Business Address in Your Impressum: What's Allowed?

You want to start a business or you're already self-employed — but you don't want your home address publicly listed in your Impressum? Many founders and freelancers are looking for a way to protect their private address without violating the Impressum requirement.

This article explains which address is legally permitted in your Impressum, why a PO box or c/o address is not enough in most cases — and how a virtual business address provides the legally compliant solution.

Table of Contents

• 1. What Is the Impressum Requirement?
• 2. What Information Is Legally Required in an Impressum?
• 3. Which Types of Address Are Permitted in an Impressum?
• 4. Why You Should Avoid Using Your Home Address in Your Impressum
• 5. The Solution: Virtual Business Address in Your Impressum
• 6. Is This Actually Legally Compliant?
• 7. Conclusion: A Professional Impressum Without Your Own Office
• Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Is the Impressum Requirement?

Under §5 of the German Digital Services Act (DDG), all commercial online services are required to display an Impressum. (The DDG replaced the Telemedia Act (TMG) on 14 May 2024; the underlying requirement is unchanged.) This applies not only to online shops, but to any website with a commercial purpose — including freelancer portfolios, blogs with affiliate links, and landing pages for services.

The information must be easily identifiable, directly accessible, and permanently available. Violations can result in cease-and-desist letters — with costs ranging from several hundred to thousands of euros per case.

The Impressum requirement applies to, among others: sole traders, freelancers, small business owners, UGs (limited liability), and GmbHs. In short: anyone who is commercially active online needs an Impressum — and with it, a complete, legally servable address.

2. What Information Is Legally Required in an Impressum?

Required details vary depending on your legal structure, but generally include:

• Full name or company name
• Legally servable address (no PO box)
• Contact option (email address, and where applicable, phone number)
• Authorised representative (for UG and GmbH)
• Register number and registration court (if registered)
• VAT identification number (if applicable)

Important for UG and GmbH: In addition to the business address, the registered company headquarters as per the Handelsregister and the names of authorised managing directors must be listed. The address in the Impressum must match the address registered in the Handelsregister, or be provable as the actual place of business.

For small business owners and sole traders, the same address requirements apply — even without a Handelsregister entry.

3. Which Types of Address Are Permitted in an Impressum?

The address in your Impressum must be what is known as a ladungsfähige Anschrift — a legally servable address. This means that official and court documents must actually be deliverable to that address. Pure contact addresses with no delivery capability are not permitted.

What Does "Legally Servable Address" Mean Exactly?

A legally servable address must meet three requirements:

• Physical existence — the address refers to a real location with a street, house number, postcode, and city.
• Deliverability — registered letters, authority correspondence, and court documents must be provably receivable.
• Name assignment — the company name must be visible on the letterbox or doorbell panel.

If any of these conditions is missing, the address is not legally servable — and the Impressum is non-compliant.

Can I Use a PO Box as My Impressum Address?

No. A PO box does not meet the requirements for a legally servable address. The reason: personal delivery to a PO box is not possible. Court documents, registered letters with acknowledgement of receipt, and official notices cannot be legally served to a PO box. Courts and authorities do not accept PO boxes as valid business addresses in an Impressum.

Is a Mailbox Address Enough for My Impressum?

A pure mailbox address — meaning a letterbox at an address where no office is operated and no usage contract exists — is legally problematic. What matters is whether delivery can be demonstrably guaranteed at that address and whether a contract with the address provider exists. A simple letterbox without a contractual basis and without regular collection is not sufficient.

Can I Use a c/o Address in My Impressum?

Yes, but only under one condition: someone at that address must actually be authorised to receive mail and formal service of documents on your behalf. Germany's Higher Regional Court in Hamm (OLG Hamm) confirmed this in a 2015 ruling (decision of 7 May 2015, case no. 27 W 51/15): a c/o addition is permitted when it helps identify the person authorised to accept service — not when it's used to make you harder to find.

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) drew the line further in 2023 (ruling of 7 July 2023, case no. V ZR 210/22). It held that a mail-forwarding-only address — where the addressee doesn't actually reside or maintain a presence — is not a legally servable address, even if letters technically get forwarded. That standard, decided for a claimant's address under civil procedure law, is now applied by extension to Impressum addresses too.

In practice, a c/o address holds up if:

• Someone at the address is authorised to accept post, registered mail, and formal service
• Your company name is visible on the letterbox or door
• You have a written agreement with the c/o party covering exactly that

It fails if:

• The address only forwards mail with no one authorised to accept service
• You're using a relative's or acquaintance's address with no agreement in place
• The provider can't demonstrate provable deliverability if challenged

Who's liable if it goes wrong? You are — not the c/o party. If a court letter arrives and nobody accepts it properly or tells you in time, deadlines still run. You can end up with a default judgment you never knew about. This is why a written agreement with the c/o party matters more than the c/o label itself.

Beyond the legal risk, a c/o entry signals to clients and partners that you don't have your own place of business — a trust issue in B2B contexts, and one more reason most founders move to an independent business address once they can.

Overview: Which Address Is Permitted in an Impressum?

Address Type	Legally Servable?	Permitted in Impressum?
Own office address	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Virtual business address (with contract)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
c/o address (with written agreement + authorised recipient)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
c/o address (forwarding only, no authorised recipient)	❌ No	❌ No
Mailbox address (without contract)	❌ No	❌ No
PO box	❌ No	❌ No

4. Why You Should Avoid Using Your Home Address in Your Impressum

Technically, it is permitted to use your home address as your business address in the Impressum — as long as it is legally servable. In practice, however, this comes with significant downsides.

