An (; "registered association" or "incorporated association"), abbreviated (), is a legal status for a registered

voluntary association A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to ac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. While any group may be called a , registration as confers many legal benefits, because it confers the status of a juridical person rather than just a group of individuals. The legal status must be mentioned in the name as well. Like certain other corporate bodies, an can apply for the status of a

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ...

().

Legal basis

The Civil Code of Germany regulates registered non-profit, and for-profit associations regarded as juridical persons () in sections 21–79 and any other associations by contract () in sections 705–740. The is the basic type of a juridical person while the is dogmatically more a partnership. Due to this theoretical distinction, the concept of is also the legal basis for particular economic entities () such as and , which are also endowed with juridical personhood. These are regulated in separate statutes as special economic associations but bear the same basic features. The ("Act regulating the public law of associations") and the associated regulations ("Regulation implementing the Act regulating ...") contain specific provision on the rights and duties of in general. All natural and juridical persons in Germany, including entities such as municipalities, counties, and other entities under public law, can form associations and be members of an association. This means that associations are not limited to private clubs formed by natural persons but have a much broader scope. They can be very locally limited club-like institutions but also nationwide units representing important economic or social groups. It is even possible that registered associations themselves form a new association whose membership is composed entirely of associations (often called ). The statutory minimum number of members for forming a registered association is seven. The minimum number of members before a registered association needs to be dissolved is three. The largest associations can have over one million members, there is no legal limit concerning membership numbers. ADAC Dornier 328-300 D-BADC

Registration

The registration of is regulated in the ('Regulations for the registry of associations'). It requires registration of an with the association registry () either kept at the district court of its seat or, if directed by state law, as a centralized register for the its seat is located in.

Differences to other jurisdictions

In other German-speaking countries such a distinction does not exist. But there may be legal requirements which oblige an association to register itself; for example, 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 ...

there is no association registry, but an association must be listed in the commercial register if its yearly turnover is high enough to legally require an audit (). In Austria, all associations are registered in a special register, and having an in the name is not allowed.

Legal basis

Registration

Differences to other jurisdictions

References

Further reading