German Phone Plugs

German phone plugs

German phone adapter - 1 German phone adapter - 2 German phone adapter - 3

German phone adapter - 1 German phone adapter - Old

Graphics courtesy of TeleAdapt.

Top row:

The left plug is ONLY used inside phones where the cable is attached to the
circuit board, you will never see this plug elsewhere.

The center plug is a modern "TAE" plug used for analog and digital phones.
There are two subtypes of this plug, the TAE-F for phones and the TEA-N for
other equipment like answering machines or modems. These are electrically
equivalent, except that on a multiple-outlet socket the F outlet is the last
in the chain. The plugs have slightly larger notches in different places but
with a knife one can be made fit into the other socket...

The right plug was used in East Germany before the Reuinification and it should have
been phased out almost completely (GDR's entire phone system has been replaced.)

Lower row:

These are old style West German plugs, left for additional functionality
like answering machines etc. These plugs have also been phased out for
some years and are not likely to be encountered in most places.

In hotels, one is most likely to find RJ-11 plugs as well as the TAE plugs.

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