Key points at a glance
- The basis is § 5 DDG: name, address for service, email and a quick way to get in touch, and for companies the legal form and authorised representatives.
- The commercial register entry, the USt-IdNr. (VAT ID) or the Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer (business ID) belong in the legal notice as soon as you have them.
- A supervisory authority only has to be named if the business needs an official permit; if you hold a Gaststättenerlaubnis (restaurant licence), there are good reasons to name the authority that issued it.
- A blog with editorial posts may require a responsible person under § 18 (2) MStV; from eleven employees, the notice under § 36 VSBG is added.
- A privacy policy under Art. 13 GDPR and consent for non-essential cookies under § 25 TDDDG are separate obligations alongside the legal notice.
This post is general information and does not replace legal or tax advice. Rules change and some differ between federal states: check the details with your chamber of commerce (WKO) or IHK, the competent authority or your tax adviser.
From TMG to DDG: what changed in 2024
On 14 May 2024, the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG, digital services act) replaced the Telemediengesetz. The legal notice obligation is now in § 5 DDG, and the wording has largely stayed the same. In practice this matters: references such as "Angaben gemäß § 5 TMG" are outdated. They do not automatically make the legal notice wrong, but they look careless and are a good reason to check the whole text.
The obligation applies to digital services offered on a business basis, which means every website of a hospitality business, even if nothing is sold there. The details must be easy to recognise, directly accessible and permanently available. A proven solution is a "Legal notice" link in the footer of every page and on your social media profiles. Which other pages a hospitality website needs is described in the guide Content of a hospitality website. If you sell tables, rooms or food online, you should also know the requirements of the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (accessibility act), see Accessibility of your hospitality website.
Mandatory details under § 5 DDG
| Detail | When | Hospitality example |
|---|---|---|
| Name and address of the establishment | always | Max Muster, Marktplatz 3, 12345 Musterstadt |
| Legal form and authorised representatives | for legal entities and partnerships | Muster Gastro GmbH, represented by its managing director Anna Muster |
| Email and quick contact option | always | email plus phone number |
| Competent supervisory authority | if the business needs an official permit | Ordnungsamt or Gewerbeamt (local regulatory or trade office) that issued the Gaststättenerlaubnis |
| Register and register number | if entered in the commercial, partnership or cooperative register | Amtsgericht Musterstadt, HRB 12345 |
| USt-IdNr. or W-IdNr. | if you have one | DE123456789 |
| Share capital | only if you state anything about capital; then outstanding contributions too | share capital 25,000 euros |
| Winding-up or liquidation | for AG, KGaA and GmbH in liquidation | Muster Gastro GmbH i. L. |
- Name: sole traders give their first and last name. "Pizzeria Bella" alone is not enough, "Pizzeria Bella, owner Marco Muster" is.
- Address: an address where documents can be served, not a PO box. Usually this is the address of the venue.
- Contact: an email address is mandatory. Add a second quick option, usually the phone number guests look for anyway to book a table.
- Register: e.K., OHG, KG, GmbH and UG are entered in the Handelsregister (commercial register) and state the register court and number. A GbR entered in the Gesellschaftsregister (partnership register) names that entry.
- Tax numbers: state the USt-IdNr. if you have one. The Wirtschafts-Identifikationsnummer under § 139c AO is being issued gradually by the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (Federal Central Tax Office); as soon as you have one, it belongs in the legal notice too. You do not have to publish your ordinary tax number.
Gaststättenerlaubnis and supervisory authority: the tricky question
§ 5 (1) no. 3 DDG requires details of the competent supervisory authority if the service is offered as part of an activity that needs official approval. This means activities that may only be started once a permit has been granted. For hospitality, that means:
Find out whether you need a permit
Under the federal Gaststättengesetz (restaurant act), anyone serving alcoholic drinks needs a permit (§ 2 GastG). Many federal states have their own restaurant acts, and some only require a notification instead of a permit. In Baden-Württemberg, for example, a notification procedure has applied since 1 January 2026. A café that serves no alcohol usually needs no permit anyway.
With a permit: name the authority
If your business needs a permit, the Gaststättenerlaubnis is an official approval within the meaning of § 5 DDG. Then name the authority that issued the permit and supervises the business, depending on the location the Ordnungsamt, Gewerbeamt, city administration or Landratsamt (district office), with its address.
