Picking Up a Package in Germany — Paket and Nachbarn
After this lesson you can collect a parcel from a neighbour or a Paketshop.
Do this first: Perfekt
Picking Up a Package in Germany — Paket and Nachbarn
German parcels rarely wait at your door: they go to a neighbour or a shop. Collecting one is a short, polite conversation in the past tense.
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Kulturnotiz
Taking in a neighbour's parcel is a small but real German social contract — couriers will ring several doorbells until someone accepts, and refusing is legal but noticed. It also means you will end up holding parcels for people you have never spoken to. The flip side is the Klingelschild: German doorbells are labelled with surnames, so the courier knows exactly whose bell to ring, and a missing name on the bell can genuinely cost you deliveries.
Common questions
+Where is my parcel if I was out?
With a neighbour or at a nearby Paketshop. The Benachrichtigungskarte in your letterbox names which, along with the address and opening hours.
+What do I need to collect it?
The notification card and photo ID. If someone else is collecting on your behalf, they also need a Vollmacht — a short written authorisation from you.
+How long is a parcel held?
Usually about a week. After that it is zurückgeschickt — returned to the sender. The deadline is printed on the card.
+What floor is der dritte Stock?
The fourth level up. German counts the ground floor as Erdgeschoss and starts numbering above it, so erster Stock is one flight up — the continental system, not the American one.