Apply for a birth certificate
You do not have your birth certificate, but you need it for a marriage or other official act, for example? Then you can apply for a birth certificate to be issued.
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Basic information
After birth, every child in Germany must be registered in the register of births. After this registration, you can also apply for a birth certificate to be issued. This proves the birth of the person and contains details of the place and time of birth as well as the first name and surname. As a rule, it also contains details of the person's gender and parents.
You will need a birth certificate in various contexts in the course of your life. It can also be issued on a multilingual form for use abroad. You can use it in many countries without a translation.
You can have a multilingual birth certificate issued at the registry office that recorded your birth. In federal states where there is a central register network, you can also obtain the birth certificate from any other registry office in the register network there.
Requirements
The personal data in the civil status register is subject to data protection. Birth certificates can therefore only be issued
- for persons to whom the entry relates
and their
- spouses
- civil partners (within the meaning of the Civil Partnership Act)
- ancestors and descendants (such as parents or grandparents as well as children and grandchildren)
- Siblings, if they can credibly demonstrate a legitimate interest
Other persons, including close relatives such as aunts and uncles, only receive a birth certificate if they can credibly demonstrate a legal interest (e.g: Letter from the probate court, court judgment or enforceable title).
- Applicants must be at least 16 years old.
Restrictions apply to civil status registers of
- Persons who have been adopted as a child (adoption).
- Persons whose gender has been changed in the register entry and whose first names have been entered in accordance with the Self-Determination Act.
- Persons who are protected by a blocking note in the civil status register.
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Procedure
You can apply for a birth certificate at the Bremen-Mitte registry office and the Bremen-Nord registry office in writing by e-mail, DE-Mail or post.
For legal reasons, it is not possible to order a certificate by telephone.
Request by e-mail
- Fill out the form to request a certificate.
- Send a scanned attachment/photo as proof of your identity. This can be:
- Identity card (both sides)
- Passport
- You can black out data that is not required (e.g. height, eye color, etc.).
- Send the email to the email address of the relevant registry office.
- For the registry office Bremen-Mitte:
- urkunde@inneres.bremen.de
- For the registry office Bremen-Nord:
- Standesamtbremen-nord@inneres.bremen.de
- For the registry office Bremen-Mitte:
- You will then receive an invoice and the birth certificate.
Application by DE-Mail
We would like to point out that copies of identity documents contain sensitive data that should only be sent in encrypted form when using e-mail as a means of transportation. For this purpose, we also offer you the option of sending us the certificate request, including a scanned copy of your ID, by DE-Mail.
- Sending by DE-Mail requires that you yourself have a DE-Mail address, i.e. that you are authenticated within the DE-Mail network. Encrypted transmission is only guaranteed within the DE-Mail network.
- It is not possible to send messages to the DE-Mail addresses of the registry offices from a conventional mail account.
- Our DE-Mail addresses are
- For the registry office Bremen-Mitte:
- EPS.050-SM@bremen.de-mail.de
- For the registry office Bremen-Nord:
- EPS.050-SN@bremen.de-mail.de
- For the registry office Bremen-Mitte:
Request by post
- Fill out the form to request a certificate.
- Send a copy of proof of your identity. This can be:
- Identity card (both sides)
- Passport
- You may black out data that is not required (e.g. height, eye color, etc.).
- Send both together to the relevant registry office.
- You will then receive an invoice and the birth certificate.
If you do not wish to send a copy/scan copy of your identity card or passport, the requested certificate can only be collected in person, as the registry office must be satisfied that the request for the certificate is justified and that the person making the request is the correct person. Please arrange a collection appointment by calling 115.
More information
For further information on DE-Mail, we recommend the publications of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) under "Further information".
Legal remedy
- Application for a court decision at the local court responsible for the registry office
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Necessary Documents
- Your identity card, passport, eID or eAT (if applying in writing: copy)
- if applied for or collected by a representative:
- written power of attorney from the authorized person and
- their identity card (original or copy or eID or eAT) or
- Passport (original or copy) and
- the identity card, passport, eID or eAT of the representative
- for siblings:
- can credibly demonstrate a legitimate interest
- Identity card or passport (a copy if applying in writing, online you must authenticate yourself electronically using an identity card with online ID function or with your electronic residence permit)
- for other persons, including close relatives such as aunts and uncles:
- Proof of legal interest, e.g. letter from the probate court, court judgment or enforceable title
- ID card or passport (a copy if applying in writing, online you must authenticate yourself electronically using an ID card with online ID function or with your electronic residence permit)
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Competent Department
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Standesamt Bremen-Mitte
- +49 421 115
- +49 421 361 6360
- Hollerallee 79, 28209 Bremen
- standesamtmitte
@inneres. bremen. de
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Standesamt Bremen-Nord
- +49 421 115
- +49 421 361 79383
- Gerhard-Rohlfs-Str. 62, 28757 Bremen
- standesamtbremen-
nord @inneres. bremen. de
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Fees / Costs
bis 15,00 EUR per certificate
bis 8,00 EUR for each additional, identical certificate issued at the same time.If you request the certificate in writing, we will send you an invoice together with the certificate.
If you collect the certificate in person, the fees must be paid in cash, by EC card, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa or VPay.
Civil status certificates that are required for the purposes of statutory health, long-term care, accident and pension insurance, the granting of child benefit, parental benefit or education allowances are for a specific purpose and free of charge. -
Deadlines & processing time
What deadlines must be paid attention to?
The birth certificate can be issued 110 years after the register is created.
Information on older birth registers can be obtained from the Bremen State Archives.
How long does it take to process
The processing time depends on the order volume.
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More Information
This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.
The official information in German is complete and correct. 23.02.2026