DIN 5008 is the German standard for writing and formatting rules in word processing. Among other things, it defines where the address field, the information block and the fold marks are placed on a business letter, so that the recipient address is visible in a window envelope.

Which mandatory details must a business letter contain?

Corporations (e.g. GmbH) must, under §35a GmbHG, state the legal form and registered office, the register court and the commercial register number, and all managing directors on business letters. In addition, the VAT ID, bank details and the responsible tax office are customary.

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Letter Template to DIN 5008 – create it free for Word

Enter your company details, optionally upload your logo and, in one minute, download a finished letter template as a Word file (.docx) — for Word, LibreOffice and OpenOffice, savable as PDF and ready to print. Standard-compliant to DIN 5008 with address field, fold marks and all mandatory details. Your data is not stored in the process.

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Company & logo

Company name *

Logo (optional)

PNG, JPG, WebP or GIF, max. 5 MB.

Address / registered office

Street & house number

Postal code

City

Contact

Phone

Fax

Website

Bank details

Bank

IBAN

BIC

Legal details

Mandatory for corporations (e.g. GmbH) under §35a GmbHG. For sole proprietorships, simply leave blank.

VAT ID

Tax office

Commercial register no. (HRB)

Managing director

Your data is not stored — the Word file is created directly in the browser download.

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What is a letterhead to DIN 5008?

DIN 5008 is the German standard for designing business letters. It governs where the address field, information block and fold marks are placed — so that the recipient address is visible in a window envelope and the letter is folded cleanly. A standard-compliant letterhead looks professional and ensures that your business letter arrives correctly at authorities and business partners.

Our generator implements these specifications to the millimetre: the address field sits window-envelope-safe, the fold marks are at 105 and 210 mm, and your logo is placed cleanly. The result is a completely ordinary Word file (.docx) that you can freely continue to edit.

Letter template for Word, LibreOffice, OpenOffice – and as PDF

You get the finished letter template as a Word file (.docx). You can open this format not only in Microsoft Word, but equally in LibreOffice Writer and OpenOffice Writer or in Google Docs — all free. So you do not have to buy Word to use your letter template.

Anyone who would rather have the template as a PDF or wants to bring it onto paper for printing simply saves the opened document as PDF via Save As or Export, or prints it directly. That way you have the same standard-compliant template as an editable Word file and as a finished PDF.

Which mandatory details belong in a business letter?

A GmbH must, under §35a GmbHG, state the legal form and registered office, the register court with commercial register number, and all managing directors. In addition, the VAT identification number, bank details and the responsible tax office are customary and sensible. Our generator captures these details and places them in the footer in a standard-compliant way. Sole proprietors simply leave the legal fields blank.

Frequently asked questions

The German standard for writing and formatting rules. It defines where the address field, information block and fold marks are placed on the business letter, so that the address is visible in a window envelope.

A GmbH must, under §35a GmbHG, state the legal form and registered office, register court and commercial register number, and all managing directors. In addition, the VAT ID, bank details and tax office are customary.

No. Company details and logo are only processed in memory to generate the Word file, and discarded afterwards. Nothing is stored permanently.

You receive an ordinary .docx file. You open and edit it in Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, OpenOffice Writer or Google Docs — all free. The fold marks are shown in Word and LibreOffice (not in Apple Pages).

Yes. Open the Word file in Word, LibreOffice or OpenOffice and save it as PDF via Save As or Export — or print it directly. That way you get the template free as a PDF and ready to print.