Starting school in Germany: the school bag checklist (no costly mistakes)

The most useful tip for the start of school costs nothing and saves the most money: wait for the school's materials list before you buy anything. Almost every primary school (Grundschule, ages 6 to 10) hands out a list before the first day. It gives the exact ruling of the exercise books, the sizes, and often what the school provides itself. If you go to the stationery shop first, you buy the wrong ruling, three books too many and a fountain pen your child won't touch in the first half-year. Everything else in this article follows from that order: first find out, then buy.

A word on terms, because you will hear them at the school gate. The Einschulung is the start of school itself, usually a Saturday or the first school day, with a small ceremony. The Schulranzen (or Tornister) is the stiff, boxy school backpack that German children carry. It is a bigger deal here than a rucksack is in the UK or Ireland. The Schultüte is a large decorated cone filled with sweets and small gifts that children receive on that day.

The timeline: what makes sense when

Six to nine months ahead – only the school bag. New school bag models are presented early in the year, and many specialist shops invite families for fittings from spring. Trying on early is worth it. Buying early is not necessarily: children grow noticeably between March and August.

Three months ahead. Walk the route to school with your child, several times, at the time of day they will really do it. Sort out care: Hort (after-school care run by the school or the municipality), afternoon supervision and holiday care. Registration deadlines are often long before the school year starts.

Four weeks ahead. The materials list has arrived, so now you shop. Don't forget PE kit, as PE usually starts in the first week.

The last week. Shift get-up and bedtimes step by step, pack the school bag completely once and try it on, walk the route twice more. And name labels: label everything that leaves the house.

The school bag: what really matters

1. Fit above everything else

The bag has to fit your child's back, not the height printed on the price tag. What counts is back length and shoulder width. The straps should start at shoulder height, the bag should sit close to the body and not stick out sideways beyond the shoulders. A hip belt moves part of the weight from the shoulders to the pelvis. It is standard equipment, and your child must be able to fasten it alone.

When trying one on: coat off, and let your child wear it loaded, not empty. An empty bag sits well on every child.

2. Visibility – and what the DIN standard really says

The relevant standard is DIN 58124 ("School bags – requirements and testing", current version from 2018). DIN is the German Institute for Standardisation, like BSI in the UK. The standard asks for, among other things:

• at least 20 per cent fluorescent surfaces on the front and sides, which glow by day and at dusk,
• at least 10 per cent retroreflective surfaces, which throw headlight beams back in the dark,
• an empty weight of no more than 1,300 grams,
• adjustable, padded shoulder straps at least four centimetres wide,
• tests for rain resistance and durability of the fastenings.

What you should know: DIN 58124 is a voluntary standard, not a legal requirement. Manufacturers may sell bags without it, and a good part of the range doesn't meet it, mostly because dark designs sell better than bright yellow. If your child walks to school in the dark in autumn and winter, this is the point where giving in pays off least. A compromise if your child insists on a dark model: a hi-vis vest or a cover with reflectors, worn every time.

3. Weight – the point with the most myths

The rule "a school bag may weigh no more than ten per cent of body weight" is stubborn. It really was in DIN 58124 once, and was dropped in the 2010 revision. The reason: it wasn't based on research.

The best-known German study is the Saarbrücken school bag study by Prof. Georg Wydra (2009). Children carried bags weighing 10, 20 and 30 per cent of their body weight. Result: up to about 20 per cent, children compensate by leaning forward slightly, lengthening their stride and bending their knees more, with no visible problems. At 30 per cent, this compensation no longer works.

What does that mean in practice? No need to panic if the bag weighs 4.5 kilos on a Monday. But no free pass either: permanently heavy bags are unnecessary, and the weight rarely comes from the textbooks alone. The usual suspects are water bottles that never get emptied, books for subjects that aren't on that day, and the sediment of three weeks. Clearing it out together once a week does more than any weight rule.

