Every year, people lose over 250,000 items at stations and on trains. If you leave something on a train or at our stations, just submit a lost property enquiry form. You can find the participating rail transport companies for lost items in the section "Frequently asked questions".
Report lost items to the lost & found property. You can also check there to see if your lost item has been found.
Overview
Copy link to this sectionReport loss online
Copy link to this sectionThe simplest and quickest way to report your loss is directly on our lost & found platform. There you have the option of checking whether your lost item has been found, too.
Please note the following when submitting your loss report:
Copy link to this section- Please submit only one loss report
- Describe your object as precisely as possible.
- Check the suggested items displayed. If your lost item is displayed, please follow the instructions.
- As soon as your item has been found, we will let you know.
- Please note that there is a handling fee for collecting or sending a lost item.
- For international trains, please also submit a lost property report to the partner railway company. (Please see the relevant question in the FAQ section.)
Our service staff at the stations will be happy to help. You can also report your loss at the DB Information desk.
Please bear in mind that lost items may not ‘reach’ us until a few hours or 1–2 days after they were lost, once the train has reached its final destination.
Report loss on site
Copy link to this sectionOur service staff at the stations will also be glad to help you. You can obtain a search request for your missing item at the DB Information.
For further information on the regular auction dates for lost property and bicycles, and the terms and conditions of the auctions, please visit bahn.de/fundservice.
Have you found something?
Then please report it to us. According to Section 978 (1) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch BGB), the finder is obliged to hand over the found item without delay.
If you have found an item on the train or in the station area, you can hand it in to our staff. It is essential that you also ask our staff to confirm that the item has been handed in.
Passing on the address
When an item of lost property is returned to the rightful owner, we are obliged to inform the finder of the owner’s name and address so that the finder can assert their claims for a finder's reward against the owner.
Finder's reward
The finder is entitled to a finder's reward according to Section 978 et seq. BGB. A claim to a finder's reward is subject to the following conditions:
- The item has a value of at least EUR 50
- The finder is not an employee of DB AG, or a subsidiary or contracting company thereof
- The finder has not waived the finder's reward in advance
If the found item cannot be returned to its owner, the finder can claim their finder's reward from DB InfraGO AG following a period of three years after the auction date. The claim to a finder's reward expires six years after the auction date.
The finder's reward is equal to 2.5% of the item’s value if it is worth between EUR 50 and EUR 500, and 1.5% if it is worth more than EUR 500.
Frequently asked questions about the lost & found service
Copy link to this sectionPlease bear in mind that lost items may not "arrive" with us until several hours or a couple of days after you have lost them, when the train reaches its final stop.
If your lost item has an estimated value of more than EUR 15, you can report your loss online here on the page. This value limit does not apply to items with intangible value (e.g. photo albums, signed books with dedication, etc.).
You can then immediately see whether an item matching your description has been found via the DB InfraGO AG lost & found service database.
We will search for the lost item for you for four weeks and inform you as soon as the search has been successful. If we are unable to find your item after four weeks, we will stop looking for it. Please note that we will not notify you of this.
Lost property with a current market value estimated by us to be less than EUR 15 and with no recognisable intangible value is not recorded in our lost property platform.
In this case, please inquire at the lost property office at the station whether your item was handed in there.
You can find the list of lost property offices here on the page.
- If an item is handed in to the lost property service at the station, we enter it into a database along with a description and store it at the station’s lost property office for 7 days. By the way: if the item was found on the train by our staff after the journey had ended, it is usually transferred to the lost property office at the station where the journey ended.
- If the items are not collected from the premises within 7 days, we will take them to the central lost property office in Wuppertal. There, we will check the lost property again and search the database once more to see if anyone is looking for the item. The lost property is stored there for the duration of its retention period.
- Once the storage period has expired, lost property will be disposed of or put up for auction.
Please submit your loss notice online as soon as possible. Verlustmeldung Onlineformular
You can regain possession of your item in two ways:
- You can collect it in person from the storage location. When collecting lost property in person, you must present an official identification document (e.g. identity card, passport).
- You can have the item sent to you
In both cases we charge a handling fee. The amount depends on the type of return (collection/shipping) and the duration of storage. More information about this can be found under the section "Do I have to pay anything?"
We charge a processing fee for sorting and storing lost property. The amount depends on the type of return (collection/shipping), the category of lost property and the duration of storage.
- Everyday items = collection fee €10 (clothing, shopping bag, small electronic devices, sports bag, etc.)
- Valuables = collection fee €15 (smartphone, wallet, laptop, camera, suitcase, iPad, tablet, large amounts of cash, etc.)
