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Entry in the Commercial Register as a limited liability company (GmbH)

  • Register und Kataster
  • Unternehmensstart und Gewerbezulassung

If you set up a limited liability company (GmbH), you are obliged to register it in the commercial register. The GmbH only comes into existence and has full legal capacity once it has been registered.

  • Basic information

    The commercial register is a public register kept by the local courts. It serves to ensure legal certainty in commercial transactions, as the factual and legal circumstances, the disclosure of which is of particular interest to the general public, are fully and reliably documented. There are two sections:

    Section A: For sole traders and partnerships (e.K., OHG, KG)

    Section B: For corporations (GmbH, AG)

    The commercial register is a public record. This means that legal transactions in good faith are protected to a limited extent in their trust in the accuracy of the entries and announcements.

    The content of the entry is published ex officio in the electronic Federal Gazette. In principle, all entries are published in full.

    The entry in the commercial register must be applied for in electronic form at the locally competent district court. The signature of the merchant or managing director must be certified by a notary. Depending on the form of the company, different information must be provided and attachments added.

    A public limited company is entered in section B of the commercial register. So-called corporations are entered in section B (HRB).

    Required information:

    • The company name
    • The registered office of the company
    • The object of the company
    • The amount of the share capital
    • The date of adoption of the articles of association
    • Any provision on the duration of the company
    • Any provision regarding the authorized capital
    • The persons of the managing directors and the extent of their respective powers of representation

    Requirements

    Before the GmbH is registered

    • the articles of association must be available,
    • the contributions in kind must be paid in full and
    • at least 25% of the nominal amount of each individual share must have been paid in cash.

    In total, at least enough must have been paid into the share capital so that the total amount of the paid-in cash contributions plus the total amount of the shares for which contributions in kind are to be made reaches at least half of the minimum share capital.

  • Procedure

    The registration of a company in the commercial register section B is generally carried out by a notary.

    The entry itself is made by the local court.

    More information

    All notifiable facts must be entered in the commercial register in the event of a change (e.g. changes to the authorized representatives or their powers, etc.). Likewise, the opening or refusal to open insolvency proceedings and all changes to the articles of association must be reported to the court and entered in the commercial register.

  • Necessary Documents

    • Please contact the responsible office.
  • Competent Department

  • Fees / Costs

    Fixed fees are charged for entries in the Commercial Register in accordance with the Commercial Register Fees Ordinance.
    The amount of the fee for the entry is determined in accordance with the Court and Notary Fees Act in conjunction with the Ordinance on Fees in Commercial, Partnership and Cooperative Register Matters. In addition, expenses are incurred for the public announcement of the entry.

  • Deadlines & processing time

    How long does it take to process

    The registration court must decide on the registration immediately after receipt of the application. If all documents are available and no objections by the court are necessary, registrations are usually made within a few working days.

  • Legal Bases

  • More Information

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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. 30.04.2026

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