Select your location for location specific information:
If you need proof of your birth, you can apply for a birth certificate under certain conditions.
The birth certificate proves the birth of a person, their first and last names and the details of their parents.
You can only obtain your birth certificate from the registry office in your place of birth. The registry office issues it from the register of births.
The birth certificate contains the following information:
The following details will not be included at your request:
On request, multilingual forms can also be issued for the civil status certificates so that they no longer require translation in other European countries.
Certified printout from the birth register
In addition to the birth certificate, there is also a certified printout from the register of births. You will need this for a marriage, for example.
This is a copy of the birth register entry kept at the registry office or, in the case of electronically managed registers, a printout of it.
In addition to the birth details (including time of birth and details of the parents), it also contains subsequent changes, such as through adoption or a change of name.
Multilingual birth certificate
You can use this abroad without a translation.
It is valid in all countries that are party to the Convention of September 8, 1976 on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records (see Civil Status Law - Convention - No. 16: Convention on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records).
The following persons over the age of 16 are eligible to apply:
You must apply for the birth certificate at the registry office that certified your birth.
Apply in person:
Written application:
Electronic application:
Birth certificates and certified register printouts can only be issued up to a period of 110 years from the birth registers after they have been recorded in the registers at the registry offices. In other cases, the archive of the municipality to which the registry office belongs is responsible.
usually 2 to 10 days
Application for a court decision at the local court responsible for the registry office
The birth of a child must be reported to the registry office in whose jurisdiction the place of birth is located.