Short Answer
Medications containing active pharmacological ingredients are sold exclusively at an Apotheke, while drugstores like dm only carry supplements and mild wellness products.
If a product is not sold behind a professional counter by a pharmacist, it is legally classified as a food supplement rather than a medicine.
What Most Expats Don't Realize
You went to dm to find "real" flu medicine and bought a box of herbal capsules that looked like professional medication. Your symptoms worsened overnight because the "medicine" you bought contained only vitamins and had no active fever-reducing ingredients. You lost two extra days of work and €15 on ineffective supplements because you didn't realize that anything sold on a self-service shelf in Germany is not a pharmaceutical drug.
What To Do
- Look for the large red "A" sign on the street whenever you need actual painkillers or cough suppressants.
- Ask the staff at dm if a product is "apothekenpflichtig" (pharmacy-only) before you buy it for a serious illness.
- "Ist das ein echtes Medikament oder nur ein Nahrungsergänzungsmittel?" (Is this a real medicine or just a food supplement?) Ask this at the counter if you are unsure about the product's strength.
The Truth
Germany maintains a strict legal separation between retail drugstores and pharmacies. If you can pick it up yourself and put it in a basket, it will not cure a clinical infection.