Approbase
The route to a German medical licence – authority by authority, step by step.
The route to a German medical licence is governed differently in 16 places, and the deadlines that matter run where nobody announces them. This site collects what is actually published, and says plainly where nothing is.
What is here
- Contact details for all 16 Approbation authorities and the chambers of physicians, as of February 2026.
- The process in eight steps, from choosing an authority to the formalities of your first month at work.
- A personal document checklist that runs only in your browser.
- Explainers for the points where most time and money get lost.
What is not here
No ranking of the fastest federal states. It does not exist: in 2025 the Bundestag confirmed that the federal government holds no nationwide data on Approbation applications. What individual states and chambers have published is in the authority table, each with its source.
The deadline that costs the most
Exemption from statutory pension insurance is backdated to the start of your employment only if you apply within three months (Section 6(4) SGB VI). After that it takes effect from the date of application. This clock runs silently and nobody reminds you.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from a source linked below. Where nothing is published, the page says so.