We were in Germany last week. In Munich and Wurzburg, FFP2 masks were heavily enforced. In Stuttgart, masks were required but most places were fine w/ a surgical or cloth mask.

Technically, are K95 masks inferior to FFP2? I bought a huge supply of K95 masks and it would be terrible if I have to discard them and go buy a different kind now!

KN95 masks are generally considered equivalent to FFP2 and N95. They are standards from different countries (FFP2 for EU, KN95 for China, N95 for US).

That's correct. And no one looks on the standard closely.

This. My ICE booking stated maks required (FFP2 recommended) whereas my e-ticket said that FFP2 were required. Popped into a drug store just before departure to have FFP2 ready if needed. The conductor* didn't say a word and other passengers wore surgical masks as well. Of course, rules vary from Land to Land and over time.

*I think that they are already happy if you wear a mask correctly (i.e. covering mouth and nose) and don't have to argue with passengers.

I've been in Munich the past few days. I've taken a few s-bahn trains and a few regional (RE) trains. Everyone has a mask, but not once have a seen any official or conductor walk through to verify compliance or check a person's vax status. Or check for tickets, for that matter. It wouldnt surprise me I'd they do random spot checks though.

Not sure if the ICE trains are any different.

Why not just wear an FFP2 mask? No chance then that you'll break any rules, especially if you cross state borders.

In Bavaria I have occasionally seen police board trains to check mask-wearing compliance (especially at the Austrian border). I didn't see anyone without a mask, so not sure if they were issuing fines.

In Frankfurt (Hessen) sometimes conductors also check vaccine certificate. It happens very rarely but it does.

To give you an idea how often, I guess 1 in 10 trips I'm having my ticket checked and about 1 in 10 checks I have my vaccine checked. So sbout 1:100 trips you might have your vaccine checked in the train. This is my personal experience and only valid for Frankfurt area.

About surgical masks vs FFP, I've said before: never.

My vaccine certificata has been checked in long distance trains and regional trains a couple of times. And it happened more frequently in the last couple of days. It was not done by conductors but by DB Security staff. I always wear a FFP2 mask.

As mustafina pointed out I as well recommend to wear a FFP2 mask. Simply those are the one which usually are within the requirementsand within the different rules made by the federal states.

I just was in Germany, and rode the ICE trains a few times. I'm pretty sure that the website said FFP2 masks required, but on board the train, the announcements/signs said FFP2 or surgical. That may be based on where I was, I didn't look into it too deeply.

​​​​​​As for enforcement, I didn't see any. But also, I didn't see any flouting of the rules, so either there is enforcement that I didn't see or everyone generally just follows the rules.

I've never worn a FFP2 mask but I travel within Hesse where they are not mandatory. I rode the TGV to/from Paris Est and no one cared. On local public transports, they just want people to wear them properly. But the rules vary by region and for sure, Bavaria is known for being strict on well, everything.

The only annoying thing was that the federal police did a contrôle at the border for Identification only (they embarked at Forbach and desembarked at Saarbruck). Obviously the concept of Schengen died when Covid came along. :td:

I am a regular on this train for the last 6 years and the ID control has always been there, including pre-COVID.

Interesting, cuz pre-Covid I took it with some frequency (3x a year) and there were never controls. It never used to stop at Forbach (57) so the first stop eastbound after Paris-Est was in Saarbruck where a ton people would pile into the carriages but no federal police. But that was always a weekend.

Don’t have a ton of cross border train experiences, but pre-covid we took the train from Prague to Germany. Bundespolizei boarded the train and checked some passengers’ IDs.

The ID checks on Germany-France flights and trains came around 2015, but the spot checks always happened on trains crossing a border.