A birth certificate is a document.
The document states:
The person was born.

Parents must say:
"The child has been born."
Then the child is entered into a book.
The book is called the Birth Register.
The civil registry office handles this.

Every birth in Germany is recorded in the Birth Register.
It contains information about the person.

You’ll receive this information on a birth certificate.
If you need one.
You’ll need to submit an application for it.
The office issues the certificate.

The information in the civil registry is private.
Only certain individuals and government agencies are permitted to view this information.

Would you like to obtain a birth certificate?
Then you must be at least 16 years old.
The following people are eligible to receive a birth certificate:

• Spouses
• Life partners
• Parents
• Grandparents
• Children
• Grandchildren
• Siblings

Other people need a reason for the birth certificate.
And they must be able to prove it.

For every child born in Germany, the birth must be recorded in the birth registry. After this registration, you can also apply for a birth certificate. This document certifies the person’s birth and includes information on the place and date of birth, as well as the person’s first and last names. It usually also includes information about the person’s gender and parents.

You will need a birth certificate for various purposes throughout your life. For use abroad, it can also be issued on a multilingual form. You can use this form in many countries without a translation.

You can have an (international) birth certificate issued by the civil registry office that registered your birth. In federal states where there is a centralized registry network, you can also obtain the birth certificate from any other civil registry office within that network.