---
title: "WKN"
description: "A WKN (Wertpapierkennnummer) is the six-character German national securities identifier; it is widely used on German retail platforms and embedded in DE ISINs."
canonical: https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/wkn
published: 2026-09-04
updated: 2026-09-04
publisher: FundFacts API
---

# WKN (Wertpapierkennnummer, German securities code)

> A WKN (Wertpapierkennnummer) is the six-character German national securities identifier; it is widely used on German retail platforms and embedded in DE ISINs.

A **WKN** (Wertpapierkennnummer, "securities identification number") is the six-character alphanumeric code assigned to securities by Germany's national numbering agency. It is the identifier German investors, brokers and retail platforms use most, appearing alongside or instead of the [ISIN](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/isin) on order screens, factsheets aimed at the German market and financial media.

For German-issued securities the WKN sits inside the ISIN: `DE000` followed by the six-character WKN and the ISIN check digit. Foreign funds sold in Germany, including Irish and Luxembourg UCITS, are also assigned WKNs even though their ISINs carry `IE` or `LU` prefixes, so there is no way to derive those WKNs mechanically.

## Why it matters

If your users are in Germany or Austria, some will search by WKN, and marketing material from fund houses distributing there will print it prominently. Any fund tool serving that market needs a WKN-to-ISIN mapping at the input layer. Since one ISIN corresponds to one WKN, the mapping is unambiguous once you have it.

## In the API

FundFacts API is keyed on ISIN and does not accept or return WKNs. Map the WKN to an ISIN first (fund house product pages and German exchange listings show both), then request the fund.

```json
{
  "isin": "LU1681043599",
  "name": "Amundi MSCI World UCITS ETF",
  "cached": false,
  "generatedAt": "2026-07-01T08:15:00Z"
}
```

Example response fragment; the WKN itself is not part of the payload.

## Common pitfalls

- WKNs were purely numeric until 2003 and have been alphanumeric since; store them as strings and preserve leading zeros.
- A WKN identifies a security, not a listing, so like a [SEDOL](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/sedol) it does not tell you which exchange a [ticker](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/ticker) refers to.

## About FundFacts API

FundFacts turns any fund or ETF ISIN into one dated factsheet (fees and KID costs, the 1–7 risk indicator, holdings, sector and country exposure, returns) read from the fund house's own documents: as a client-ready PDF under your firm's name for advisers and wealth managers, as JSON through its API for developers, or inside ChatGPT and Claude through its MCP server.

FundFacts works inside ChatGPT and Claude as a connector (a remote MCP server): ask about any fund or ETF by ISIN, ticker or name and the assistant answers from FundFacts' dated figures, fees, risk, holdings, exposure and returns, with fund cards, side-by-side comparisons, holdings overlap and portfolio look-through.

- Free API key, no card: https://fundfactsapi.com/signup
- Documentation: https://fundfactsapi.com/docs (OpenAPI: https://fundfactsapi.com/openapi.json)
- MCP server: https://fundfactsapi.com/api/mcp (set-up for every client: https://fundfactsapi.com/mcp-server)
- Pricing: https://fundfactsapi.com/pricing
- Site index for AI assistants: https://fundfactsapi.com/llms.txt
- Informational data, not investment advice.