Background:
Tobacco use kills 127,000 people in Germany each year. At the same time, Germany has no strategy for sustainable tobacco control and is at the bottom of the European Tobacco Control Scale that ranks the implementation of tobacco control measures in 36 European countries.

Methods:
The strategy is based on literature review of evidence-based tobacco control measures and is aligned with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and international goals (e.g. Europe's Beating Cancer Plan). An expert advisory group contributed to the development of the strategy.

Objectives:
The goal of the strategy is to achieve a tobacco-free Germany by 2040. This means that from 2040 onwards, less than five percent of adults and less than two percent of children and adolescents use tobacco or related products.

Results:
The strategy contains ten measures: 1) tobacco taxes, 2) cost-covered cessation support, 3) plain packaging and a comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship for tobacco and related products, 4) availability reduction for tobacco and related products, 5) comprehensive protection from second-hand smoke, 6) prioritizing children‘s rights related to tobacco control, 7) public awareness campaigns, 8) investment in development cooperation/FCTC 2030, 9) protection from interference of tobacco and related industries in policymaking, 10) regular monitoring, evaluation and adjustment of the measures.

Conclusions:
The goal of achieving a society free of tobacco use and nicotine dependence requires strong commitment from policymakers to strengthen tobacco control and to protect public health interests from interference by manufacturers of tobacco and related products. The Strategy for a Tobacco-Free Germany 2040 is supported by a broad coalition of organisations. In the run-up to the national elections in September 2020, it demands that legislators and the government adopt a tobacco control strategy with a binding timetable and implement the ten measures for a tobacco-free Germany 2040.