- Pick-up from the central lost & found office in Wuppertal: Price of the above-mentioned find category + €10 processing fee
- Delivery by post: EUR 30 (including postage and packing)
- International shipping: For international shipping, the postage costs for the corresponding country are added to the fee of EUR 20.
- Dispatch from the lost & found office by ic:kurier: In particularly urgent cases, we can send you your item by ic:kurier. These parcels are dispatched immediately by courier and are delivered to you the next day at the latest, usually the same day. The current ic:kurier rates apply.
It is possible to hand over lost property to a third party. To do so, the following power of attorney form must be completed. The power of attorney must be signed by the owner and dated. The person collecting the lost property (the authorised representative) must present an official document (e.g. an identity card) when collecting it.
Please label your luggage with your name and contact details so that we can contact you should it go missing.
- Contact details on your smartphone and other electronic devices: To do this, go to ‘Lock screen’ and ‘Contact details’ in your device’s settings. Here, you can enter your name and an email address or telephone number. Your contact details will now always be displayed on the lock screen.
- Attach a luggage tag to your luggage (suitcases, rucksacks and other travel bags). This should include your name and your telephone number or email address. You can obtain free luggage tags from some DB Information desks at our stations.
- Place a piece of paper with your surname and first name inside your luggage, an item of clothing or your mobile phone case.
Our lost & found service is responsible for trains operated by the following rail companies:
(Information only in German)
- Züge der Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland GmbH,
- agilis Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, agilis Eisenbahngesellschaft mbH & Co.KG und Arverio BW,
- DB Regio AG,
- DB Fernverkehr AG,
- DB RegioNetz Verkehrs-GmbH Erzgebirgsbahn,
- DB RegioNetz Verkehrs-GmbH Kurhessenbahn,
- DB RegioNetz Verkehrs-GmbH SüdostBayernBahn,
- DB RegioNetz Verkehrs-GmbH Westfrankenbahn,
- Eurobahn – Keolis,
- Erfurter Bahn GmbH,
- Eurostar,
- HLB Hessenbahn GmbH (nur Teilnetz Südhessen-Untermain,
- Ländchesbahn,
- RE 98, RE 99, RB 24, RB 45, RB 46, RB 47, RB 48, RB 52 und Mittelhessenexpress),
- National Express Rail GmbH (NEX),
- NordBahn, NordWestBahn GmbH (NWB) – (nur Teilnetze Ostwestfalen,
- Weser Ems und Regio S-Bahn),
- RheinRuhrBahn (nur Linien RE 14; RB 31, RB 36; RE 44 und S 7),
- SNCF Voyages Deutschland GmbH,
- Start GmbH - Taunusnetz,
- SWEG (Nur Bahnnetzen 8a (Ortenau-S-Bahn und Hermann-Hesse-Bahn),
- 8b (Europabahn) und 9b (Breisgau-S-Bahn Los 2, Freiburger Y)),
- trans regio Deutsche Regionalbahn GmbH,
- WestfalenBahn GmbH,
- TRI Train Rental GmbH,
- Vias Rail GmbH – Nur RE 19, RE 35, RB 91, RE 16 und RB 10 (Rheingaulinie)
- S-Bahn Dresden,
- S-Bahn Hamburg,
- S-Bahn Magdeburg,
- S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland,
- S-Bahn München,
- S-Bahn Rhein-Main,
- S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar,
- S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr,
- S-Bahn Rostoc,
- S-Bahn Stuttgart,
- Start GmbH Mitteldeutschland.
* Lost property from the rail replacement service during the general overhaul of the Hamburg–Berlin corridor from 1 August 2025 to 30 April 2026 will be handled by the bus company ecoVista. Passengers enquiring about lost items on buses can contact the ecoVista operations centre: fundsachen@ecovista.eu
If you have lost your item on another train, please contact the respective rail company.
For information about lost property on trains operated by railway companies (such as Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH and FlixTrain GmbH) that do not participate in our lost property service, please contact them directly. You can find their contact details in the list of transport operators.
Have you lost or left behind an item on an international train? If so, please note the following:
- In addition to reporting the loss to us, please ensure you also submit a lost property report to the relevant partner railway company.
- In many cases, lost items are only discovered as lost property at the train’s final destination.
- Trains from Germany to other countries: The item is usually handed in to the foreign partner railway company.
- Trains from other countries to Germany: The item is usually handed in in Germany.
Direct links to selected partner railways:
- SBB (Schweiz): Verlustmeldung erfassen | SBB Hilfe & Kontakt
- ÖBB (Österreich): Lost & Found - ÖBB
- SNCF (Frankreich): Votre Déclaration de perte d'objet | Gares & Connexions
You can find further partner railways via an internet search.