Do Germany passport holders need a visa to visit NL?

No visa needed. German citizens have full EU freedom of movement and can enter the Netherlands for any length of stay using just a valid German national ID card or passport. Germany and the Netherlands are both EU member states and part of the Schengen Area. As an EU citizen, a German ordinary passport holder enjoys the right to free movement under EU law and does not need a visa, ETIAS authorisation, or any prior permission to travel to the Netherlands. A valid German national identity card (Personalausweis) or passport is sufficient to enter and stay. The Schengen 90/180-day rule that applies to non-EU visa-exempt visitors does NOT apply to EU citizens, who may stay indefinitely; stays beyond three months simply require registration with the local Dutch municipality if establishing residence. Because both countries are inside Schengen, there are normally no systematic passport checks at the internal border, though either country may reintroduce temporary border controls, in which case a valid ID card or passport must be shown. ETIAS, the EU's new travel authorisation expected to go live in Q4 2026, applies only to non-EU visa-exempt nationals and explicitly exempts EU/Schengen citizens, so a German traveller will never need it. The travel document only needs to be valid on the day of travel.