All countries / Germany
Is B2B cold email legal in Germany?
No, not without prior consent when you write to a named person at a company. The same applies to generic addresses such as info@.
Named person at a company
jane.doe@company.de
Generic company address
info@company.de
Sole trader or personal mailbox
jane@gmail.com
Advertising by email without the addressee's prior express consent is an unacceptable nuisance under UWG section 7(2). For email the law does not distinguish consumers from businesses.
What you have to do
- Get express consent before the first email
- Existing customers only: you may email about your own similar products if you got the address from a sale, they have not objected, and every message offers an opt-out (section 7(3))
Checked against the law or regulator ยท checked 2026-10-10