Landratsamt

How could something as simple as a lost license plate be so time consuming and complex?

We have often said living in a culture other than our own creates many opportunities for living an intense life.  Today we found another way to make something seemingly simple, complex.

On Saturday, as we drove out of a parking lot a pedestrian pointed to the grill of our car, smiled and made an indistinguishable comment.  Suddenly I realized we could have lost our front license plate as we did a 360 driving down an icy road.  We had checked the front lamp, no problem, but had not checked the plate.  And, yes, it was missing.

Not experiencing this before, Smitty and I asked several people at school to determine how to rectify the situation.  We did know that a ticket could be the result of a missing plate.  One German speaker found information online and directed us to the Landratsamt in Lorrach, about 20 minutes away from Kandern.

The drive in was uneventful, save for the backup at the roundabout due to morning work traffic. A 30 minute drive for a 20 minute trip.  Once in the building we found the room where license plates are made and attempted, in broken German, to explain our situation.  Fortunately, one of the ladies spoke enough English to direct us up one more flight of stairs to the office where the ordering of a new one could be done.

The next office had the feel of the California DMV, without the crowds.  An automated number dispenser hung on the wall, with several choices and  we had no understanding of any of the terms.  Fortunately (and how often this does happen), a waiting customer helped us by pointing out the correct choice.  With ticket in hand, I sat down and Smitty headed to the WC.  But, almost immediately, our ticket number came up.  I rushed to the WC, knocked on the door to tell Smitty we were called, and went to open the door to the next office.

As I opened, I was greeted by lines of desks with name plates on both sides of the aisle.  The room seemed to go on forever, but, about halfway down, there sat a woman, looking very business-like, at desk 8.  We approached, said hello, sat down and gave her our papers, explaining briefly about loosing one license plate.  As she asked us questions in German, we had difficulty understanding.  Finally, we determined we had left the ownership document at our apartment and it would be needed to complete the transaction.

Back to the apartment and back to the Landratsamt.  This time the first steps were easy.  We knew which button to push for the correct number.  And we were called to desk 8 again, so we knew where we were going.  All went well, maneuvering in German, until she asked when we had lost the plate.  Fortunately, one of her colleagues was able to speak some English.

Transaction complete, now to the payment machine in the lobby.  Put the card in the machine, wait for the prompt, put in our bank card, pin number, then two receipts came out of the machine.  Now down one flight to the original office where plates are made, very much like an old type setter would have done.  Now to pay again, this time for the making of the plates.  Oh, and we have to have two new ones because the old ones are more than 10 years old!

Plates, receipts, and documents in hand, we returned to the upstairs waiting room and entered another door.  We walked to the counter and the man there told us we must sit down and wait.  Soon our business-like worker came over with more papers to sign.  We waited again.  Soon the man with our new plates had affixed the proper stickers and we were allowed to leave.  Smitty is downstairs now, as I type, installing the plates on our car.

Yep,  we left our house at 7:30 AM and it is now 10:30 AM.  Not terribly long, but complicated and confusing.  But we did it.  And now we have new license plates on our car and are legal to drive again in Germany!