Where to look for a lost passport

So I've managed to lose or misplace my passport returning from my last trip home. It's either somewhere in the apt. or I lost it in transit between the airport and home a few weeks back. Going to give the apt. a thorough search this weekend but if I can't find it where would should I go looking for it before I report it missing and order a replacement. I could have lost it in the airport or on the DB train or local u-bahn. Would I check with DB, HVV, airport, polizei, local embassy or somewhere else! Where do lost passports end up if they are handed in?

In the black market?

Yeah, but we are in Germany here. The majority of Germans do the right thing

Behind the couch?

You didn't lose or misplace it, you just don't know where it is.

You can call Lost and Found for Deutsche Bahn at their general lost and found hotline number to see if someone turned it in.

inform your embassy and get a new one

Check with the Polizei too. Stuff that gets handed in is often turned over to them before it goes to the Fündburo.

Run, don't walk to the nearest Embassey, and get it listed as lost/stolen..
UK and US passports are hot ticket items now adays on the black market.
Even if somebody finds it and turns it in, all thats needed to make counterfeit
passports with valid info, is the photo page. If they have that they can make
many dupe PP's with your info..

Get a new one (with different PP #'s) and get the old one blacklisted ASAP..

Just a thought...

Whenever we've gone camping, the campsites always insist on taking our passports from us until we leave. I always get a bit shirty about it, as I'm really not comfortable leaving my passport with anyone. My partner (German) insists that it's not a problem, but then he would say that - he's in his own country!

Is this even allowed? Does anyone here know how the embassy would view such a situation?

K

It's normal for them to hold your passport. It's for insurance purposes. But... you could get yourself a 'Camping Carnet' for about €5 per year which can be used as a substitute, so you keep your passport in your own hands.

Edit: Here's a link for some more info. It may be worth you joining AvD.

Just got back from Greece yesterday and at the hotel, they wanted to keep our American passports. I was very much against this because you could see all the little slots with the room numbers and all the passports of the other guests and the American passports are pretty obvious (dark blue instead of red). But, they had no problem letting us keep it and just giving them our driver's licenses.
Don't give it up if you don't feel comfortable.

Aaah, a piece of advice that can be applied to so many situations...

Conductors on night trains tend to take them as well if you'll be travelling cross-borders. The first time I was very apprehensive about it but after seeing my fellow travellers giving theirs up, I gave in. Especially when I heard the alternative was possibly being woken up in the middle of the night to check my papers.

My comfort level with this dropped back in January, though, while I was on a night train from Copenhagen to Fulda. It was a mid-week train and was almost completely empty. I was travelling with a buddy and we went to the bar bistro car and started talking to the only other two young people on the train. We wound up having a little party and the conductor was visibly displeased with us when he came through to help the attendant close shop for the night. Our stop in Fulda was at 6AM and I woke up 30 seconds before the train pulled out, with my eurail pass and the passport lying on the floor next to me. I guess the conductor didn't feel like waking me to hand them back, so he left them on top of me and they fell when I rolled over. By the time I got my shoes on the train was moving and I had to wait until Würzburg to get off and then backtrack.

Other than that, I've had nothing but good night train/passport giving-up experiences.

Lost and Found thread

For sure give the Fündbüro in the above link a call. Can't hurt, athough I think it's only a UBahn and general Munich lost and found. The direct number for the Fündbüro is (089) 233-45914.

Here's another link to the Munich DB Lost and Found office:

Munich HBF / DB Trains Lost and Found

Probably doesn't help you, but I was pretty impressed this spring when I lost my passport in the Frankfurt airport... dropped it I guess... i went to an info desk to find out what I should do, and the lady said, I just had a call, it's at lost and found.

Check the dirty washing basket for the clothes you were wearing on the day you lost it.

If you are anything like me, the passpost is still in the trouser pocket where you left it...

Having found someone's wallet which included their passport, I turned it in to the nearest Police station in Cologne. They mentioned that they would be contacting the closest embassy/consulate (in this case for Brazil) on the next working day to arrange to send it there.