The quick answer: goodbye in German is Tschüss (chewss) in everyday life, and Auf Wiedersehen (owf VEE-der-zay-en) when you want to be formal. On the telephone it changes again — Germans say Auf Wiederhören, because you’re hearing each other, not seeing each other. Hear all twelve below. 👇
Tschüss!
chewss · bye — the one Germans say all day long
🐌 Slow version
Most Americans know exactly one German goodbye — Auf Wiedersehen — and it’s the one Germans use least. In a real German day you’ll hear Tschüss a hundred times and Auf Wiedersehen maybe twice. Here’s the full picture, with the pronunciation written out simply and a play button on every phrase.
12 ways to say goodbye in German
| German | Say it like | What it means | Use it when… | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tschüss | chewss | Bye | the everyday goodbye — shops, friends, colleagues, everywhere | |
| Tschüssi | CHEW-see | Bye-bye | softer and sweeter — friends, family, texts | |
| Auf Wiedersehen | owf VEE-der-zay-en | Until we see each other again | formal — offices, officials, doctors, older people, the south | |
| Auf Wiederhören | owf VEE-der-hur-en | Until we hear each other again | on the telephone only — never face to face | |
| Bis bald | biss bahlt | See you soon | when you’ll genuinely meet again before long | |
| Bis später | biss SHPAY-ter | See you later | later the same day | |
| Bis dann | biss dahn | Until then | when a next meeting is already arranged | |
| Bis morgen | biss MOR-gen | See you tomorrow | leaving work, leaving family, saying goodnight to neighbors | |
| Mach’s gut | mahkhs goot | Take care (lit. “make it well”) | warm and personal — to one friend or relative | |
| Schönen Tag noch! | SHUR-nen tahk nokh | Have a nice day! | leaving a shop or a café — the kind German goodbye | |
| Gute Nacht | GOO-tuh nahkht | Good night | at bedtime only — this one is always a goodbye | |
| Ciao / Tschau | chow | Ciao | borrowed from Italian and completely at home in German |
💡 Pronunciation tip: Tschüss starts like the “ch” in “church.” Then comes the ü — say “ee” while rounding your lips as if for “oo.” The result is somewhere between “chuss” and “cheese,” and chewss gets you there. In Auf Wiedersehen, the German w is a v and the s is a soft z: owf VEE-der-zay-en.
Tschüss or Auf Wiedersehen? The one decision that matters
Almost every American who visits Germany asks this in the first hour, so here is the honest answer.
Tschüss has quietly won. Over the last few decades it has spread from northern Germany into almost every situation — bakeries, banks, buses, offices, doctors’ receptions. If you say Tschüss when you leave, you will sound normal absolutely everywhere in Germany.
Auf Wiedersehen is still alive in four places, and they’re worth knowing:
- Genuinely formal settings — a lawyer’s office, a bank manager, a job interview.
- With older people, especially the first time you meet them.
- In southern Germany and Austria, where formality lasts longer (there they often say Auf Wiederschauen — schauen means “to look”).
- Any time you’d use Sie rather than du.
| Situation | What to say | Say it like | Why | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You call them by first name | Tschüss | chewss | you’re on du terms — informal fits | |
| You call them Herr or Frau | Auf Wiedersehen | owf VEE-der-zay-en | you’re on Sie terms — formal fits | |
| You’re on the phone | Auf Wiederhören | owf VEE-der-hur-en | you heard them, you didn’t see them | |
| You honestly can’t tell | Tschüss | chewss | modern, friendly, safe in almost every room |
The same Sie-and-du line runs through every German greeting — we walk through it slowly in How Are You in German, where getting it wrong is much more noticeable.
💡 The phone trap: saying Auf Wiedersehen at the end of a phone call is the classic learner slip. It means “until we see each other again” — and you haven’t seen anyone. Germans say Auf Wiederhören instead, and hearing you use it correctly is a small, delightful shock.
Regional goodbyes: the ones that give you away
Say the right local farewell and a German face changes. These are the ones worth carrying.
| German | Say it like | What it means | Where you’ll hear it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Servus | ZEHR-voos | At your service | Bavaria & Austria — hello and goodbye in one word | |
| Pfiat di | pfee-AHT dee | God protect you | Bavaria and the Austrian Alps — warm and old | |
| Ade | ah-DAY | Farewell | Swabia, Baden and parts of Switzerland | |
| Baba | BAH-bah | Bye | Vienna — often doubled up as “Baba und foi net!” | |
| Uf Wiederluege | oof VEE-der-loo-eh-geh | Until we look at each other again | German-speaking Switzerland — the Swiss Auf Wiedersehen | |
| Auf Wiederschauen | owf VEE-der-show-en | Until we look at each other again | Bavaria and Austria, where it replaces Auf Wiedersehen | |
| Leb wohl | layp vohl | Live well | everywhere, but rarely — a farewell for a long parting |
🇩🇪 Where Tschüss came from: it isn’t German at all. It traveled north from Spanish adiós, through the ports of the Low Countries as adjuus, and washed up on the German coast as atschüs — then tschüss. The most everyday German word in this whole lesson is, quietly, a sailor’s souvenir.
