Medical Certificate in Cologne: Online, Same-Day from €34.99
- Certificate types covering every common use case in Germany
- Licensed doctors (Ärzte) reviewing every case via a real video consultation, never a questionnaire alone
- Same-day delivery, usually within 30 minutes on weekdays
- Full refund if the doctor cannot issue your certificate
- 🇩🇪 EUR pricing
- DSGVO & BDSG data protection
- Accepted by employers, Krankenkassen & sports clubs
Yes. From Cologne, your case is reviewed online by a registered doctor, with no appointment and no travel. All six certificate types are a flat €34.99, delivered as a PDF. It states the doctor's findings for an employer, school, club or insurer in Germany. It is not the eAU that a treating practice transmits to your Krankenkasse.
Last updated: 10 September 2026
Reviewed by Dr. Anjum Ilahi (MBBS, MS) GMC · Cardiology and MRCPI
✓ 400+ customers served in Cologne
Getting a Medical Certificate in Cologne
Cologne is one of North Rhine-Westphalia's largest cities and carries a strong media and broadcasting sector alongside a significant insurance industry, plus a wide base of retail, services and public-sector employment. Sick-leave handling varies as much here as the employer base does: a large insurer with a formal HR process is a very different experience from a small independent business with none.
The University of Cologne is one of Germany's largest universities, and illness affecting exams, coursework or a placement there is generally handled through its own formal process, with its own evidence requirements set by the faculty rather than nationally.
We don't operate a clinic anywhere in Cologne — the assessment happens entirely online, reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in Germany. That's deliberate: it means you don't need to be well enough to travel across the city to be seen.
Cologne has something most German cities don't: a very large overnight workforce. UPS has run its central European air hub at Cologne Bonn Airport since 1986 and employs more than 3,000 people there, with parcel sorting core time starting at 23:00 and up to 18 freighters a night handled by around 2,800 staff per shift; DHL operates a hub at the same airport. Night work changes the practical side of sick leave far more than the legal side — the deadline that matters is the start of your next rostered shift, and that can fall at 23:00 on a day when nothing has been open since the afternoon. Ford's Cologne-Niehl site, the company's European electrification centre and the subject of several thousand announced job cuts, plus the REWE Group and Lufthansa Group head offices, add further large workforces with written absence procedures of their own.
For treatment rather than paperwork, the city is well covered: the Universitätsklinikum Köln has 59 clinics and institutes and more than 10,000 staff, and the city-owned Kliniken der Stadt Köln runs Merheim, Holweide and the children's hospital on Amsterdamer Straße with around 4,900 employees and roughly 1,400 planned beds between them. Merheim alone is a maximum-care hospital with 724 planned beds, and Holweide's maternity clinic handles some 1,800 births a year. Demand is also seasonal here in a way few German cities match: the 2026 street carnival runs from Weiberfastnacht on 12 February to Ash Wednesday on 18 February, with the Rosenmontag parade on 16 February drawing over a million people along an eight-kilometre route. If an absence falls in that week, expect your employer's written notification procedure to matter more than usual — read it in advance rather than on the day.
Media and broadcasting
A significant part of Cologne's employer base, alongside a large insurance sector. Sick-leave handling varies by employer, not by industry rule.
Insurance and services
Larger employers here often run a formal absence process with an occupational sick-pay scheme on top of the statutory minimum.
University of Cologne
One of Germany's largest universities. Illness affecting exams or coursework is handled through the institution's own process.
Club and school sport
Sports clubs across Cologne commonly ask for medical clearance before participation, particularly for underage and contact sport.
All Certificate Types Available in Germany
Every certificate type is reviewed by a licensed doctor via a genuine video consultation and assessed against German requirements. Choose the one that matches your situation.
Sick Leave Certificate (AU)
Issued as an Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (AU) for work absence in Germany, after a real video consultation, and transmitted electronically (eAU) to your Krankenkasse and, where required, your employer.
From €34.99Sports Fitness Certificate
For German school sports, Sportverein youth football and handball clearance, and competitions requiring medical fitness confirmation. Valid 12 months.