Without a permit: no obligation, but no harm
If a notification is enough in your state, there is no approval and the mandatory detail does not apply. If you are unsure, you can still name the competent authority; an unnecessary but correct detail does no harm.
Ask the authority
Each state sets its own responsibilities, and the supervising office is not always the one that received your application. A quick call to the Gewerbeamt clears it up.
Blog, newsletter and magazine: responsible person under § 18 (2) MStV
If your website offers not just the menu and opening hours but journalistic-editorial content, § 18 (2) Medienstaatsvertrag (MStV, the interstate media treaty) requires you to name a responsible person with name and address as well. Whether a blog falls under this depends on the individual case. Pure advertising for your own business, news about the lunch menu or event announcements usually do not count as journalistic-editorial. Regular articles about regional cuisine, interviews with suppliers or an online magazine on a hotel website may.
How to get it right
- For regular editorial posts, name a responsible person with full name and address
- Label the detail "Verantwortlich nach § 18 Abs. 2 MStV"
- Replace outdated references to § 55 RStV or § 5 TMG
Better not
- Enter an agency or service provider as the responsible person if they are not responsible for the content
- Give a PO box instead of an address
- Publish third-party texts as your own blog posts without checking them
Consumer dispute resolution under § 36 VSBG
Under § 36 VSBG (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz, consumer dispute resolution act), businesses that run a website or use general terms and conditions must state whether they are willing or obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration body. Businesses that employed ten people or fewer on 31 December of the previous year are exempt. Heads are counted, not full-time positions: temporary staff and minijobbers count too, which quickly takes a hospitality business over the limit.
- Up to ten employees, no participation: no obligation. A voluntary sentence does no harm.
- More than ten employees: a notice on the website, for example "Wir sind weder bereit noch verpflichtet, an Streitbeilegungsverfahren vor einer Verbraucherschlichtungsstelle teilzunehmen." (We are neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration body.)
- Voluntary or mandatory participation: state the name, address and website of the competent arbitration body, regardless of business size.
- ODR platform: the EU online dispute resolution platform was shut down on 20 July 2025. Remove the link to it that used to be common.
Privacy policy for restaurant, café and hotel
Under Art. 13 GDPR you inform guests who use your website about the controller, purposes, legal bases, recipients, retention period and their rights. The privacy policy is a separate page that, like the legal notice, should be reachable from everywhere. In hospitality, these services typically come up:
- Reservation tools such as OpenTable, TheFork, Quandoo, resmio or aleno, often with details on allergies or occasions. Check data processing agreements and the providers' roles, see Online reservations.
- Ordering and delivery: Lieferando, Wolt or your own ordering shop with a payment provider, see Delivery platforms.
- Google Maps and YouTube: they transmit data as soon as they load. A two-click solution or a static map image with a link helps; OpenStreetMap is an alternative.
- Instagram feeds and embedded posts load content from Meta.
- Fonts: in 2022 the Landgericht München I (Munich regional court) ruled that dynamically embedded Google Fonts without consent can be a data protection violation. Locally hosted fonts solve the problem.
- Review widgets from Google or Tripadvisor and newsletter tools.
Cookies and consent under § 25 TDDDG
The Telekommunikation-Digitale-Dienste-Datenschutz-Gesetz (TDDDG, the telecoms and digital services data protection act) only allows information to be stored on or read from your guests' devices with consent (§ 25 (1)). The exception is what is strictly necessary to provide a service they explicitly requested (§ 25 (2) no. 2), such as a shopping cart in a voucher shop or storing the cookie choice itself. Analytics, advertising pixels, maps and videos, on the other hand, usually need consent before they load.
Legal notice and privacy before going live
- Legal notice and privacy policy can be reached from every page with one click
- Name, address for service, email and phone are correct
- Legal form, authorised representatives and register number are added, where applicable
- USt-IdNr. or W-IdNr. is given, if you have one
- The supervisory authority is named if a Gaststättenerlaubnis was required
- References to § 5 TMG and the link to the ODR platform are removed
- The VSBG notice is added if you have more than ten employees
- External services load only after consent, fonts are on your own server
Create the legal notice for your business
The free legal notice generator guides you through the details under § 5 DDG for restaurants and hotels, including supervisory authority and VSBG notice.
A website with the legal part ready
Meine-Gastro-Website plans in the legal notice, privacy policy and data-saving technology from the start. Your personal preview is free and without obligation.
A free preview of your venue website, designed by us.
