Short Answer
A retail parcel shop will refuse to hand your package to a friend unless they present a formally signed authorization document.
Verbal permission or showing a text message confirmation is legally insufficient to release a delivery.
What Most Expats Don't Realize
You missed a package delivery while at work and asked your roommate to pick it up from the local kiosk using your delivery slip. The shop clerk refused to hand over the parcel because your roommate did not have a physical, signed Vollmacht. Because you were traveling the following week, the storage window expired, the package was shipped back to the international retailer, and you lost €45 in non-refundable shipping and restocking fees.
What To Do
- Fill out and sign the authorization section (Vollmacht) on the back of the physical missed-delivery slip.
- Instruct your friend to bring their own official photo identification along with your signed paper to the shop.
- "Ich habe eine unterschriebene Vollmacht dabei." (I have a signed power of attorney document with me.) — have your friend say this to the shop clerk upon arrival.
The Truth
Germany enforces strict personal property and data protections on package distribution. The system prioritizes legal liability prevention over customer convenience, returning unclaimed parcels to sender exactly seven days after a missed delivery.