Motivation Letter Format for Germany: The Rules

Motivation Letter Format for Germany: The Rules

The format for a German motivation letter is set by the programme, and the default is one page: TUM's style guide says a statement of purpose "should generally be no longer than one page", in 12-point Times New Roman or Arial, 1.5 spacing, 2 cm margins, as a PDF. No postal address is needed. Your name, date of birth, the date and a title are.

Drop the business-letter template. A business letter starts with two postal addresses and ends with a signature block. TUM says the addresses are unnecessary. It asks instead for your name, date of birth, the date and a title, which a business letter does not carry. uni-assist adds one more line: the university and course in bold at the top. This page puts those rules in one place, with the length limits seven official pages state. Whether your target reads a letter at all is a separate question, covered in who asks for a motivation letter in Germany.

Every university and agency page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. Formats can change between intakes, so recheck the programme page before you upload.

The header German universities actually ask for

TUM's style guide answers the address question directly:

"As you are uploading the documents and not sending them by mail, it is not necessary to include a full letterhead or a postal address. Please state your first name, surname, and date of birth on all documents. Please also state the date of creation and the title of the document. You do not have to address the document to a specific person; a generic form of address such as “Dear Sir or Madam” is sufficient."

uni-assist's other documents page adds one line for letters that pass through it:

"Name your chosen university and the course of study you are applying to visibly and in bold print at the top of your letter of motivation. Otherwise we will not be able to link your letter of motivation to the right university."

Constructed example: a header that meets both rules

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Name, date of birth and programme are invented.

Ananya Rao · Date of birth: 2 June 2002 · 31 October 2026

Letter of Motivation

Technical University of Munich (TUM), M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering

Dear Sir or Madam,

That is four lines. It covers TUM's five items (first name, surname, date of birth, date of creation, title) and uni-assist's bold programme line. A business letterhead with two addresses takes more lines of a one-page letter and answers neither rule.

Our view: use this header on every German letter, even where the programme states no header rule. It costs four lines, and it makes the letter impossible to misfile.

The countercase: if a programme publishes its own form or cover sheet, use that instead. The header rule is TUM's and uni-assist's, not a national standard.

Length: one page, two pages, words or characters

The programme page sets the length. TUM says so itself: "Binding information on the required content and length of application documents can be found in the statutes and regulations for the respective degree program." Here is what seven official pages state.

Hertie sets a word range instead of a page: 500-900 words, per the Hertie School motivation letter guide.

Some universities of applied sciences replace the page with a form field: Esslingen allows up to 2,000 characters, as our Hochschule motivation letter guide shows.

Some programmes use a third unit, characters typed into a portal text box. That is a different format: no layout, no bold, no header. The complete German guide covers character-limited fields.

The rule we use: the programme page wins. If the programme page states nothing, write one page. One page meets TUM's default, sits inside every two-page cap in the table, and matches the low end of uni-assist's "one or two pages". How many words fit depends on the font; at TUM's format we estimate roughly 350 to 450.

Font, margins, spacing, file

TUM publishes the only full format specification among the pages we checked:

"All self-created application documents must be uploaded as PDF files. Please follow these format specifications: Format: A4 Font: Times New Roman or Arial Font size: 12 point Page margin: 2 centimeters Line spacing: 1.5-fold"

Of the other pages in the table, Hertie says "All documents must be submitted in .pdf format", and none states a font or margin rule. Some guides online give other margins, such as 2.5 cm. No university page we checked says 2.5 cm. Use the programme's rule where it has one, and TUM's where it does not. Do not shrink the font to fit a second page of text onto one.

Signature, headings and sending by email

Signature. None of the seven pages in the length table asks you to sign an uploaded motivation letter. TUM's header rule lists name, date of birth, date and title, and no signature. Our recommendation: end with "Yours faithfully" and your typed name. If you add a scanned signature, none of these pages forbids it. Signed forms do exist later: TUM's Mechanical Engineering page lists an "Application for Enrollment (signed)" among the documents required for enrolment. That is a different document. The visa letter is a different document again; see university vs visa motivation letter.

Headings. Do not put section headings in a one-page letter. Write paragraphs. Headings make sense only when the programme sets numbered questions with their own limits; then answer each question under its own label, in the programme's order.

Email. Upload through the portal; do not email the letter. TUM says: "During the application period, you must apply through the TUMonline application portal and upload your application documents." TU Berlin asks you to upload the letter "in the TU-Portal under 'weitere Nachweise'". RPTU's page says: "PLEASE USE ONLINE APPLICATION ONLY !!" Late uploads do not help either. TU Berlin states: "Documents that are submitted after the application deadline will not be considered."

