Arguably faking a government identification in any context is damaging to the credibility of that ID in any context. I still don't think it should be illegal, but the argument can be made rationally.
It's not uniquely illegal (at least in Germany). It's illegal for the same reason forging any document (for fraudulent purposes -- i.e. in 99% of all cases) is illegal: it misrepresents an authoritative claim.
It's not entirely unlike having a friend show up in a fake police uniform to vouch for you.
There are edge cases like art or educational purposes, but using a fake ID to prove your identity to a third party is definitely fraudulent: you're saying "this authority attests that this is my identity" when the authority in question does nothing of the sort and the document claiming it does is forged.
It's not entirely unlike having a friend show up in a fake police uniform to vouch for you.
There are edge cases like art or educational purposes, but using a fake ID to prove your identity to a third party is definitely fraudulent: you're saying "this authority attests that this is my identity" when the authority in question does nothing of the sort and the document claiming it does is forged.