A Standesamt (, plural "Standesämter", ) is a German civil
registration office
{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A registration office commonly refers to a government agency at which compulsory information must be lodged.
The most common type of a registration offices are Companies Registration Office (d ...
, which is responsible for carrying out the tasks stipulated in the Civil Status Act (''
Personenstandsgesetz''), in particular for maintaining
civil status registers, preparing civil status documents and other tasks.
Soon after the German Empire was created in 1871 from the previous collection of German states (kingdoms, duchies, etc.), a universal system of register offices was established, taking effect on 1 January 1876. The system had previously been introduced in
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
on 1 October 1874, and had been in use since the beginning of the 19th century in areas where the
French Civil Code
The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since it ...
applied. Usually, the office was located in the local city or town hall.
Today, those register offices (Standesämter) are still part of the administration of every German municipality (in small communities, they are often incorporated with other offices of the administration). Since 1876, Germans in Germany can only enter into a legal marriage in a Standesamt. Therefore, every German marriage takes place before the local registrar (called ''Standesbeamter''). A religious ceremony has no legal effect and could till the year 2009 only be organised afterwards. Apart from that, every child born in Germany has to be registered at a register office (normally by its parents) and every death has to be registered, also.
Same sex ''life partnerships'' were also registered at Standesamts from 2001, until the legalisation of
same-sex marriage in Germany
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 1 October 2017. A bill for the legalisation of same-sex marriage passed the Bundestag on 30 June 2017 and the Bundesrat on 7 July. It was signed into law on 20 July by President Frank-Walter Ste ...
in 2017.
People who are born in Germany can get a copy of their
birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the Childbirth, birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation ...
s in the Standesamt office.
The term "Standesamt" is also used for Austrian register offices, whereas in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
the German word for register office is "Zivilstandsamt".
File:Registry office in Frankfurt am Main - Portal figure with culmination story - Image impression of a street photographer.jpg, Registry office in Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
am Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
*Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name
*Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...
- portal figure with culmination story
Standesamt - Emaille Schild um 1950 - DDR - Bild 002.jpg, An enamel sign representing a Standesamt in 1950
Standesamtsschild1-Bubo.JPG, A sign in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0516-306, Erfurt, neues Standesamt.jpg, The inside of a Standesamt in Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
in 1989
Villach Standesamt.JPG, The front door of a Standesamt in Villach
Villach (; ; ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 61,887.
Together wit ...
Government of Germany
{{Germany-gov-stub