Moving Notification Letter

Why Moving Notifications Appear in the Goethe B1 Exam

Moving (Umzug) is a major life event that requires notifying multiple parties in Germany — your landlord, utility companies, insurance providers, bank, employer, and government offices. The ability to write a clear, formal address change notification is a practical skill that the Goethe B1 exam tests as part of formal letter writing.

This task type is straightforward but requires attention to detail: you need to provide all necessary information (old address, new address, effective date, account numbers) in a well-structured formal format.

Example Situation

You are moving from Munich to Hamburg on May 1st. Write a formal letter to your bank informing them of your address change and asking them to update your records and send your new bank card to the new address.

How to Structure a Moving Notification

State the purpose immediately. Hiermit teile ich Ihnen mit, dass ich zum 1. Mai 2026 meinen Wohnsitz wechsle. (I hereby inform you that I am changing my residence as of May 1, 2026.) Include your account information: Meine Kontonummer lautet: DE12 3456 7890.

Provide both addresses. Meine aktuelle Adresse: Musterstraße 5, 80331 München. Meine neue Adresse ab dem 1. Mai: Beispielweg 10, 20095 Hamburg. Clear formatting of both addresses prevents confusion.

Make specific requests. Ich bitte Sie, meine Adressdaten in Ihrem System zu aktualisieren und alle zukünftige Post an die neue Adresse zu senden. (I ask you to update my address details in your system and send all future mail to the new address.) Außerdem möchte ich Sie bitten, meine neue Bankkarte an die Hamburger Adresse zu schicken. (Additionally, I would like to ask you to send my new bank card to the Hamburg address.)

Request confirmation. Ich wäre Ihnen dankbar, wenn Sie mir die Adressänderung kurz bestätigen könnten. (I would be grateful if you could briefly confirm the address change.)

Close. Vielen Dank für Ihre Bemühungen. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, [Name]

Key Moving Vocabulary

der Umzug — the move umziehen — to move (residence) die Adressänderung — the address change der Wohnsitz — the place of residence die Anschrift — the address (formal) die Ummeldung — the re-registration das Einwohnermeldeamt — the residents' registration office die Nachsendeauftrag — the mail forwarding order zum [Datum] — as of [date] zukünftig — in the future/from now on aktualisieren — to update

Common Mistakes in Moving Notifications

Missing the effective date: Ich ziehe um — when? Always specify the exact date.

Incomplete address information: Provide the full new address including street, house number, postal code, and city.

No account or customer reference: The recipient needs to identify you in their system. Always include reference numbers.

Not specifying what you need them to do: Just informing them of the move without requesting specific actions (update records, forward mail, send new documents) leaves the letter incomplete.

Practice Moving Notifications on Deutsch Fox

On deutschfox.com, formal letter tasks include address change scenarios. The AI examiner checks for completeness, clarity of address details, proper date formatting, and formal register consistency.