August 2025: 7 key changes affecting expats in Germany

Summer is in full swing and school’s out for all kids in Germany - for one week only! That means August is here. From railway line closures and battery disposal, to digital passport photos and solar panel earnings, here’s everything expats in Germany need to know about in August 2025. 

1. Railway line between Berlin and Hamburg to close for 9 months

If you regularly travel on the long-distance train line between Berlin and Hamburg, you can look forward to nine months of disruption and longer journey times from August 1. Deutsche Bahn will completely renovate the 280-kilometre line between August 2025 and April 2026, updating the tracks, overhead lines, signal boxes, switches and other technology. 

During this period, the route will be diverted via Stendal and Uelzen; the train will run every hour instead of every 30 minutes, and the journey between the two cities will take around 45 minutes longer than usual. 

2. School holidays start in some states and end in others

The last federal state in Germany to go on its school holidays - Bavaria - will declare “school’s out” on August 1. Then, for just 10 days, all schoolchildren in the country will be on holiday at the same time, before unlucky kids in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia return to classrooms on August 11. 

Expect roads to be busy throughout this period, as holidaymakers head off and return in time for the back-to-school period. 

3. Digital photos required for passports, ID cards and residence permits

From August 1, citizens’ offices and immigration offices in Germany will no longer accept paper photos from people applying for new residence permits, ID cards and German passports. The rule came into effect on May 1, but the initial transition period will come to an end on August 1. 

From this date, authorities will require a digital photo, which can either be taken at a PointID terminal, at certain photo studios, or drugstores such as DM, and submitted to the authorities digitally using a QR code. 

4. Battery disposal to be made easier and free

It should get easier to dispose of batteries from August 18 onwards, as Germany adopts further requirements of the EU Battery Regulation. Going forward, all types of batteries, from tiny button cell batteries to larger models like those used in electric bikes, can be disposed of for free at recycling centres in Germany. 

5. New solar panel owners will receive less money for grid feed-ins

Anyone installing a new solar panel (photovoltaic) system in Germany will receive slightly less money for any energy they feed into the grid. When someone installs a new photovoltaic system, they agree on a price per kilowatt hour that they will receive for any electricity they feed into the national grid. This price is then set for 20 years. 

From August 1, any newly-installed systems will earn 7,86 cents per kilowatt hour for the energy they feed in, down from 7,95 cents earlier this year. The price is adjusted every few months. The change does not affect people who have solar power systems already installed. 

6. New regulations for smartphones and wireless devices

Starting August 1, new cybersecurity rules will apply throughout the EU to all devices that support wireless connections via WiFi, Bluetooth or mobile networks. To demonstrate that a device complies, the CE marking system will be extended. 

The CE mark was previously limited to safety, health and environmental protection requirements, but in future will also certify digital security - namely that a device meets basic cybersecurity requirements to protect the network and the user’s privacy, and prevent fraud. It should protect users of mobile phones, laptops, smart watches, smart vacuum cleaners, doorbells, headphones, fridges and printers from hacker attacks and data misuse. 

7. EU’s AI Act comes into effect

From August 2 onwards, artificial intelligence (AI) developers must comply with the new guidelines contained in the European Union’s AI Act. Among other things, the Act requires providers like ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Gemini to disclose how their systems work, and which datasets are used to train their artificial intelligence to produce texts, audio, images and videos.

It will also become mandatory to label AI-generated content and deepfakes.