DENIC, the registry of .DE domains, has specific rules regarding the renewal of expired domains.
Since there is no grace period for .DE domains, if your .de domain name has reached its expiration date but has not yet been renewed, it will be automatically moved to DENIC (the root registry for .DE domains).
DENIC will contact you, the registrant, regarding the renewal, so it’s important to make sure that the domain contact information is accurate.
.de TRANSIT to Denic
If your .de domain name is placed in TRANSIT, DENIC will inform you accordingly by letter. The letter is sent to the domain registrant’s address that is stored in the database. You, as the domain registrant, then have a period of four weeks to decide what is to happen to the domain.
If you want to make sure that your .de domain name remains registered, you must arrange for a DENIC member to take charge of administering it again. You will need to contact DENIC to obtain the domain’s authorisation code required to transfer this domain back to your account.
If you no longer want to keep your .de domain name, you will need to initiate its deletion: https://direct.secure.denic.de/en/
If you do nothing by the date stipulated in the letter, DENIC will take over administration of your .de domain name, in accordance with the terms and conditions of its DENICdirect Service. From there, you will receive an invoice from them based on their current price list.
Important: This invoice from DENIC must then be paid and is enforced by a debt collection agency.
For more information about DENIC’s domain transit service, please read their FAQs: https://www.denic.de/en/faqs/faqs-about-transit/
Should you wish to transfer your domain to DENICdirect, read the following page for more information.