The Bewerbungsfoto: still expected, legally fraught, quietly disappearing

For decades, a German application without a photo was simply incomplete: a professional studio portrait, top right of the CV or on a dedicated cover sheet, was as standard as the signature at the bottom. That world is ending — but unevenly, which is exactly what makes the question hard for applicants. The law moved first, large employers followed, and tradition is taking its time. Here is where things actually stand.

What the law says

Since the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) came into force in 2006, German employers may not base hiring decisions on characteristics like ethnic origin, gender, age, religion or disability — several of which a photo reveals at a glance. The AGG does not ban photos; it removed any basis for requiring one, because an employer who demands a photo is demanding exactly the information the law says must not drive the decision. That legal tension is why no serious German employer today will state that a photo is mandatory, whatever individual recruiters privately prefer.

The anonymized-application experiment

Germany has tested the logical endpoint. The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes) ran a pilot project on anonymized application procedures — CVs without photo, name, age or origin — with participating companies and public bodies, and published its results; the project’s conclusions supported the case that removing photos and personal data levels access to the interview stage. Anonymized applications did not become the German standard, but the pilot marks the direction the system has been drifting ever since: away from appearance, toward evidence.

What employers actually do now

Three broad camps. International companies, tech and startups: no photo expected, and applications flow through ATS forms that often have no place for one — an English-language application with a photo actually reads as unfamiliar with international norms. Large German corporates: officially photo-optional across the board, and increasingly explicit about it in their application FAQs; Deutsche Bahn’s move to slimmed-down applications for apprenticeships — no cover letter required since 2018 — is part of the same trend of stripping ritual from high-volume hiring. The traditional camp: parts of the Mittelstand, some conservative industries and regions, where a good photo is still received as a sign of seriousness. Nobody in any camp will reject a strong CV for lacking a photo; the asymmetry only runs the other way — a bad photo can hurt everywhere.

So: include one or not?

Default to no photo. That is the safe, modern choice for ATS-driven applications, international employers, tech, and any English-language CV — where a photo is not merely unnecessary but counterproductive. Consider including one only where the traditional signal plausibly helps: a German-language application to a traditional company, in a customer-facing or representative role, in a conservative industry. If you do include one: recent, professional quality, neutral background, business dress matched to the industry — the smartphone-selfie middle ground genuinely is worse than nothing. And never let the photo decision delay an application; it is the least important strong opinion in German hiring.

The quiet consequence for your documents

Keep two CV masters: a German version where a photo can be slotted in when a specific application warrants it, and an international version that never carries one — along with none of the other legacy personal data (birth date, marital status) that the same AGG logic retired. The photo question then stops being a question: it becomes a per-application toggle with a sensible default, which is all it ever deserved to be.

The Bewerbungsfoto is not yet gone, but it has flipped from requirement to option — and the burden of proof has changed sides. You no longer need a reason to leave it out. You need one to put it in.