Standesamt

A Standesamt (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, plural "Standesämter") is a German

civil registration Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events (births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in differen ...

office, which is responsible for recording births, marriages, and deaths. 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 January 1, 1876. The system had previously been introduced in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

on October 1, 1874, and had been in use since the beginning of the 19th century in areas where the French Civil Code 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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(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 can be organised afterwards, but has no legal effect. 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 in Germany has been legal 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 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 of the ensuin ...

s in the Standesamt office. The term "Standesamt" is also used for

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n register offices, whereas in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

the

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, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

- Portal figure with culmination story Standesamt - Emaille Schild um 1950 - DDR - Bild 002.jpg, An

enamel sign A selection of historic enamel signs advertising a variety of products, Herefordshire, Great Britain An enamel sign is a sign made using vitreous enamel. These were commonly used for advertising and street signage in the period 1880 to 1950. Be ...

representing a Standesamt in 1950 Standesamtsschild1-Bubo.JPG, A sign in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0516-306, Erfurt, neues Standesamt.jpg, The inside of a Standesamt in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

in 1989 Villach Standesamt.JPG, The front door of a Standesamt in

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) 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 po ...

Government of Germany {{Germany-stub