Terms of use

This is an English translation of our Nutzungsbedingungen. If the two versions differ, the German version applies.

1. Scope

These terms apply to your use of topicdrill.com in German and English, including the tools and the optional member area. The provider is the operator named in the imprint ("we"). By using the website you accept these terms; for the member area they form an agreement between you and us from the moment you register.

2. Our service

Topicdrill is a free, private and independent guide to everyday life admin in Germany: moving and registering your address (Anmeldung), waste and bulky waste, benefits, applications, tax and property tax, city pages with facts from official sources, and free tools that run in your browser. There is no entitlement to any particular availability, content or feature. We may change, extend or discontinue content and features at any time.

3. No legal or tax advice – and not an authority

Our content and tool results are general information. They don't replace individual legal, tax or benefits advice and aren't binding. We are not a public authority. Only the law and the decisions of the responsible offices are binding. We work hard to keep information correct and up to date, but we can't guarantee that it is complete, accurate or current – deadlines, amounts and responsibilities change. Please check important details with the responsible office; you'll find our sources under every article and on the city pages.

4. Member account

• An account is optional and free. You can use it to save moving checklists, for example.
• Give truthful details when you register, in particular an email address that belongs to you.
• Keep your password secret and don't share your account. Please tell us straight away if your account is misused.
• You can have your account deleted at any time without giving a reason – an email is enough (see contact).
• We may suspend or delete accounts that breach these terms or are misused. If we close the member area, we'll let you know by email beforehand.

5. Fair use

Please use Topicdrill in a way that lets others use it too. In particular, you may not:

• overload the website or our APIs with automated bulk requests, or get around security measures,
• misuse forms for spam, advertising or unlawful or offensive content,
• gain unauthorised access to other people's accounts or the admin area,
• copy our content in full or in substantial parts and publish it as your own.

6. Copyright and quoting

Texts, tables, data compilations, graphics and images on Topicdrill are protected by German copyright and database law (UrhG). You may do whatever the law allows – in particular quote short extracts with a credit and a link to the page (§ 51 UrhG). Linking to our pages is very welcome. Any further use, such as republishing whole articles or tables, needs our prior consent in writing (email is fine).

Statutes and official works we quote are in the public domain under § 5 UrhG. Some municipality and postcode data comes from open data sources; we list their licence notices on our methodology & sources page. Illustrations created with AI are labelled as such.

7. AI assistants, search engines and crawlers

Our robots.txt allows search engines and AI assistants to read our public pages and cite them with a link to the source. A compact overview for AI systems is available at /llms.txt. Please name Topicdrill as the source and link to the specific page so readers can check the date and sources. Automated access, including text and data mining (§ 44b UrhG), is governed by the rules in our robots.txt; blocked areas (e.g. member area, admin, APIs) must not be crawled.

8. Feedback and reports

If you send us feedback, error reports or suggestions (e.g. via "Was this helpful?" or the error-report button), we may use them free of charge to check, correct and improve our content. We don't publish your message or name you without your consent. Please only send content you have the rights to, and no sensitive personal data.

9. Links to other websites and advertising

We link to websites of authorities and other providers. We have no influence over their content; the provider in question is responsible (see our disclaimer). Topicdrill is funded by Google ads, labelled "Advertisement". The advertiser alone is responsible for anything offered in an ad, and any contract is between you and them. Advertisers have no influence on our editorial content.

10. Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, and under the German Product Liability Act. For slightly negligent breaches of an essential obligation – one that makes proper use possible in the first place and that you can normally rely on – our liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this kind of service. Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded. These rules also apply to our staff and agents.

11. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms, for example when our service or the law changes. The version published here, with the date shown above, applies. We'll tell members about significant changes by email in advance. If you don't agree with a change, you can have your account deleted at any time.

12. Governing law and jurisdiction

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer whose habitual residence is in another country, you keep the protection of that country's mandatory rules. The courts at the operator's place of business have jurisdiction only as far as the law permits, in particular for merchants, public-law entities and persons with no general place of jurisdiction in Germany. If any provision is invalid, the rest remain valid.