list ever does. If you are moving to NRW with a big, entirely unremarkable dog, this is the paragraph to read.
Lower Saxony asks something of everyone instead
Lower Saxony dropped breed lists and replaced them with a requirement that lands on every first-time owner: the Hundeführerschein. Since 1 July 2013, anyone acquiring a dog for the first time has to prove competence in theory and in practice, irrespective of breed, size or weight.
The theory exam comes before the dog does. The practical follows within the first year, once the dog is at least six months old, and is taken partly somewhere quiet and partly in town. It is the clearest example of the direction the whole country has been drifting: away from asking what the dog is, and toward asking what the person at the other end of the lead can do.
Questions
Is there a national list of dangerous dogs in Germany?
No. Dog law is state law, so there are sixteen sets of rules. The only federal rule is the HundVerbrEinfG, which bans importing the Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bullterrier and Bullterrier and their crosses.
Which states have no breed list?
Five: Schleswig-Holstein dropped its list in 2016, Thuringia in 2018, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2022 and Brandenburg in 2024. Lower Saxony has had none since its 2011 law.
What is a Wesenstest and what does passing it do?
It is a temperament assessment by an appointed vet or expert. For a category 2 dog, passing generally lifts the presumption of dangerousness and can earn a Negativzeugnis — which usually means no muzzle requirement and, in many municipalities, the normal rate of dog tax instead of the punitive one.
Can a category 1 dog be taken off the list by a test?
No. Category 1 is a presumption the law does not let you rebut. The test only helps a category 2 dog, which is exactly what the split between the two categories is for.
Does my dog become a Listenhund if I move to another state?
It can, in both directions. The list that counts is the one in the state you live in, so a move can add obligations you did not have — or remove them. Check the destination state's ordinance before the move, not after.
Is dog liability insurance compulsory in Germany?
For all dogs in seven states — Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. Elsewhere it is compulsory for listed or officially dangerous dogs, and in North Rhine-Westphalia also for any dog over 40 cm or 20 kg.
Last checked against the sources below on 12 August 2026.