Can you get admitted to a Master's or Bachelor's program in Germany with a low GPA?

Admission with a low GPA can be possible, because Germany has no nationwide minimum GPA and no fixed NC threshold. The program's own requirements and that semester's applicant pool decide.

#Master's

• Each university and program sets its own requirements: subject fit of your bachelor's, grade, language and documents.
• Some programs set a grade requirement, others don't; check the program page.
• In programs with restricted admission (NC), the cut-off results from the applicant pool and the selection rules. Values from previous years are no guarantee.

#Bachelor's

• For a bachelor's application, the university looks at your HZB grade, not a university GPA.
• Foreign grades are converted with the modified Bavarian formula. You don't choose the maximum and minimum grade values used in it, and the result is truncated to one decimal, not rounded. If you apply via uni-assist, uni-assist does the conversion.
• A Studienkolleg does not "reset" your grade: if a Feststellungsprüfung is required, your overall grade is the mean of your foreign grade and the FSP grade.

#What you can do

• Shortlist programs without a grade requirement or without restricted admission.
• Compare requirements program by program. The university always makes the decision.

Source: KMK grade conversion rule · anabin guide