Facts about DENIC's Domain Query
Check Domain Availability Now!
Your .de domain is your calling card on the web.
Check it quickly & easily now!
What information does the domain query provide?
The domain query immediately shows you:
- Domain status
- Technical data (e.g. name servers, DNS keys)
- Contact information:
- General Request – for general/technical enquiries
- Abuse – for reports of abusive or illegal use
For domains belonging to legal entities (e.g. companies, associations or organisations):
- Name and address of the domain holder
- e-mail address and telephone number
- Date of domain registration
- Name and contact details of the managing DENIC member
For domains belonging to natural persons, personal data of the domain holder remains protected for data protection reasons. The following information is publicly visible:
- Date of domain registration
- Name and contact details of the managing DENIC member
For domain holders
As a domain holder, you can use the domain query to view your data stored at DENIC, including your address and e-mail address.
- To do so, please use the Domain Query function, select Information about the domain holder, and enter your postcode or e-mail address.
- You will then receive an e-mail with a link to the e-mail address you have registered. This link will allow you to view your data for a limited period of time.
For third parties
Holder data is not publicly visible to third parties. Information is only disclosed in certain cases:
- To authorities within the scope of their legal duties (e.g. law enforcement)
- To third parties with a legitimate interest, e.g.:
- Rights holders in cases of name/ trademark infringements
- Creditors with an enforceable title
- Insolvency administrators
Appropriate forms are available here.
Data protection and background information
The DENIC domain query complies with the requirements of the GDPR, which regulates the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data in accordance with the principle of data minimisation:
- Contact details (General Request, Abuse) are not personalised and must be maintained by the provider.
Answers to your most frequent questions
If you are the holder of a domain, you can request a personal, time-limited link that allows you to view the data stored at DENIC for your domain.
For legal entities, this data corresponds to the information publicly displayed in the whois query.
For natural persons, the link allows them to view their own domain data, which is not displayed to the broader public for data protection reasons.
Please understand that we are legally obliged to publish certain contact details as part of domain administration.
The use of data retrieved via the domain query for the purpose of unsolicited commercial advertising is expressly prohibited.
Further information can be found in the legal notices and terms of use for the domain query.
Your domain is managed by a DENIC member at DENIC.
If your provider is not identical to the DENIC member displayed, it manages your domain via this member and is not itself a direct contractual partner of DENIC.
Your provider has indicated that the owner is a legal entity. If this is not correct, please contact the provider responsible for the domain directly. If your provider does not respond to your notification, the DENIC member displayed is the correct point of contact.
A legal entity is a legally recognised organisation that can itself be the bearer of rights and obligations without being a natural person (i.e. a human being).
Examples of legal persons under private law are:
- Corporations (e.g. limited liability companies, public limited companies)
- Registered associations (e. V.)
- Foundations under private law
Examples of legal entities under public law are:
- Local authorities (e.g. federal government, states, municipalities)
- Public-law institutions (e.g. broadcasting corporations)
- Public corporations (e.g. chambers of industry and commerce)
We only publish data relating to legal entities (ORG handles). Information relating to natural persons is not publicly accessible for data protection reasons. This means that the domain holder's data is also inaccessible, as they are a natural person.
Retrieving information via RDAP / whois
You can also retrieve information about a .de domain via RDAP and whois.denic.de (port 43).
The following information is displayed:
- Domain status
- technical data, and
- the date of the last change.
Example of retrieving a domain via whois.denic.de:
whois -h whois.denic.de -T dn <domain.de>