For 6 hedgehogs, Borrelia spp. could be clearly defi ned by using both gene sequences. Two additional animals had positive results, but sequencing was not possible because of either too little DNA or a mixed infection. B. spielmanii DNA was detected in the kidneys of 2 hedgehogs: 1 from Karlsruhe and 1 from 30 km west of this city in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. When sequences were compared by using BLAST, 4 BLAST sequences (AM055823, AM055822, DQ133518, AY 995900) showed 100% similarity with B. spielmanii. B. garinii was detected in the heart of 2 animals (from Berlin and Karlsruhe); B. afzelii in 3 animals (in the kidney of 2 from Hamburg and Karlsruhe and in the bladder of 1 from Rhineland-Palatinate). A single animal (from Karlsruhe) had B. afzelii in the kidney and bladder and B. garinii in the heart. Preliminary results have also shown that ticks collected from hedgehogs from the Karlsruhe site were infected with B. afzelii (an I. hexagonus nymph and an I. ricinus female) and with B. spielmanii (an I. ricinus female, a nymph, and a larva) (Skuballa et al., unpub. data).