Austria to Germany - why passport checks?

[Gambatte 898]

Im sitting in the train, Innsbruck to Munich, German police just checked our passports.

 

Fine with it, but I thought they didn't check it. I crossed many times in recent years and they mostly don't check.

 

I asked the Polizist, no fighting mode, and he patiently explained, bla bla border crossing bla bla visa. But my bad German, and both us wearing ffp2 masks, so I didn't understand.

 

Why do they check passport when crossing borders inside the EU?

[silty1 3,597]

They don't have to, but they can if they want.  Checking for illegals and / or overstayers might be a start.  One thing I never knew until being here for decades is you might have a permanent resident card, but if you are crossing a border you also need a passport just in case. I never bothered until was pulled over a few years ago at the Austria-German border while driving.

[snowingagain 5,204]

Ausweiss checks happen within Germany too.  Often at train and bus stations, but also on roads.

 

Heidelberg: Police action day: apartments, motorways, people are checked 24 hours a day (heidelberg24.de)

[fraufruit 41,959]

We always have to have our passports at the ready when driving from Slovenia to Austria and then Austria to Germany. They usually give a cursory look and don't take them. They do have the occasional car pull over for further inspection.

 

Every now and then, there is nobody standing there so we just wave our passports to the Universe. Thing is, we must have them at the ready just in case. No big deal.

 

Quite easy on a train when one is just sitting there and not driving.

[Gambatte 898]

Im fine with carrying my passport with me all the time, and showing it to them whenever.

 

But isn't this in conflict with the Schengen freedom of movement?

 

I'm not against by the checks. Im rather puzzled.

[mtbiking 1,887]

 

8 minutes ago, Gambatte said:

Im fine with carrying my passport with me all the time, and showing it to them whenever.

 

But isn't this in conflict with the Schengen freedom of movement?

 

I'm not against by the checks. Im rather puzzled.

 

It’s an attempt to control the illegal immigration.  

You’ve had too much fun in Italy by the way. I’m planning to join you in a few years, when my children and wife finally let me 😛

[Gambatte 898]

😊🚴👋👍

[Dembo 499]

12 minutes ago, Gambatte said:

But isn't this in conflict with the Schengen freedom of movement?

 

That's mixing up two things. Freedom of Movement is about the right to settle in another country (as long as you can support yourself); Schengen is about them sharing information so to have no need for border controls. The UK was part of FOM but never in Schengen. But you are supposed to have a passport with you (or a Passersatz - i.e. ID card) when you cross the border and they've always been able to check if they feel like it. And of course in extreme circumstance - i.e. Covid they can close the borders.

 

I probably posted this before but I made the mistake of not taking my passport on a bus trip to Poland from Berlin, thinking no passport controls. At the border a large policeman got on the bus and demanded everyone's passports or ID cards.  They did in the end let me in but only after the Pole who was leading our group convinced him we were only there for the day. Put me off ever going to Poland again. It seems there it is routine.

[Gambatte 898]

18 minutes ago, mtbiking said:

You’ve had too much fun in Italy.

It helps that from ugly Milan, with retirement Mum moved back to her native area, which just happen to be a fab place.

[yourkeau 7,719]

37 minutes ago, Gambatte said:

Im fine with carrying my passport with me all the time, and showing it to them whenever.

 

But isn't this in conflict with the Schengen freedom of movement?

 

I'm not against by the checks. Im rather puzzled.

Nope, it's legal to do random spot checks. Federal police of Germany can check any person or vehicle within 30 km from the border. 

 

But the police is not allowed to check everyone (unless it is temporary in an emergency situation, then member states should be notified). 

 

If you use local roads instead of federal roads/Autobahn, the probability of being checked is miniscule. 

 

Another posibility is to cross the border via mountains: the police are too lazy to climb there. 

 

Public transportation = police checks are performed regularly, and if you take a train from Eindhoven to Aachen and you look like someone who likes weed, the drug police will be on you in Aachen. 

[LukeSkywalker 7,605]

Just follow the local news: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/amp/bayern/gestiegene-zahlen-gefluechteter-so-reagiert-bayern,TKAs9Lf

 

Excerpt:”Von Januar bis August 2021 zählte die Bundespolizei in Bayern 8.854 unerlaubte Einreisen an der tschechischen und österreichischen Grenze - 2022 waren es 15.369.”

 

So, they intensified the border checks, because of the known Balkan-route for refugees.

 

 

[SpaceOne 7]

Border checks started with 2015, with first waves of refugees. They never stopped since. Latest excuse was covid and checking test results and vaccination status. Open borders in Schengen area is a long forgoten memory. 

[paulyg 81]

if the face don't fit...

 

[snowingagain 5,204]

14 minutes ago, SpaceOne said:

Open borders in Schengen area is a long forgoten memory.

 

I was checked well before 2015.  But not at all since.  This is on trains.  The French pick on brown people when going through the trains.

[fraufruit 41,959]

26 minutes ago, SpaceOne said:

Open borders in Schengen area is a long forgoten memory. 

 

Not sure where you're traveling but we almost never get checked. We are always prepared, though, just in case.

[BethAnnBitt 2,907]

52 minutes ago, SpaceOne said:

Border checks started with 2015, with first waves of refugees. They never stopped since. Latest excuse was covid and checking test results and vaccination status. Open borders in Schengen area is a long forgoten memory. 

Open borders are alive and well in my neighborhood.  I live directly on the German-Swiss border, as in 10 minutes by foot in several different directions.  No controls on the train either.  They can, but in practice it’s few and far between.

24 minutes ago, fraufruit said:

Not sure where you're traveling but we almost never get checked. We are always prepared, though, just in case.

Exactly.  Never been checked, in 3+ years, on this border or the one nearby to Austria.  But, gotta be aware of what you might need.

[yesterday 1,980]

My nephew visited me, couple of weeks ago

 

I drove him from Munich to Austria, boarder at Schnitz, then to Italy Boader was Brenner and back via the Timmels joch to Austria and into Germany at the boarder near Garmisch.

 

No boarder controls on the non-autobahn roads.

 

I have not seen a boarder on these routes since 1993, sure the autobahn sometimes gets boarder checks, depending on the political situation...

 

 

 

 

[Dembo 499]

1 hour ago, BethAnnBitt said:

Open borders are alive and well in my neighborhood.  I live directly on the German-Swiss border, as in 10 minutes by foot in several different directions.  No controls on the train either.  They can, but in practice it’s few and far between.

 

 

I was in Konstanz about a month ago and took a walk to Switzerland really to see what was on the border. I thought there'd at least be a sign or a flag or something, but apart from a notice about customs there was nothing to mark the border and I only realised I was in Switzerland by a car park being full of CH registered cars.

 

I didn't have my passport with me so I probably committed a very minor crime.

[klingklang77 499]

I usually have my passport on me when crossing borders. It’s the official form of ID for those who aren’t able to get the German ID cards. However, I usually don’t get checked. Sadly, certain features might flag you for being checked. 

 

[LukeSkywalker 7,605]

7 minutes ago, klingklang77 said:

Sadly, certain features might flag you for being checked.

You mean like this?