Bicycles Laws in Germany are worth knowing.  Generally, the laws of Germany are quite similar to those you are used to in the US.  E.g., don't kill anyone and do ride or drive on the right side of the road.  In Europe, everybody rides or has ridden bikes here and drivers are tolerant of the challenges all bike riders have.  Here are a few guidelines.

1. You must have a bell of some type.  The idea is to warn pedestrians and other riders when you approach from behind or if they are not paying attention and you approach from the front.  I have never heard of someone being arrested or fined for not having a bell however.

2. If you ride after dark, you must have a light fore and aft. 

3. Stay off the sidewalks except for heavy traffic streets, and then don’t ring bell for pedestrians.  The exception is when a bicycle lane is built into the sidewalk.  (Bike lanes may be painted red or green to differentiate them from the pedestrian portion of the sidewalk or pathway.)

4. Ride single file; don’t cross against the light, even if the kids do it.  And stop at the stop signs.  You are in a foreign country and you may not know the customs of the local drivers. 

5. Don’t turn right on red at streetlights.  This is more important for cars than bikes but it is the law.

6. The round blue signs indicate what the path or sidewalk is for.  For example, if it has a woman with a child, it is for pedestrians only.  If it has a bike, it is for bicycle only.  If it has both, both may use the path.  Frequently, there is an additional sign with “something” Frei under the round sign that means these types of traffic may also use the path.  See the “Words” page in this website.

7. Many European streets are too narrow for cars to meet side by side and have a car parked in the street.  What happens is that cars swerve out over the centerline to drive around parked cars.  However, if a car is coming from the other direction and the parked car is in your lane, you must yield to the oncoming car.  In other words, you must wait behind the parked car until the oncoming car (or cars) has passed before passing swerving out across the centerline to pass the parked car.  This can get interesting when cars are parked on both sides of the road and cars must alternatively swerve in and out and wait and hurry.  The locals have it down but it seems like pandemonium to me.

8. When you are about to turn a blind corner, ring your bell to warn other possible riders or pedestrians coming toward you around the corner that you are there.

What follows is excerpted with permission from http://pbisotopes.ess.sunysb.edu/bicycle-muenster/bicycling-muenster-2.htm by Gilbert Hanson.  Some of the photos are attributed to "Program fahrradfreundliche Stadt Muenster".

In the first picture to the left, the bike lane is on sidewalk level. Bikes must travel in the same direction as traffic. That is you must travel on the right side of the road. The red area is for bikes the gray area on right is for pedestrians. Note the sign.  Occasionally, when there is no bike path on the correct side of the street, you will be directed to ride on sidewalk level but on the opposite side of the street where there is a bike path.