In Germany, data on birth, marriage, civil partnership and death is recorded in the civil status register in the form of civil status cases. You must provide proof of a person's civil status in a wide variety of life situations, for example when children start school or in the event of inheritance.

You have the option of applying for a multilingual extract from the civil status register for yourself or a relative in the ascending or descending line of descent, i.e. parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, as well as for spouses.

You can request the following register extracts in various languages from your local registry office:

• Birth register
• Marriage register
• Death register

The civil status also includes other family and name-related facts. For this reason, all events that change a person's civil status are also recorded in the civil status registers as so-called subsequent certifications. Such events can be, for example, the recognition of paternity, adoption, dissolution of marriage, a change of name or a declaration of death.

You can apply for extracts from the register for yourself and for your relatives in ascending or descending line of descent, i.e. parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren, as well as for spouses.