My travel plans have changed after Schengen visa issued. What do I do?

Question

I planned to travel on my German-issued Schengen visa to Berlin for 7 days by myself and my tourist multiple entry visa got approved. However, now it looks like I will not be able to go to Germany during those dates due to work commitments.

Can I do the following instead:

• Can I travel to Germany at another time during the validity of my visa for 7 days?
• Can I travel during my initial intended period of travel to some other Schengen country? If so, my port of entry will change to another country. However, given my travel to Germany later on, Germany will still be the country I spend my most time in overall.
• Do I need to let the German embassy know of my change in travel plans?

From comment:

So original plan: 7 days Berlin and that's it. New plan: 4 days probably Greece or Hungary during the same week as the original plan as I have to work some of the days now and the flight tickets are too expensive for the days I want to go. Following this trip, another trip to Frankfurt for 9 days in October. All for tourism purposes, and change only due to work commitments and flight prices going up.

Answer 1

Going to Germany later (but still within the validity period of your visa) is not a problem at all.

You don't need to preemptively inform the consulate about this. It might be a good idea to have a coherent explanation ready for why your travel was postponed -- but it is rather unlikely you will be asked for it.

Going to a different member state first is a more risky proposition. It may go fine -- after all, getting a multiple-entry visa is a sign that you've basically been deemed trustworthy -- but there's also a risk that the border guards at the other country won't buy it. And then you might not only find yourself refused entry, but your visa may be annulled.

In particular, if your story is, "I had planned to go to Germany now, but I couldn't go due to work commitments", the natural question at the border would be, "then why are you here now, rather than at work?"

And if your alternative travel is for work, then it gets difficult to uphold an argument that Germany is still your main destination. Remember that the purpose of the visit counts higher than number of days, if there is a purpose that points clearly towards a particular member state as main destination.