Lost & Found

When someone hands our S-Bahn staff a lost item, they ask the finder whether they want to leave their personal details to be eligible for a finder’s fee. In that case, the finder’s details are entered on the finds label and the finder receives a copy of this document.

All finds are registered by the local S-Bahn staff and then picked up by a courier and taken to the S-Bahn lost property office at least twice a week. Here, all lost items are processed and entered into a lost-and-found management system.

It's worth knowing that all items are initially classified according to their estimated value. Finds valued €10 or more – or those considered to be of personal value – are stored, while easily perishable and very dirty finds are usually destroyed.

Where loss and find reports allow clear identification, and where contact data are available, the potential owner is informed.

Where no successful match is found, items valued less than €10 are stored for 10 days, while those valued €10 or higher as well as items of personal value remain at the lost property office for 10 weeks. Afterwards, any remaining items are transferred to the Central Lost and Found by DB InfraGo AG - Stations division (Geschäftsbereich Personenbahnhöfe) in Wuppertal.

After expiration of the 10-week storage period, these documents are returned to the issuing authority.

When such cards are handed in together with jackets, wallets or bags, they stay at our lost & found for 10 weeks.

Individual cards are stored at lost property for 10 working days.

After expiration of the respective storage period, any remaining cards are destroyed in line with our data protection guidelines or returned to the issuing banks.

To prove ownership of a key, please bring a matching spare key or quote its serial number (where applicable). After the 10-week storage period, all unclaimed keys are destroyed.

If we don’t seem to have your lost item, feel free to search other lost property offices.

Where finds can’t be returned to their rightful owners, they are either auctioned off, where appropriate, or destroyed, depending on the item’s value. Finds valued €10 or more and some items with personal value are usually considered auction-worthy.

Finds can only be transferred to the central lost and found of DB InfraGo - Stations division (Geschäftsbereich Personenbahnhöfe) in Wuppertal and auctioned once the 10-week storage period at the Rudolfstraße S-Bahn lost property office has expired.

Click here for a list of auction dates and locations.

If you find something, you can hand it to any local S-Bahn Berlin employee, customer service staff on the train or the S-Bahn customer service desk.

According to §§ 978 et. seq. of the German Civil Code, finders are entitled to a finder’s fee.  

To meet the conditions for a finder’s fee,

• the item’s value needs to be at least €50,
• the finder must not be employed by DB AG, a DB AG subsidiary or a DB AG subcontractor,
• the finder must not have waived their finder’s fee in advance.

If the found item can’t be returned to its owner, the finder can claim their finder’s fee from DB InfraGO Passenger Stations division 3 years after the auction date. Their entitlement to the finder’s fee expires 6 years after the auction date.

The finder’s fee amounts to 2.5 % for items worth €50 - €500 and 1.5 % for items worth more than €500.

To claim a finder’s fee, the finder needs to leave their contact information. When the item is returned to the person who lost it, the finder is given their contact data.

Please refer to our data protection policy for more detailed information on the collection and processing of your personal data.