# BT-52 Buyer City

The common name of the city, town or village where the buyer's address is located

## Quick answer

The common name of the city, town or village where the buyer's address is located

> **Buyer details**: Who receives the invoice and which buyer records or routing data must match.

## In plain language

The common name of the city, town or village where the buyer's address is located

The common name of the city, town or village where the buyer's address is located

Critical for postal delivery and geographic identification of the buyer organization, especially for routing to correct government offices

## What you usually enter here

Free text for city name

Typical valid values include: Berlin, München, Hamburg, Bonn

Mandatory field for complete address specification according to EN 16931 and German postal regulations

## What goes wrong often

Avoid values like: B, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Relevant rule codes: BR-CO-26

## Examples in context

Critical for postal delivery and geographic identification of the buyer organization, especially for routing to correct government offices

Mandatory field for complete address specification according to EN 16931 and German postal regulations

## Valid Examples

- Berlin
- München
- Hamburg
- Bonn
- Frankfurt am Main
- Stuttgart

## Invalid Examples

- B
- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

## Related Fields

Critical for postal delivery and geographic identification of the buyer organization, especially for routing to correct government offices

- [BT-50 Buyer Address Line 1](/resources/xrechnung/bt-50-buyer-address-line-1)
- [BT-51 Buyer address line 2](/resources/xrechnung/bt-51-buyer-address-line-2)
- [BT-53 Buyer Post Code](/resources/xrechnung/bt-53-buyer-post-code)
- [BT-54 Buyer country subdivision](/resources/xrechnung/bt-54-buyer-country-subdivision)
- [BT-55 Buyer Country Code](/resources/xrechnung/bt-55-buyer-country-code)

## XML mapping and field facts

Open the technical reference if you need XML paths, validator rule codes, legal wording, or schema-specific mapping details.

### Field ID:
BT-52

### Data Type:
text

### Cardinality:
1..1

### Requirement:
Mandatory

### Max Length:
50 characters

### Since Version:
XRechnung 1.0+

## XML Implementation

### UBL 2.1 Syntax
```
/Invoice/cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress/cbc:CityName
```

### CII (UN/CEFACT) Syntax
```
/CrossIndustryInvoice/SupplyChainTradeTransaction/ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement/ram:BuyerTradeParty/ram:PostalTradeAddress/ram:CityName
```

## Validation Rules

### BR-CO-26
BR-CO-26

## Why the standard cares about this field

### Business Context
Critical for postal delivery and geographic identification of the buyer organization, especially for routing to correct government offices

### Legal Requirement
Mandatory field for complete address specification according to EN 16931 and German postal regulations

## FAQ

### Which city should I use for federal ministries?
Use "Berlin" for most federal ministries as they have moved to Berlin. Some ministries like BMF (Finance) still have major operations in Bonn - check the specific address.

### How do I handle cities that are also federal states?
Use the city name: "Berlin", "Hamburg", "Bremen". The federal state context is understood from the organization name and address.

### Should I include district information for large cities?
Generally use the main city name unless the district has its own postal identity. For Berlin, use "Berlin" rather than specific districts like "Berlin-Mitte".

## Official sources and tools

- [KoSIT Validator](https://erechnungsvalidator.service-bw.de/)
- [Invoice Converter](/pdf-to-xrechnung)
- [XRechnung Standard](https://xeinkauf.de/xrechnung/)
- [Test Suite](https://github.com/itplr-kosit/xrechnung-testsuite)