Notes on electronic communication with the city administration of Erlangen and access opening

According to Art. 3a Bavarian Administrative Procedure Act (BayVwVfG), the transmission of electronic documents is permitted, provided that the recipient has opened access for this purpose. 

In addition to e-mail, the city of Erlangen offers intelligent online forms that can be submitted completely electronically. The offer is continuously and gradually expanded. You can find the online forms via our homepage and the BayernPortal. 

The City of Erlangen provides access to the transmission of electronic documents according to the following specifications and technical framework:

In principle, a distinction is made between informal and form-bound letters (e.g..

Simple informal letters

1. Contact form (without Bayern-ID)

Simple informal correspondence, for which no written form is required by law, can be carried out via the contact form (without BayernID). In contrast to e-mail, a secure, encrypted transmission of your data takes place. Authentication is not mandatory.

to the contact form

2. E-mail

Furthermore, you have the option of contacting the person you know directly by e-mail or contacting the relevant department. Please note the following: 

1. E-mails are only partially encrypted during transmission and can be viewed and manipulated by third parties. You should therefore never send personal data, confidential documents or content by unencrypted e-mail!
2. E-mail attachments are accepted in the following file formats:
   *.pdf, *.txt, *.jpg, *.gif, *.png
3. In the files, no automated processes or programming (so-called. Macros) are used.
4. Non-readable file formats will be returned to the sender address.
5. E-mails are accepted only up to a total size of 10 MB.
6. Files in under point b. named formats can be reduced by compression programs in the file sizes (packed). Compressed files accepts the city of Erlangen only as non-self-extracting ZIP archives (*.zip).
7. If approached by e-mail to the city of Erlangen, the city of Erlangen assumes that further communication in this matter can be abgegewi-ckelt in this way, provided that legal regulations do not oppose it. As far as another way of communication is desired, we ask you to specify this.
8. Because of the general uncertainty in e-mail traffic can not be guaranteed that a sent e-mail reaches the addressee, or it may arrive delayed. Also, a formal delivery with proof of delivery is not possible with normal e-mail
9. To avoid spam e-mails, the City of Erlangen uses software to identi-fy unsolicited e-mails. Through this checking mechanism, your e-mails may possibly be rejected because they have been falsely identified as spam by certain characteristics. A notification of the sender is not guaranteed in these cases.

Form-bound letters

Unless otherwise stipulated by a legal provision, letters (e.g. objections or form-bound applications), for which a legal provision generally requires written form, can also be transmitted electronically in accordance with the following requirements. 

1. "Secure contact form" (with BayernID)

On our homepage you will find the secure contact form, with which you can contact us in encrypted form and - if authenticated with the eID function of the new identity card or residence permit, the eID card for EU citizens or the software certificate "ELSTER" - also in written form. File uploads are also possible via this route.

For information on BayernID and registration, see here.

to the secure contact form

2. Qualified electronic signature

Electronically signed documents will only be accepted via the contact form for electronically signed documents and only in PDF-inline format (PDF with embedded signature). Only signatures from accredited certification service providers are accepted. It should be noted that mail signatures (e.g., the "Sign" option in mail programs) do not satisfy these conditions (not a qualified electronic signature).

Contact: If you have any questions about electronic communication with the City of Erlangen, please feel free to write to us via the contact form.

to the contact form