Are you a citizen or national of a country from which you are only authorised to enter Germany with a visa? Then you must apply for this at the diplomatic mission responsible for you.

You need a Schengen visa

• category "A" (airport transit visa) for transit by air (this visa only allows you to stay in the transit area of the airport without leaving it through a border control point)
• category "C" (short-stay visa) for
  • travelling by land through the Schengen area to a third country that is not a Schengen state.
  • a short stay of up to 90 days within a period of 180 days from the date of first entry. It authorises short stays in
    • Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania.
    • switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Please note: You may not take up gainful employment with a category "C" visa if this is not stated on the visa.

You can also obtain the visa for several stays with a validity period of up to five years. The prerequisite is that the period of stay does not exceed 90 days within a period of 180 days from the date of first entry. Please note that the visacanonlybe extended by the immigration authorities toa very limitedextentafter you have entered the country.

For a longer stay, you need a national visa of category "D"