How Do You Get a Copy of a Birth Certificate From Germany?
Those born in the Federal Republic of Germany or the former German Democratic Republic, can obtain birth certificates by writing to the applicable Standesamt office in Germany, explains the German Missions in the United States. The applicable Standesamt depends on the location of a person’s birth.
Those born in the Federal Republic of Germany need to write to the local Standesamt for where they were born, states the German Embassy in Canada. The German website Standesamt.com lists local addresses for municipal Standesamts. Type your place of birth into the search bar, press Enter, and find the relevant municipal Standesamt in the results list. Those born in the former German Democratic Republic need to write to Standesamt 1 in Berlin.
The German Missions in the United States provides the following German phrase to use when writing for an international birth certificate: “Ich bitte um Ausstellung einer internationalen Geburtsurkunde für [first name/middle name/last name], geb. am [date of birth] in [place of birth]. Eltern: [name of father] und [maiden name of mother].” The German Missions also ask that dates be written in letters rather than numbers to avoid confusion.
Those born in an American military hospital in Germany who need a Consular Report of Birth Abroad need to contact the U.S. Department of State, according to the United States Diplomatic Mission to Germany. Travel.State.gov provides application information for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad under the While Abroad heading of the U.S. Passports & International Travel page.
