Public Register & Professional directories

This page is used by the insolvency courts of Germany to publish notifications that need to be made when an insolvency procedure has been submitted to the courts.

(website only available in German)

The Company Register administrated by the Federal Ministry of Justice (Bundesministerium der Justiz) contains consultable extracts from the registers, together with financial statements of certain legal entities.

This English site lets you search for companies that are registered in the English register, such as limited companies. There is no charge for this service.

This multilingual database contains all measures related to tariff, trade and agriculture policy-related legal provisions. The TARIC ensures that these provisions are uniformly applied in all EU member states and provides all commercial players with a clear overview of the measures that must be understood before importing or exporting goods.

Since 2015, the EU VAT package dictates that the value-added tax on certain services is due in the country in which the end consumer is located. The special provision concerning the mini-one-stop-shop that came into effect on 1st January 2015 allows companies that are based in Germany to declare revenue that has been generated in other member states, which falls within the framework of this special provision, in a special tax declaration. They are able to submit this tax declaration to the Federal Central Tax Office online and pay the resulting total tax digitally.

The German Central Register issues certificates of good conduct, among other documents. You will require this, for example, if you wish to become self-employed in the security service industry. Private individuals and legal entities resident in Germany can generally receive information via their local registration office or trade authorities. The Hessen Info Service (Hessen-Finder) will help you find out which registration office or trade authorities are responsible for your area.
If you have one of the new personal ID cards, you are able to apply for a certificate of good conduct online.

The Central Company Register is managed by the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz). The Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz) issues information to both private individuals and legal entities whose place of residence is outside the Federal Republic of Germany. Private individuals and legal entities resident in Germany can generally receive information via their local registration office or trade authorities. You will require an extract from the Central Company Register if you wish to become self-employed in the security service industry. The search machine will help you find out which registration office or trade authorities are responsible for your area. If you have one of the new personal ID cards, you are able to apply for an extract from the Central Company Register online.

Information from the Land Title Register is issued by the corresponding Land Registry Office. The Land Registry Offices in Hessen are managed by the District Courts. You can find out which District Court is responsible for a particular commune using the search machine, or by consulting the catalogue of towns and courts provided by the national and state Justice portals.
 
Hessen's Ministry of Justice provides an automatic consultation service that allows frequent Land Registry Office users to view pages out of the Land Register.

(websites only available in German)

In line with the Renewable Energy Directive, plants that generate electricity from renewable sources and methane are entered into the Plant Register (Markstammregister) managed by the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). Advertisements or communication should be addressed to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

(website only available in German)

The German Patent and Brand Office (DPMA) provides a range of different information and applications:
• DPMAregister - official publications and registers for patents, samples, brands and designs
• DEPATISnet - digital archive of patent documents
• DPMAdirekt - digital copyright registrations
• Register of works that are out of print - out of print works for non-commercial digitalisation projects

Applications to be registered in the Aviation Register or Aircraft Register, as well as requests for airworthiness certificates should be addressed to the Federal Aviation Office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt – LBA).

The Register of land that has been designated or is currently used for growing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is managed by the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit – BVL). The link directs you to a page containing forms and fact sheets relating to the declaration of GMO crop locations.

To ensure that construction products are manufactured correctly, it may be necessary to call on the services of  testing, inspection and/or certification bodies (PÜZ Stellen), testing laboratories or product certification centres. Depending on the particular legal domain, certain construction products need to be officially recognised. A directory of officially recognised bodies can be found on the Centre of Competence for Construction website (Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik).

The Justice portal for Germany and the individual federal states of Germany publishes a list of generally sworn and publicly appointed interpretors and translators.

The website of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers allows you to search for all accredited lawyers in Germany, European lawyers who have been accredited in Germany, foreign lawyers who are operating in Germany according to Section 206 of the Federal Lawyers' Act (BRAO), and all legal practitioners who are members of the Chamber.

The database managed by the Chamber of Patent Lawyers contains the names of all accredited patent lawyers in Germany.

Certain legal services may only be carried out by people who have demonstrated their proficiency before the corresponding court. The Legal Services Register is a public listing of these registered service providers.

The search engine on the site of the Hessen Chamber of Tax  allows you to search for a tax consultant based on location, postcode, telephone area code, field, business sector and foreign languages spoken.

(websites only available in German)

This register, managed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag – DIHK), lists all registered insurance brokers and salespeople.

This register, managed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag – DIHK), lists all registered financial investment consultants, together with the scope of the fields in which they are authorised to operate. The latter depends on the financial products for which the consultant acts as a broker.

The Chamber of Public Accountants (WPK) manages a national public register that lists all the public accountants and sworn auditors, alongside public accountancy firms and audit companies.

(website only available in German)

The Hessen Chamber of Architects and Town Planners (Architekten- und Stadtplanerkammer Hessen) website allows you to find relevant architecture firms: Locally and regionally according to the town, postcode, regional district or administrative region, according to the name of the architect or the office, according to the specialisation and key focus.

(website only available in German)

The search machine on the Hessen Chamber of Engineers (Ingenieurskammer Hessen) website helps you pinpoint a qualified local engineer for your projects. It provides details of consulting engineers, town planners, engineers authorised to sign business plans, building certifiers, official testing experts, publicly appointed and sworn official experts and specialist expert planners.

(website only available in German)