4. Can your child handle it?

It sounds trivial and gets overlooked all the time: your child must be able to open, close and adjust the bag alone, with cold hands in November, without help. In the shop, let your child try the clasp, hip belt and outer pockets, not you.

5. Design and brand – the least important criterion

A school bag lasts four years. The taste of a six-year-old rarely does. Models with swappable Velcro motifs solve this calmly. And the price says little about fit. A bag for €150 that fits the back is better than one for €280 that doesn't.

What the start of school realistically costs

There are no reliable official figures, but guides and surveys agree on rough orders of magnitude. Treat them as a guide, not a price list:

• School bag set (bag, PE bag, pencil case, pencil roll): usually €120 to €300, depending on brand and extras.
• Initial equipment overall – bag, materials, PE kit, indoor shoes: figures of €300 to €700 are often quoted.
• The Einschulung celebration: about €470 on the national average according to surveys, with a clear east–west gap (the east often around €670, the west around €377).

Where you can save without your child noticing:

• Buy last year's model. Bags are relaunched every year. Technically little changes between generations, but the price difference is considerable.
• Break up the set. If only the bag fits, buy the rest separately and cheaper.
• Second-hand, with one condition: fit and reflectors must be right, and a worn-through back pad can't be repaired.
• Check for grants. Families who receive benefits under the Bildungs- und Teilhabepaket (the state education and participation package for low-income families) get €195 per child and school year for personal school supplies in 2026, paid in two parts (€130 for the first half-year, €65 for the second). Payment is usually automatic. Some municipalities and parishes also run their own schemes for school bags.

What a first-year pupil really needs

On the first day:

• School bag, pencil case, pencil roll
• Lunch box and drinks bottle, both openable by your child alone
• Indoor shoes (compulsory at many schools)
• PE bag with trainers, with a light-coloured sole for the gym hall
• Rain jacket or rain cape that fits over the school bag

What belongs on the materials list and gets bought afterwards: exercise books in the ruling specified, book covers, paintbox, drawing pad, glue, scissors, coloured pencils, eraser, sharpener with a container.

What can wait:

• Fountain pen. At most schools it is only introduced in year 2. Bought earlier, it dries up unused.
• A fully equipped desk. Many first-years do homework at the kitchen table, within sight of a parent. Wait and see where your child actually works.
• Smartwatch or phone. Not a must for the start of school. If at all, then after the route to school has settled in.
• A second complete set of materials. Buy more only when something is really missing.

The name label topic: Label everything: indoor shoes, PE bag, drinks bottle, coat, hat, pencil case. The lost property box of every primary school is a monument to forgotten labels.

Organising the first weeks of school

The start of school is less a shopping project than a change to the family's rhythm. Three things carry the most, in our experience:

Pack in the evening, not in the morning. After dinner, go through the bag together with the timetable. At first with you, after a few weeks more and more alone. It takes the rush out of the morning and the feeling of constantly forgetting something away from your child.

One place for paper. Letters to parents, consent forms, slips for bakery day, notes about the class outing: paper is the main way primary schools communicate, and it gets lost reliably. Choose a single place where everything lands, and a fixed time in the week when it gets looked through.

Make the weekly rhythm visible. PE on Tuesday and Thursday, swimming from October, music school on Wednesday, earlier Hort pick-up on Wednesdays: a first-year can't hold all this in their head, and one parent shouldn't have to carry it alone. A weekly plan on the kitchen door is quite enough, as long as everyone sees the same thing. If you want to keep it digital: patchio has the timetable, school dates and holidays in one calendar, plus a reminder the evening before about what goes in the bag. How to stop all this planning work from landing on one person is covered in the article Sharing the mental load fairly.

And finally, set your expectations: the first weeks are tiring for children, even if they were looking forward to it. Tiredness, bad moods in the afternoon and a sudden need for closeness are normal. Fewer afternoon activities than usual is the better equipment for this period than any accessory you can buy.