From €34.99General Fitness Certificate
For German gym membership and personal training sign-up where a health declaration is requested.
From €34.99General Medical Certificate
For insurance claims, visa applications, and other general documentation needs in Germany.
From €34.99How It Works in Cologne
Complete assessment
3-5 minutes. Select your certificate type, confirm Germany as your country, and answer relevant health questions. No payment yet.
Doctor conducts a video consultation
A licensed physician reviews your case and, for sick leave (AU) certificates, completes a genuine video consultation with you, as required under German law. Reviewed during German business hours (9am-6pm CET/CEST, Monday-Friday). May request more information.
Receive your PDF
Emailed same day, usually within 30 minutes of approval, with doctor credentials and a verification reference. For AU certificates, your doctor also completes the eAU transmission to your Krankenkasse where required.
Who Asks for a Medical Certificate in Cologne
Cologne employers
A certificate from a doctor registered to assess cases in Germany satisfies the documentation most employers ask for. Under §5 EntgFG, your employer may require it from day 1 or day 4, depending on your contract.
University of Cologne and colleges
Commonly requested as supporting evidence where illness has affected exams, coursework or a placement. Each institution sets its own evidence requirements.
Clubs and gyms
Sports clubs and gyms across the city may ask for medical clearance before participation, particularly for contact sport.
Insurers and other bodies
General medical certificates are sometimes requested for insurance claims or similar administrative purposes, where what matters is that a genuine assessment took place.
Germany Pricing: All Certificate Types
| Certificate Type | Our Price | Typical Private Visit |
|---|---|---|
| Sick Leave Certificate (AU) | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Sports Fitness Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| General Fitness Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Fit to Fly Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Return to Work Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| General Medical Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
Typical private in-person doctor visit costs are general ranges reported for German private consultations and vary by clinic, specialty (a sports medicine or travel-clinic assessment can cost more than a routine GP visit), and location within Germany.
The price difference mainly reflects convenience rather than a lower quality of assessment: a genuine video consultation with a licensed doctor still takes place for AU certificates, and you avoid travel time, waiting-room time, and the need to take unplanned time off to visit a practice in person. For non-AU certificate types, such as a fitness or fit-to-fly certificate, our fixed price also removes the uncertainty of a private clinic's individual consultation fee, which can vary considerably between providers and cities.
Germany Legal Snapshot: What Applies in Cologne
Sick-leave and certificate rules are set nationally, so what follows applies in Cologne exactly as it does anywhere else in Germany.
Yes — you can get a medical certificate (doctor's note) in Germany online, reviewed by a registered doctor and usually issued the same day, from €34.99. In Germany, the standard sick-leave document is the Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (AU): literally the "certificate of incapacity to work." The statutory minimum is that employers can require an AU from day 4 of illness, though many employers use their contractual right to request one from day 1. Since 2023, the AU has been transmitted electronically as the eAU, sent directly between your doctor, your statutory health insurer (Krankenkasse), and your employer. For sport, gym, travel, or general purposes, a separate certificate type applies. See the full list below. In everyday English this is often just called a doctor's note for Germany, even where the official local term differs.
| Local document name | Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (AU): German for "certificate of incapacity to work." Often just called a Krankschreibung in everyday speech. |
|---|---|
| Statutory minimum | An AU can be required by your employer from day 4 of illness |
| Employer-specific rule | Many employers use their contractual right under German law to require an AU from day 1 of absence instead. Check your contract or ask HR which rule applies to you |
| Who can legally issue it | A licensed physician (Arzt), after a genuine clinical assessment carried out in person or by video consultation |
| Electronic transmission (eAU) | In place since 2023: the AU is sent directly between your doctor, your Krankenkasse, and, where applicable, your employer |
| Submission deadline | Inform your employer without delay, and submit the AU per your employer's required timeline (day 1 or day 4, depending on company policy) |
| Governing framework | §5 of the Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz (EntgFG, the Continued Remuneration Act) |
| Data protection law | DSGVO, the German name for the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies directly, together with the BDSG (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), Germany's national law supplementing it |
Note on day-1 vs day-4 rules: German law sets day 4 of illness as the statutory minimum point at which an employer can require an AU. In practice, many employment contracts and company sickness policies validly require an AU from day 1 of absence instead. Confirm which rule applies to you with your employer or HR department before you rely on either timeline.
