The case was brought by a female applicant who was rejected because she is 161.5 centimeters (5 feet 3 inches) tall.
That's 1.5 centimeters shorter than the minimum height required of women, which is 163 centimeters. Male police recruits in North Rhine-Westphalia state have to be at least 168 centimeters tall.
Duesseldorf administrative court judges noted today that the state's differing height requirements were introduced to correct the gender imbalance among applicants, which is skewed toward men.
The court ordered authorities to reinstate the application of the 22-year-old plaintiff, Johanna Fee Dillmann.