Registry Office Wedding in Germany (Standesamt): Step by Step

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How a German civil wedding works

You are married in Germany only once both of you tell the registrar (Standesbeamter) that you want to marry each other.¹ A church wedding is a separate matter and has no legal effect of its own.²

The way there has two steps:

1. Registering the marriage (Anmeldung der Eheschließung): you show your documents, and the registry office checks whether anything stands in the way of the marriage.
2. The wedding: a separate appointment, often weeks or months later and sometimes at a different registry office. Munich points out that the registration appointment is not the date of your ceremony.³

Both of you have to be at the ceremony in person and at the same time. A wedding by proxy is not possible.⁴ Both of you must be at least 18.⁵

Which registry office you register with

You register at the registry office for the place where one of you lives.⁶ In Hamburg, a main or a secondary residence both count. If neither of you lives in Germany, you register at the office where you want to marry.²

The registration is not tied to the place of the wedding. Once you are registered, you can marry at any registry office in Germany.² Couples who live in Berlin and want to marry in Cologne’s historic town hall register at home. Their home office then sends the file on, and the Cologne office contacts them to fix the date.⁷

Large cities split the work by district. In Munich, three city districts in the west — Pasing-Obermenzing, Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied and Allach-Untermenzing — belong to the Munich-Pasing registry office. An appointment booked at the wrong office is cancelled.³

Usually you go together. If one of you can’t come, the other can register alone with a written power of attorney. In Munich, the absent partner still has to visit the office and sign the record before the wedding.³

Documents for the registration

The law asks you to prove four things with official documents: your civil status, where you live, your nationality and — if you were married before — how that marriage ended.⁶ Which papers that means depends on your situation. Bring everything as originals. Berlin’s offices don’t accept certificates that have been laminated or punched.⁸

If one of you has a foreign nationality

Munich speaks of a “foreign connection” if one of you has a foreign nationality, was born abroad, or married or divorced abroad before. Then the rules of the other country apply as well, and the documents depend on what that country issues. So the offices want to advise you before you register.³ Cologne gives you a personal list of documents after a consultation.⁷ Munich sends a written list for €25 and credits the fee if you then register at the same office.³

Three things come up again and again:

• Certificate of no impediment: a partner who marries under the law of another country usually brings a certificate from that country confirming they are free to marry. Many countries don’t issue one. Then the president of the Higher Regional Court can grant an exemption, which you apply for through the registry office. How both work: certificate of no impediment and the exemption.
• Translations: documents in another language need a German translation.⁹ Berlin, for example, wants it from a translator sworn in Germany, and names written in Arabic, Greek, Hebrew or Cyrillic script must be transliterated by ISO standards.⁸
• Apostille or legalization: for some countries, the original certificate also needs an apostille from the issuing country or a legalization by the German embassy.⁸

The office checks that nothing stands in the way of the marriage. If there are concrete signs that a marriage is only meant to obtain a residence permit, it may question you separately and ask for proof.⁶ A registrar must refuse a wedding that is obviously a sham.¹

For a partner from outside the EU, the wedding is also the basis of the spouse residence permit. What that permit requires: spouse visa for Germany. Weddings in Denmark or elsewhere abroad follow different rules.

When to register and how long it lasts

You can register at the earliest six months before the planned wedding. Munich counts to the day: register on 17 June, and you can marry up to and including 17 December.³

The legal clock starts a little later. When the office has checked everything, it tells you that the wedding can take place. If six months pass after that notice without a wedding, you have to register and be checked again.⁶ Berlin simply says the registration is valid for six months.⁸

If something that matters for the marriage changes in the meantime, tell the office straight away.⁶ And watch the dates of a partner’s papers: a certificate of no impediment and the court’s exemption are each valid for six months as well.¹⁰

Booking the wedding date

Registration and ceremony are booked separately, and popular dates go fast. Cologne lets you reserve your preferred wedding date online before you register, at the earliest six months ahead. Weddings there take place Tuesday to Saturday at several venues.⁷ In Munich, couples with a foreign connection can book the registration appointment up to three months in advance.³ In Hamburg, not every registry office holds weddings every day, and some offer Saturdays. Ask your preferred office whether your date is possible.²

Witnesses and interpreter

Witnesses: you can marry in the presence of one or two witnesses if you want them — or with none.¹¹ Witnesses who take part sign the marriage record together with you and the registrar.⁶

Interpreter: if one of you doesn’t understand German, an interpreter must be called in — unless the registrar speaks your language. The interpreter promises under oath to translate faithfully. Interpreters already sworn in a German state can refer to that oath. The record is then also read out in your language, and the interpreter signs it too.⁹ Munich asks couples who don’t speak good German to bring a publicly appointed and sworn translator to the registration.³ Berlin asks for a sworn interpreter.⁸ The court interpreter database of the federal and state justice portal (justiz-dolmetscher.de) lists them.

What a Standesamt wedding costs

Each federal state sets its own fees, and cities add charges for venues and times. The table shows what four cities publish.

If a partner needs an exemption from the certificate of no impediment, the court charges a separate fee of €15 to €305 (as of October 2026).¹²

What happens on the day

1. The registrar asks whether anything has changed since you registered and whether you want to choose a married name.⁶
2. The registrar asks each of you separately whether you want to marry the other. Once both of you have said yes, the registrar declares that you are now lawfully married.¹¹
3. You, your witnesses and the registrar sign the record of the marriage.⁶ An interpreter signs it too.⁹
4. The marriage is entered in the marriage register: date and place, your names and birth details, and the names you carry after the wedding.⁶

Bring valid ID: Cologne wants to see it at the registration and again at the wedding.⁷ In Munich, music for the ceremony can be booked.³

Your marriage certificate — and what changes next

In Munich, you can order marriage certificates (Eheurkunde) in advance, also multilingual ones, and receive them on the day. The city lists what they are for: banks, insurers, the tax office and, where needed, new ID documents.³ In Berlin, each certificate costs €12; further copies ordered at the same time cost half.⁸

Some things happen without you:

• Registration office: the registry office reports the marriage to the registration office.³
• Tax class: if you both live in Germany and don’t live apart, both of you move to tax class IV automatically from the wedding day. You can apply for III/V or IV with a factor instead.¹³ How the classes compare: tax classes in Germany.

Other things are up to you. If one of you takes a new surname, the ID card and passport with the old name have to be replaced. Your options for the name, and what to update afterwards: your surname after marriage. All guides for couples are on getting married in Germany.

Part of getting married in Germany. Before the wedding: certificate of no impediment · prenuptial agreements · same-sex marriage. Next: after-the-wedding checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions