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Last checked 9 Nov 2026. Offers change often, so confirm the price on the outlet's own page before you pay.

Quick answer

Check your city library first: with a Köln card (€30 a year, €15 for students) you can borrow the last six e-paper issues in the Onleihe, and a Berlin VÖBB card costs €10 a year. If you only need one issue, the DIE ZEIT E-Paper app sells single issues for €6.99.

Germany

Library

The ZEIT e-paper in the Onleihe at Stadtbibliothek Köln

Free with a library card; a 12-month card is €30 (€15 for students and trainees, free under 21)

Cologne's city library lends the full ZEIT e-paper for the last six issues in the Onleihe, with a limited number of loans per day. Nexis Uni adds a text archive of every issue since 13 November 2008, which you can use at any time. You sign in on each platform with your library card number and PIN. You can apply online with a BundID if you live, work or study in the Cologne area.

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Library

Die Zeit with a Berlin library card (VÖBB)

€10/year for a VÖBB card

Berlin's public libraries name Die Zeit among the papers in their digital offer, on PressReader, Genios and other services. You sign in with your VÖBB card and password, at no extra charge. One card covers every Berlin public library, and you need an address in or around Berlin.

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Library

Die Zeit in Genios at Stadtbibliothek Heilbronn

Free with a library card

Stadtbibliothek Heilbronn lists DIE ZEIT in Genios, its database of about 400 papers and magazines, which has an AI search assistant. Many other libraries offer Genios, so check your library's list of digital services.

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School / university

Die Zeit through your university library

Free for students and staff

Many university libraries carry Die Zeit. The University of Kassel offers the online edition through the Onleihe and the Wiso and Nexis Uni databases. The University of Erfurt lists Die Zeit in Nexis Uni, which its students and staff can use off campus through the university VPN.

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Free articles

Free news and live coverage in the DIE ZEIT app

Free

The DIE ZEIT app is free to download. It has news on the main events and live coverage; the exclusive Z+ articles and the e-paper come with a digital subscription.

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Other

Buy a single issue in the DIE ZEIT E-Paper app

€6.99 per issue

The DIE ZEIT E-Paper app sells single issues, with every article from DIE ZEIT, ZEITmagazin and special editions in the print layout. Each issue is available the evening before it goes on sale, and you can read it offline.

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Questions

Partly. The DIE ZEIT app is free, with news and live coverage, but the exclusive Z+ articles and the e-paper need a digital subscription.

We could not check the prices on zeit.de, and the App Store does not say which term each in-app price covers. A single e-paper issue costs €6.99 in the DIE ZEIT E-Paper app.

We could not confirm a current student rate on an official ZEIT page. Students can often read Die Zeit free through their university library, in the Onleihe or Nexis Uni, and Köln's library card costs students €15 a year.

Often, yes. Stadtbibliothek Köln lends the last six e-paper issues in the Onleihe and has every issue since 2008 as text in Nexis Uni. Berlin's VÖBB and Stadtbibliothek Heilbronn offer it through PressReader, Genios and similar services. Check your own library's digital services page.

Yes. The DIE ZEIT E-Paper app sells single issues for €6.99, available from the evening before the paper goes on sale.