DIN 5008 explained

DIN 5008 is the German standard for business correspondence. It does not say what to write — it says where everything goes. If you send letters to German companies, this is the layout their letterhead, their envelopes and their filing systems are built around.

What DIN 5008 is — and what it is not

DIN 5008 is published by the German Institute for Standardization (Deutsches Institut für Normung, DIN). It defines writing and layout rules for text and information processing: letters, e-mails, minutes and forms. The current edition is DIN 5008:2020-03.

The standard is explicit about its own scope: it governs how a given content is presented, not what is written. Wording, tone and argument are outside its remit. It is also not a law — it is a recommendation. It becomes binding only where others require it: in commercial training and examinations, in public authorities, or in a company's own corporate design manual.

One consequence matters for international senders: the mandatory company disclosures that appear in a German letter footer do not come from DIN 5008. They come from German commercial law (the Commercial Code, HGB, and the GmbH Act). The standard only determines where they are placed.

The two letterhead forms

DIN 5008 describes two layouts for A4 paper, differing in the height of the letterhead:

Feature	Form A	Form B
Letterhead height	27 mm	45 mm
Imaginary line inside the address field	44.7 mm	62.7 mm
Upper fold mark (from top)	87 mm	105 mm
Lower fold mark (from top)	192 mm	210 mm
Punch mark (from top)	148.5 mm	148.5 mm
Typical use	narrow header, small logo	the standard in business

Form B is the normal case. The 45 mm header leaves room for a logo and the sender line, and after folding the address sits reliably behind the window of a standard envelope. Form A saves 18 mm, which can help when a letter would otherwise run onto a fourth page.

The measurements that matter

For Form B on A4 (210 × 297 mm):

Element	Measurement
Left margin (text area)	25 mm — keeps punched holes clear of the text
Right margin	minimum 15 mm; 20 mm is common in practice
Top	45 mm (the letterhead)
Last line of text	at least 20 mm above the bottom edge
Address field	85 × 45 mm, eleven lines
Body text	10 pt minimum; 11–12 pt usual
Address field text	8 pt absolute minimum

Why the address field is narrower than the envelope window. The window in a DIN lang envelope is 90 mm wide (DIN 680). The address field is 85 mm. The 5 mm difference is tolerance: a folded sheet is never inserted to the millimetre, and the margin keeps the address fully visible. Making the field wider removes that safety margin.

Writing to Germany from abroad

Three points matter for senders outside Germany:

Paper size. Germany uses A4, not US Letter (see US Letter vs A4). An A4 sheet fits a US Letter envelope, but it will not fold to the right proportions for a German window envelope.
Window envelopes. German business mail is dominated by DIN lang envelopes with a window. The recipient address must be positioned to appear in it — see Window envelopes.
Country name. Since the 2020 edition, the destination country is written in capital letters and in German, below the postal code and town — for example GROSSBRITANNIEN or VEREINIGTE STAATEN. The older practice of prefixing the postcode with a country code, such as D-79098, no longer applies.

For the letter itself, DIN 5008 permits English-language correspondence. The layout rules apply regardless of the language: the address block is a block, not a paragraph, and the date belongs in one place only.

What changed in the 2020 edition

Fold marks: until 2011 the standard said they should be included; since 2020 it says they may be. They were never mandatory, but they remain recommended, particularly for mailings processed by inserting machines.
Foreign addresses: country name in capitals and in German, as described above.
Degree-based measurements from the typewriter era were replaced by millimetres. The letterhead dimensions were previously in a separate standard, DIN 676, and are now part of DIN 5008.

Common questions

Is DIN 5008 mandatory?

No. It is a recommendation published by the German Institute for Standardization, not a legal requirement. It becomes binding only where a contract, an examination regulation, a public authority or a company guideline requires it.

What is the difference between Form A and Form B?

Form A has a 27 mm letterhead, Form B has a 45 mm letterhead. Form B is the standard in business correspondence and leaves room for a logo and sender details.

Which paper size does DIN 5008 use?

DIN A4, measuring 210 × 297 mm. US Letter (215.9 × 279.4 mm) is supported as a separate format but is not what DIN 5008 describes.

Where do the fold marks go on a Form B letter?

The upper fold mark is 105 mm from the top edge, the lower one 210 mm. The punch mark sits at 148.5 mm — the exact centre of an A4 sheet.

Can I write an English letter using DIN 5008?

Yes. The standard governs layout, not language. The measurements and positions apply to English-language correspondence exactly as they do to German.

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