LondonElite

No, you are currently not permitted to enter Germany.

Concerto

But arriving by train from Switzerland, where I am based, with a UK passport hopefully won't be a problem when I travel this week. We will see. I haven't been out of Switzerland during the whole Coronavirus crisis.

Nobbi

Greetings!

My husband and I are in California but in a county with relatively low infection rates. One of us has a German passport and the other a residency permit. We can enter Germany any time. We want to visit my 87 yo mother in Bavaria for her 88th birthday. There is a quarantine requirement for 14 days in most German states coming from certain US states. This includes CA as of now. Does anyone know how/if this is enforced? We would be staying in Hessen in a hotel. We have a house in RPL where we will not be staying. In Bavaria there is an exemption if you can produce a negative per test taken within the last 48h. That is not available where we are staying. Any ideas how to see my mom who has some dementia?

oliver2002

The restrictions are pretty tough, the hotel is obligated to report you to the authorities via the Meldegesetz. The local Gesundheitsamt will then check on you to see if you are following the quarantine. Also it is strongly discouraged to visit the elderly, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE COMING FROM A HOTSPOT!!!! Why would you want to expose your mother to the virus?

notquiteaff

How does it work in practice, though? Would German immigration officers ask for evidence of where in the US the traveler is living (e.g., drivers license) and instruct those from US states on the risky countries/states list to follow the quarantine rules of their destination state?

Seems to me if you are quarantined in a hotel in Hessen, you won’t be able to visit family in Bavaria.

A possible solution would seem to be to get a covid test done right before departure and then stay in Bavaria. The test would seem to be advisable anyway.

Whatever happened to Lufthansa’s announcement of offering tests in FRA and MUC for arriving passengers?

flyingfkb

Are you sure the hotel will actually accept you? The quarantine rule in Hessen states that you have to go after arrival immediately and without detour to your home or suitable location where you have to stay for 14 days. You have to register with the local health authority. I'm not sure a hotel is a suitable location or falls under the definition of a suitable location. The good thing is that if you have a valid test that you have no infection you do not need to go into quarantine. See https://www.hessen.de/sites/default/..._juni_2020.pdf

jt82

Noel Phillips' channel covered this sort of thing either yesterday/today while transiting through Frankfurt, basically nothing happened

oliver2002

Whether you are caught/tracked or not, anyone with a semblance of sanity must surely realize it is assinine to travel between the US and Europe this summer for non-essential purposes. You are putting yourself and the people you visit under completely uneccessary additional risk.

Concerto

The trip from Switzerland to Germany with the train was excellent and totally smooth. I stopped for 2 hours in Basel, ostensibly to get my hair cut in Lörrach. There were no passport or customs checks of questions (might have been different if I hadn't cut my hair!). The trains, as well as all shops, in Germany have a Maskenpflicht, which means you have to wear a mask. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, and people in shops, cafes and restaurants were welcoming and slightly apologetic about the mask thing. The train was totally fine, not too full and it ran on time. It was a Swiss SBB train that took me up to Mainz, so no WiFi was available.

Near Mainz I visited a winegrower in the Ingelheim area and ordered several cartons of wine for the summer. Spent in the night in Mainz at the ibis Mainz City, which was ok but nothing more (but perfectly friendly) and had an excellent meal in a brewery (Eisgrub) and then spent the evening in a wine bar (at a table in the street so I didn't have to wear a mask). The mask had to be worn anywhere in or around the hotel, as well as in the interesting Antike Schifffahrt museum over the road (which was free). Otherwise it was really great how Germany has adapted to the situation and somehow kept life normal. In each establishment you have to give your name, address and phone number for eventual contact tracing. That was done in a pleasant, uncomplicated and efficient manner. It did not apply to shops (I was in and out of REWE City and Penny for provisions), but as usual masks must be worn.

NWplatinum

I’m not sure I agree with this. If you know you don’t have COVID. If you’re being conscious and vigilant, washing, showering, cleaning your clothes, wearing a mask, and doing everything within your power to be responsible I don’t see why you couldn’t travel.

There’s a reason why Croatia and Serbia have opened up to US passport holders among other countries.

LondonElite

At the end of the day, I agree high-level with you. The problem is that you cannot run these policies on the basis of case-by-case. And in the US it is a prime example of a few (well, maybe more than a few) bad eggs ruining it for everybody else.

notquiteaff

My guess is the reason why they opened isn’t that they believe every traveler from the US is conscious and vigilant (and knows they don’t have Covid). And looking at the scenes from Mallorca and other travel destinations recently, it’s not just US travelers who, realistically, cannot be trusted.

NWplatinum

I think if you can provide a false test, show you’ve been vigilant, and proven you’ve adhered to all government guidelines, that the zollpolizei could possibly do a case-by-case basis. Especially since I can’t imagine immigration is too busy at the moment.

oliver2002

Zollpolizei??

notquiteaff

False positive or false negative?

Not sure how you’d prove that you adhere to all government guidelines (which government?) and were vigilant. I would not be optimistic about case by case reviews. Also, how do you convince the airline agent to let you board the plane (if we are talking about plane travelers) without meeting the documented requirements?