Lotto Saxony (Sachsenlotto)

Lotto Saxony is the state lottery company in Saxony, formed in October 1990 by merging the regional lotto administrations of Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig. It is a member of the German Lotto and Totoblock and is officially called “Sächsische LOTTO‑GmbH”. It is one of 16 lottery companies in Germany, each responsible for its own federal state. Play slips from around 1,250 retail outlets and online reach Sachsenlotto’s headquarters in Leipzig daily. The portfolio includes Lotto 6aus49 with add‑on lotteries Spiel 77 and Super 6, Eurojackpot, the annuity lottery Glücksspirale, KENO, plus 5, TOTO, Tele‑BINGO and various instant and scratch lotteries.

How high are Lotto Saxony’s processing fees?

Please note that you must always submit your entries directly to your state lottery company (i.e., Sachsenlotto if your primary or permanent residence is in Saxony). Playing online is usually cheaper — we recommend submitting your entries online, because:

Why pay more for the same service?

See for yourself — below we link to our detailed comparisons that include all online providers: the Lotto 6aus49 price comparison — lotto price comparison, for the European lottery Eurojackpot — Eurojackpot price comparison, for the daily lottery KENO — the Keno price comparison, and for the annuity lottery — the Glücksspirale price comparison, which are updated regularly. Please note that all information is without guarantee of completeness and accuracy; in case of doubt, please verify independently.

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Cut-off times at retail outlets

The Lotto 6aus49 draws of the German Lotto and Totoblock take place on Wednesday at 18:25 and on Saturday at 19:25. Typically, this results in retail cut‑off times on Wednesdays around 17:30–18:00 and on Saturdays around 18:30–19:00. These times vary between federal states because the state lottery administrations set the cut‑off times largely independently. For the online sales point of Lotto Saxony, the following cut‑off times apply — for Wednesday Lotto: 18:00 and for Saturday Lotto: 19:00.

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Prize collection and payout in Saxony

Until recently, all lottery players in Saxony had to assert their prize claims within 13 weeks of the draw date (or from the date of last participation for multi‑week tickets) by presenting a valid receipt; otherwise, the prize expired. Changes in legislation led to an update to the terms on 30.05.2016. Now §I.8 states: “For the assertion and limitation of claims, the provisions of the German Civil Code (BGB) in the version applicable at the time shall apply.” As a rule, players now have 3 years (possibly until the end of the respective calendar year) to assert their claims — a significant improvement over the previous 13‑week period. In Saxony retail outlets, only prizes up to €1,000 are paid out. For higher amounts (practical tip — even for a few hundred euros, a small neighborhood shop may not have enough cash on hand; it’s advisable to ask in advance), a written prize claim must be submitted (available at every outlet). Alternatively, you can visit the headquarters of the state lottery company in Leipzig:

Payout can also be made by standard bank transfer. It’s therefore more convenient to submit your ticket online. Your receipt cannot be lost and the prize is automatically transferred to your bank account. In addition, as seen in the comparison tables, you can benefit from lower processing fees!

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The Sachsenlotto customer card

Sachsenlotto’s LOTTO customer card is simply called the Sachsenlotto customer card. This card is free and available at any LOTTO shop in Saxony. It is particularly useful for ODDSET, TOTO and KENO, where personal identification has been required since 2008 for reasons of problem‑gambling prevention and youth protection. The card serves player identification and also offers services such as storing up to 6 different entries, individual written prize notifications for larger wins, and automatic transfer of smaller wins up to €1,000 if you have not collected them within six weeks at a LOTTO shop in Saxony.

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State of Saxony – lottery history

Dresden is the capital of the State of Saxony in eastern Germany. Since the Weimar Republic era, Saxony has designated itself a “Free State” by state law. With around 551,000 inhabitants (as of 2017, source: Federal Statistical Office, destatis.de), Dresden is Germany’s 12th‑largest city. The area of the state is about 18,449.97 km².

The first lotto in Germany was drawn on 11 January 1953 in Berlin as the numbers lottery 5 out of 90. Sachsenlotto joined the German LOTTO Block later; the Block was established in June 1955 by Bavaria, Berlin, Hamburg, North Rhine‑Westphalia and Schleswig‑Holstein. Since the Lotto Block agreement, each state can conduct the numbers lottery independently. The winning numbers were drawn every Saturday and hosted in rotation by the LOTTO Block partners for five weeks each. Hamburg started on 9 October 1955: at 16:00 the lotto balls were drawn for the first time in a large drum made of wood and glass. The orphan girl Elvira became the very first “lotto fairy” — and the first number drawn was “13”! Back then, evaluating tickets was hard work: in 1955 hundreds of evaluators worked through the night under strict supervision, checking all tickets with a stencil. Today, modern data centers complete this task within minutes. As a rule of thumb for publishing prize payouts: on the next working day — usually Monday for Saturday Lotto and Thursday for Wednesday Lotto — typically between 9:00 and 12:00 (the higher the jackpot, the later the payouts are published).

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