We report the most northerly occurrence of the bighead goby Ponticola kessleri (Gunther, 1861) in the Elbe River in Germany, where the fish was first observed in August 2015. Previously, the northernmost record of this Ponto-Caspian gobiid species originated from the lower Rhine River. Twelve specimens of P. kessleri were recorded in the Elbe River between Hamburg and Lauenburg between the 7th of August 2015 and the 13th of June 2016. Detailed morphometric and meristic data for nine specimens are provided. We further provide DNA barcode sequences for two of the specimens and compare these to published records. The newly sequenced specimens and previously published sequences from German and Austrian locations showed no genetic variation for the COI gene.