First line and last line

The first line has to answer the programme's first question. The last line has to say what you will do with the degree. Two pairs, both constructed examples, written by us, not real applicant statements:

Weak opening:

Since my childhood I have been fascinated by machines, and I have always dreamt of studying in Germany.

Strong opening:

I am applying to the M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering at TUM to move from design checks on pump housings, which I did for two years at a supplier, to the simulation methods I could not learn on the job.

Weak closing:

I hope you will give me the opportunity to fulfil my dream. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Strong closing:

After the degree I want to work in product development for rotating equipment, where I can run the simulations myself instead of handing them to an outside team.

The weak opening names no programme and answers nothing. The strong one names the degree, the university, the past work and the gap the degree fills. The University of Göttingen's advice, written for its Intercultural Theology master's, says: "Do not use your letter of motivation to repeat your CV." The strong opening points at the CV's work entry. It does not repeat it.

Pre-upload checklist

Run these ten checks on the final PDF.

1. The length meets the programme page; with no stated limit, it fits on one page.
2. The top line has your first name, surname and date of birth.
3. The letter shows the date you wrote it and a title ("Letter of Motivation" or the programme's own term).
4. The university and course appear in bold at the top.
5. The salutation is "Dear Sir or Madam" unless the programme names a person.
6. The file is a PDF on A4, in 12-point Times New Roman or Arial, unless the programme sets other rules.
7. No postal addresses take up space.
8. The first sentence names the degree programme and the university.
9. Any idea or sentence from another source is marked as a quotation. TUM says: "Incorrect or missing citation of third-party content can lead to the document being rejected as plagiarism."
10. You are uploading through the programme's portal before the deadline, not emailing it.

On AI, TUM's style guide states: "The use of AI tools such as ChatGPT to create documents for an application at TUM is not permitted. Please refrain from using AI when creating your documents. Self-created application documents are thoroughly checked for the use of AI." That is TUM's published rule; the TUM plagiarism and AI rule page covers it.

Questions about German motivation letter format

How many words should a German motivation letter be?

Most of the pages we checked state pages, not words. Hertie MPP is the exception at 500–900 words. For a one-page letter at TUM's format, we estimate roughly 350 to 450 words.

Should I include my address and the university's address?

No. TUM says "it is not necessary to include a full letterhead or a postal address" because you upload the document. Use the space for your name, date of birth, the date, a title and the bold programme line.

Should I sign my motivation letter for Germany?

None of the seven pages we checked requires it. A typed name under "Yours faithfully" is enough.

Can I send my motivation letter to a German university by email?

Not in place of the portal. TUM, TU Berlin and RPTU all ask for online upload. Email the admissions office only with a question, not with the document.

Does uni-assist check the format?

uni-assist asks for the bold university and course line so it can link the letter to the right application. The uni-assist pages we checked set no length or font rule; its glossary only describes letters as "usually one or two pages long". For what uni-assist does and does not assess, see does uni-assist read your motivation letter.

Get a free review of your motivation letter

Get a free Quick Review of your motivation letter against GradPilot's German Motivationsschreiben rubric. It reads for why this programme, whether your coursework is mapped to the programme's stated requirements, your career direction, a specific reason for Germany and this university, and claims a reader can check. If your programme uses a portal text box instead of a PDF, use the character-limited text field rubric, which reads whether every character earns its place inside the stated limit.

More Germany motivation letter guides:

• Motivation letter for a master's in Germany: sample: one constructed page, annotated paragraph by paragraph.
• LOM vs SOP for Germany: how to cut a US statement of purpose down to a German letter.
• TUM motivation letter requirements: the limits TUM's programmes publish.
• More graduate application guides.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.

• TUM, Style guide for application documents (no year stated): format specification, header and salutation rule, one-page default, binding-regulations line, citation, plagiarism and AI rules.
• uni-assist, Other documents: bold university and course line.
• uni-assist, Glossary: letter of motivation: one or two pages.
• TUM School of CIT, M.Sc. Data Engineering and Analytics: two DIN-A4 pages.
• TUM, M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering: TUMonline upload; signed enrolment application.
• TU Berlin, Applying with a foreign first degree: Design and Computation limit, TU-Portal upload, late documents.
• RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, CVT application and admission requirements (no year stated): two-page cap, online application only.
• University of Göttingen, How to write the letter of motivation (M.A. Intercultural Theology): one page, max. 1.5; CV repetition.
• Hertie School, MPP admissions: 500–900 words; PDF.