Marriage Certificate [Heiratsurkunde]

zur deutschsprachigen Version
to the German version

The marriage certificate along with the birth certificate [Geburtsurkunde] and the death certificate are the three fundamental civil status documents.

Civil status is the legal status of a person which results out of family law, and includes birth, marriage, and death. These are recorded by the responsible registry of births, deaths and marriage [Standesamt] in the birth, death, and marriage registers.

The marriage certificate represents an excerpt from the marriage records kept at the registry of births, deaths and marriage and shows their basic contents.

The marriage certificate contains, in particular:

• the surnames and the first names of the husband and wife,
• their surnames before the marriage ceremony,
• their residence,
• the day, the place and the registration of their births,
• the affiliation to a legally recognized church or church society,
• the day and location of the marriage ceremony,
• any possible double names, academic degrees, and the determination of the surname of the children originating from the marriage

Likewise, the dissolution, declaration of annulment of a marriage, and any legal stipulations regarding names in connection with the marriage are noted.