The article gives an overview about the German Planning Law including the requirements arising from EU-law. The aim of the paper is not to go into details; an overview article does not provide the suitable frame for that. It rather wants to describe the „architecture“ of Planning Law; one could also speak of the „system“ of Planning Paw. German Planning Law is extraordinarily fragmented. This is a consequence of the divided legislation between the „Bund“ and the „Länder“. In order to structure all the norms of Planning Law, the most important point is to differentiate between Spatial and Sectoral Planning. The task of Spatial Planning is to give a framework for the whole area. Therefore, it is on the one hand beyond special uses (e.g. not the planning of motorways), on the other hand it is tied to particular areas. It can be divided into Regional Planning and Urban Land-use Planning. It has to be distinguished from the Sectoral Planning. This field of planning shapes the area with regard to a certain specific matter (e.g. the planning of motorways). The many conceivable possibilities of shaping the area with regard to a certain aspect can be furthermore summarized into three groups: The first group contains of Planning Approvals. They refer to the drawing up of binding plans to construct specific facilities (e.g. motorways). The second group comprises terms of use for specific sectors. Regularly, it governs the use of land from a specific point of view (e.g. water protection area). The third group consists of other area-related specific planning that cannot be associated with the former two groups, e.g. the landscape planning.