Postal codes in Germany, Postleitzahl (plural Postleitzahlen, abbreviated to PLZ; literally "postal guidance number"), since 1 July 1993 consist of five digits. The first two digits indicate the wider area, the last three digits the postal district.
Before reunification, both the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) used four-digit codes. Under a transitional arrangement following reunification, between 1989 and 1993 postal codes in the west were prefixed with 'W', e.g.: W-1000 30 (postal districts in western cities were separate from the postal code) and those in the east with 'O' (for Ost), e.g.: O-1xxx Berlin.
Postal customers with high mail volumes, or Großkunden have their own postal codes, separate from those used for postal districts or PO Box number ranges.
Postal regions do not necessarily follow state borders, so sorting by state is not practical.
The postal regions and some postal codes are:
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Went down the list of the dead.
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Carpenters, coal-passers—all.”
—Joseph I. C. Clarke (1846–1925)
“This is the Night Mail crossing the Border,
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Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
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