Germany Lottery

The game is simple. On each line you choose 6 numbers from 1 to 49. A separate Superzahl (super number) from 0 to 9 is then attached to your ticket — this bonus digit is drawn from a separate machine and decides whether you win the very top prize. A standard line costs €1.20 (about US$1.30), plus a small per-ticket processing fee that varies by state.

To win the Tier 1 jackpot you need to match all six main numbers and the Superzahl. There are nine prize tiers in total, and you can win with as few as two numbers plus the Superzahl. Optional add-on games can be ticked on the same slip:

Spiel 77 — a 7-digit number game with a jackpot of at least €177,777.
Super 6 — a 6-digit game with a fixed top prize of €100,000.
GlücksSpirale — a separate draw offering a lifelong monthly income prize.

Odds and prizes

The jackpot starts at a guaranteed €1 million and rolls over until it’s won. The overall chance of winning any prize is a relatively friendly 1 in 31.

Most tiers are parimutuel, meaning the pool for each tier is shared among its winners. The lowest tier pays a fixed €6. If the jackpot isn’t won after a set number of consecutive draws, a forced-payout rule sends it cascading down to the next winning tier, so it never rolls forever.

Here are all nine tiers:

Biggest winners

The largest 6aus49 jackpot ever was €45.4 million (about US$49 million), drawn on 5 December 2007 and split between three winning tickets. More recently, in April 2023, a single anonymous player scooped €42.2 million. To this day, this remains one of the biggest individual German Lotto wins on record.

Because Germany allows complete anonymity, its big winners are almost never named. One famous case cut the other way: an €11 million prize from an April 2017 draw went entirely unclaimed, because the winning ticket had been bought anonymously at a shop and the holder never came forward before the claim deadline passed.

Lotto 6aus49 held its first draw on 9 October 1955, making it one of the longest-running lottery games in Europe. For decades it was a once-a-week Saturday institution; a second weekly draw was added on Wednesdays in 1982. The Superzahl bonus-number system was later introduced and refined (most significantly in 2013), improving the overall odds of winning a prize from around 1 in 54 to today’s 1 in 31.

The game is run by the Deutscher Lotto- und Totoblock (DLTB), a federation of the 16 regional state lottery companies (such as WestLotto, Lotto Bayern and Lotto Baden-Württemberg). Leadership of the block rotates between the state operators every few years, but the game itself is identical nationwide.

There are two main routes:

In-store — at any of the ~20,000 licensed lottery retail outlets (Annahmestellen) across Germany, often inside newsagents, kiosks and supermarkets. You can pay and play without giving your name.

Online — through your state lottery’s website or the national lotto.de portal (and licensed online agents). Overseas players can also enter German Lotto draws via licensed international lottery websites.

You must be 18 or over to play.

How to claim a prize

How you claim depends on the amount:

Smaller prizes — collect in cash at any lottery retail outlet, or have them credited to your online account if you played online.
Large prizes and jackpots — are handled directly by your regional state lottery company, which arranges a bank transfer and can offer discreet, confidential support to major winners.

One important detail: German lottery prizes must be claimed by the end of the third calendar year after the draw (for example, a prize won in 2026 must be claimed by 31 December 2029). Keep your ticket or receipt safe, as with anonymous over-the-counter tickets, it is effectively the only proof of your win.

Taxes on winnings

Good news for players: German Lotto winnings are tax-free. Lottery prizes are not treated as taxable income in Germany, so you receive the full amount you win as a lump sum.

As always, what you do with the money can have tax consequences: interest, dividends or other investment income earned on your winnings is subject to Germany’s flat capital-gains tax, and large gifts to family or friends can trigger gift tax. Professional advice is wise for a major win.

Can you stay anonymous?

Yes. Germany is one of the strongest places in the world for lottery privacy. Winners can remain completely anonymous, and because standard tickets can be purchased over the counter without registering any personal details, many winners are unknown even to the lottery itself. State lottery companies will not publish a winner’s identity without consent.

The trade-off is the one seen above: with a fully anonymous paper ticket, the ticket is your only link to the prize, so losing it or missing the claim deadline means the winnings can go unclaimed for good.