How to say goodbye in a letter or an email
Written German has its own set of goodbyes, and if you exchange letters or emails with relatives in Germany, these matter more than anything you say out loud.
| German | Say it like | What it means | Use it when… | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mit freundlichen Grüßen | mit FROYND-lish-en GREWSS-en | With friendly greetings | formal letters and business email — the German “Sincerely” | |
| Viele Grüße | FEE-luh GREWSS-uh | Many greetings | friendly but not intimate — the everyday sign-off | |
| Liebe Grüße | LEE-buh GREWSS-uh | Loving greetings | family and friends — often shortened to “LG” | |
| Herzliche Grüße | HERTS-lish-uh GREWSS-uh | Heartfelt greetings | warm and slightly formal — perfect for older relatives |
If you have a box of old family letters from Germany, look at the last line. Herzliche Grüße and Liebe Grüße are almost certainly in there, in handwriting you recognize.
Which one should you actually use?
If you learn one word from this page, learn Tschüss. It works in nearly every situation in Germany, and leaving a shop without saying it is the thing Germans notice most about visitors.
Then build outward:
- Leaving a shop, bakery or café: Tschüss! or Schönen Tag noch!
- Leaving a formal appointment: Auf Wiedersehen.
- Ending a phone call: Auf Wiederhören.
- Saying goodbye to family: Mach’s gut — or Macht’s gut (mahkhts goot) to more than one person.
- You’ll see them tomorrow: Bis morgen.
- In Bavaria or Austria: Servus, or Pfiat di if you want to make someone’s day.
- Signing a letter: Liebe Grüße for family, Mit freundlichen Grüßen for anything official.
🇩🇪 The long German goodbye: leaving a German family gathering is not one moment, it is a small ceremony. Someone slaps their knees and says “So!” — the signal that departure has begun. Then come coats, then a second round of conversation in the hallway, then a third at the front door, then one more through the car window. Budget twenty minutes. If your family did this in America too, now you know where it came from.
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Practice: quick check
1. You’ve just paid at a Berlin bakery and you’re walking out…
Tschüss! — or the friendlier Schönen Tag noch! Leaving without saying anything is the one thing that will mark you as a visitor.
2. You’ve just finished a phone call with your cousin’s bank in Munich…
Auf Wiederhören. — you heard them, you didn’t see them. Say Auf Wiedersehen and they’ll know instantly you learned German from a book.
3. You’re leaving your 88-year-old great-aunt’s house in Salzburg…
Pfiat di! — the old Alpine farewell, literally “God protect you.” Servus and Auf Wiederschauen both work beautifully too.
Frequently asked questions
How do Germans say goodbye?
In everyday life Germans say Tschüss (chewss). Auf Wiedersehen (owf VEE-der-zay-en) is the formal version, Auf Wiederhören is used on the phone, and you’ll also hear Bis bald (see you soon), Mach’s gut (take care), Ciao, and regional favorites like Servus in Bavaria and Austria.
Do Germans really say “Tschüss”?
Constantly. It is by far the most common German goodbye — used in shops, offices, on buses and between friends across nearly all of Germany. The softer Tschüssi is common among friends and in text messages. Both are informal but perfectly polite in ordinary situations.
Is “Auf Wiedersehen” German for goodbye?
Yes — it’s the formal goodbye, and it literally means “until we see each other again.” Germans reserve it for formal settings, first meetings, older people and the more traditional south. For daily life, Tschüss is what you’ll actually hear.
How do you pronounce “Auf Wiedersehen”?
Owf VEE-der-zay-en. Auf is the ow of “cow” with an f on the end. The w is a v sound, the s in -sehen is a soft z, and the stress lands on VEE. Four syllables, said smoothly, never rushed.
Is “Tschüss” too informal for strangers?
Almost never. Saying Tschüss to a cashier, a bus driver or a receptionist is completely normal in Germany. Choose Auf Wiedersehen instead in genuinely formal settings, when meeting someone much older for the first time, or in southern Germany and Austria, where the traditional form holds on longer.
What do Germans write at the end of an email or letter?
Mit freundlichen Grüßen for anything formal — it’s the German equivalent of “Sincerely.” Viele Grüße is the friendly everyday sign-off, and Liebe Grüße (often shortened to “LG”) is what family and close friends use. For a warm note to an older relative, Herzliche Grüße is lovely.