Privacy and Personal Security

Your home address in the Impressum is permanently and publicly visible worldwide. Websites are archived, indexed by search engines, and read by scraping tools. This can lead to unwanted advertising, spam, or harassment — a real risk especially for self-employed individuals with a public presence, influencers, and content creators.

Rental Agreement Restrictions

Many rental agreements prohibit the commercial use of the apartment. If a private address is used as a business address in the Impressum, the landlord may interpret this as commercial use. Potential consequences: a formal warning, a cease-and-desist declaration, or termination of the rental agreement.

Unprofessional Appearance

A recognisable private address in the Impressum — for example in a typical residential building — does not inspire confidence in business partners, investors, or potential clients. In B2B contexts or when approaching larger companies, this can be a decisive disadvantage.

No Separation Between Private and Professional

Business post, parcels, and official letters arrive directly at home. This not only creates clutter, but leads to an ongoing mix of business and private life — a problem that founders working from home consistently underestimate.

5. The Solution: Virtual Business Address in Your Impressum

A virtual business address solves all of the problems above — without you needing to rent a physical office. You receive a legally servable address that you can use in your Impressum, for your trade registration (Gewerbeanmeldung), and for Handelsregister entry.

How It Works at Teeberg

Teeberg provides you with a legally servable business address in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg (Kollwitzstraße 76, 10435 Berlin). Your company name is listed independently on the letterbox — without any c/o prefix. Incoming mail is received daily and digitised free of charge via the mail scanning service. You receive a scan directly to your email inbox.

Benefits at a Glance

• ✔️ Legally servable and compliant — accepted by tax offices, the Handelsregister, chambers of commerce, and courts
• ✔️ No c/o prefix — your company appears independently on the letterbox
• ✔️ Private address stays protected — your home address never appears publicly
• ✔️ Daily mail scanning included — no waiting for physical letters
• ✔️ Available immediately — set up in minutes, 100% online

What Does a Virtual Business Address Cost?

Costs vary by provider and service level. At Teeberg, packages start at just a few euros per month — including mail receipt and digital scanning. Compared to a physical office or a coworking space, a virtual business address is by far the most affordable option.

6. Is This Actually Legally Compliant?

Yes — provided the address fully meets the requirements for a legally servable address. This requires: a valid usage contract between you and the provider, provable deliverability of post and official correspondence, and a visible company name at the location.

Virtual business addresses like Teeberg's are regularly accepted by notaries for notarisation, by tax offices for tax registration, and by district courts for Handelsregister entry. What matters is that the address does not merely serve as a contact address, but is actually usable and reachable as a place of business.

Note: A purely virtual address without a physical location and without deliverability is not legally servable and is not permitted in an Impressum. When choosing a provider, make sure there is a real location with a letterbox, a usage contract, and mail receipt in place.

7. Conclusion: A Professional Impressum — Without Your Own Office

You do not have to publish your home address in your Impressum. With a virtual business address, you meet all legal requirements — while protecting your privacy at the same time. This applies regardless of whether you work as a freelancer, run a small business, or operate a GmbH.

The key requirement is that the address is legally servable: physically real, with provable delivery and a usage contract. PO boxes, anonymous letterboxes, and many c/o solutions do not meet these requirements.

Teeberg gives you an immediately usable, legally compliant business address in Berlin — including daily mail scanning and no c/o prefix.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a PO box as my Impressum address?

No. A PO box is not a legally servable address because personal delivery is not possible. Courts and authorities do not accept PO boxes as valid Impressum addresses.

What is the difference between a c/o address and a business address?

With a c/o address, mail is received via a third party. An independent business address is registered directly in your company name — with no intermediary. In an Impressum, a c/o address appears less professional and is only conditionally recognised as legally servable.

Is a c/o address a legally servable address?

Only conditionally. A c/o address is legally servable if someone there is actually authorised to accept your post and formal service of documents. If it's forwarding-only, with nobody authorised to accept service on-site, the BGH's 2023 ruling (case no. V ZR 210/22) means it does not qualify.

Who is liable if my c/o address fails to deliver a court document?

You are, not the c/o party. Liability for missed deadlines and legal consequences stays with the business named in the Impressum. A written agreement with the c/o party — specifying that they're authorised to accept service on your behalf — is your main protection.

Can I use my home address as my business address?

In principle yes, provided it is legally servable. However, your home address will then be permanently visible in your Impressum, which can lead to privacy issues, conflicts with your rental agreement, and an unprofessional appearance.

What does a virtual business address for an Impressum cost?

Costs vary by provider. At Teeberg, packages start at just a few euros per month — including mail receipt and digital scanning.

Do I need a business address for my Impressum as a freelancer?

Yes. Freelancers with a commercial website are also subject to the Impressum requirement under §5 DDG (formerly §5 TMG). A legally servable address is mandatory — regardless of your legal structure.

Is a virtual business address suitable for trade registration?

Yes. Legally servable virtual business addresses like Teeberg's are accepted by trade registration offices, tax offices, and the Handelsregister.

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Get Your Professional Address Now

Want to operate legally online — without making your home address public? Get your virtual address in Berlin in just a few minutes:

• ✔️ Available immediately
• ✔️ Valid for Impressum, trade registration and tax office
• ✔️ With daily mail scanning included

Get started at teeberg.com →