Our Germany Medical Team
Every Germany certificate is reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in Germany. Physicians practising in Germany are subject to oversight by the Bundesärztekammer (German Medical Association) together with the relevant state medical chamber (Landesärztekammer), and registration details can be independently checked through those bodies. A clinician will only issue a certificate, including an Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (AU), after a genuine video consultation, and only if it is clinically appropriate to do so; if it is not, you receive a full refund.
Registered practitioners, not a call centre.
Every doctor is independently verified against their national medical council before they see a single patient - including for patients in Cologne.
Dr. Christine G.
Reg. #Dr. Michael K.
Reg. #Dr. Robert B.
Reg. #Dr. Susanne R.
Reg. #Medical Certificates in Cologne: Common Questions
No. The assessment is completed online and reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in Germany, so where you are in the country makes no difference to the process or the price. This page exists because people search for their own city.
Our certificate is €34.99 flat, including the doctor's review, the PDF and its verification reference. A typical private in-person consultation in Germany commonly falls in the €50-€120 range. It is not a substitute for care — if you need to be examined or treated, see a doctor in person.
It depends on your contract. §5 EntgFG allows employers to require a certificate from day 4 of illness, but many employers use their own contractual right to ask for one from day 1 instead. Check your employment contract or staff handbook.
It can support an application, but each faculty sets its own evidence requirements and some ask for a specific form or wording. Check what your department actually requires first.
Same day, usually within 30 minutes of the doctor approving your case during business hours. Some cases take longer where the doctor needs more information before deciding.
The telephone route was made permanent in December 2023 and is narrower than most people assume. It covers an initial certificate of up to five calendar days, only where symptoms are not severe, only where a video consultation isn't possible, and only if the practice already knows you as a patient — a follow-up certificate cannot be issued by telephone at all. If you are a registered patient at a Cologne practice and you fit those conditions, that route is covered by statutory insurance and costs you nothing. The €34.99 assessment exists for the cases it doesn't reach: no practice of your own, no slot, or a certificate type that isn't sick leave.
Usually, if you submit during the day. Approved certificates issue the same day, normally within about half an hour of the doctor's decision in business hours, so an afternoon request generally lands well before a late-evening shift. A request submitted in the small hours may not be reviewed until the morning, which is the honest limit. Either way, notify your employer first by whatever route your contract requires: notification and documentation are two separate duties, and the certificate does not discharge the first one.
Generally no. Statutory insurance covers the certificate your own practice issues; a privately obtained assessment is a private service you pay for yourself. Some private insurers, and some employers that insist on documentation from day one, will reimburse a private medical fee if you ask, so it is worth asking rather than assuming. The fee is €34.99 for any of the six certificate types.
It is the right type, but check the airline before you buy anything. Carriers publish their own conditions for travel after surgery or during late pregnancy, and several require their own medical information form assessed by their own medical service — Lufthansa, for instance, wants its form with its Medical Operation Centre at least 48 hours before departure. Tell us what the airline's policy asks for and the review is against that rather than a generic template. Where the carrier insists on its own form completed after an in-person examination, no online certificate replaces it.
A sick-leave certificate states incapacity and the period it covers, not a diagnosis. On the electronic route your employer sees only the start and expected end date, whether it is an initial or follow-up certificate, and whether an accident was the cause — never the diagnosis. Exam offices are likewise not entitled to demand diagnostic detail, only a statement about capacity. If a manager asks what you have, you are not obliged to tell them.
A certificate anyone can check - in seconds.
Every certificate is issued by a doctor registered with their national medical council, after a real assessment, and carries a reference code that resolves instantly - whether your employer is in Dublin, Berlin or Warsaw.
- ✓Issued only after a genuine clinical review
- ✓Unique reference code, checkable by anyone
- ✓Covers sick leave, fitness-to-work & carer's leave
- ✓Delivered as a signed PDF within the hour
