German commercial law draws a careful distinction between two concepts that English speakers often collapse into the single word "address". The Sitz, or registered seat, is a statutory attribute of the legal entity itself. The Geschäftsanschrift, the domestic business address, is the postal location at which the company can be reached in practice. Both appear in the Handelsregister, but they play very different roles in the life of a company and in the work of anyone trying to identify or serve it.
Sitz: the statutory seat
The Sitz is fixed in a company's articles of association and is typically expressed as a municipality rather than a street. For a GmbH based in Munich, the articles will usually state that the Sitz is "Munich" — not a specific building. This municipal designation anchors the company to a particular place for corporate-law purposes, and it is one of the facts the register court examines before entering the company in the Handelsregister.
Changing the Sitz is a structural amendment. It requires a shareholder resolution, notarisation, and a fresh filing to the commercial register. Until the change is registered, the original seat continues to govern.
Geschäftsanschrift: the business address
Since the modernisation of German company law, limited-liability entities have been required to register a specific domestic business address in addition to the Sitz. This is the street-level address at which mail, service of process, and official correspondence can reliably reach the company. It lives within the Sitz but is not identical to it: a GmbH with Sitz in Hamburg might have its Geschäftsanschrift at a particular office in the Speicherstadt, and can move to a different Hamburg address without touching the Sitz at all.
Why the distinction matters
Courts, creditors, and counterparties use the Geschäftsanschrift for practical delivery, but rely on the Sitz for questions of jurisdiction, competence, and corporate identity. An invoice may travel to the business address; a lawsuit is framed against the entity seated in the municipality recorded in the register.
How the seat determines the competent Registergericht
Germany's commercial register is maintained locally. Each Amtsgericht with register jurisdiction keeps the entries for companies seated within its district. The Sitz therefore determines which Registergericht is competent to hold the file and to process any subsequent filings. A company seated in Cologne is entered at the Amtsgericht Köln; one seated in Dresden at the Amtsgericht Dresden. This is why a register reference is only meaningful when combined with the name of the court.
Moving the Sitz across district lines is more than a clerical event. The file must be transferred from the old register court to the new one, a new register number is typically assigned, and the change must be registered at both ends of the move. Intra-municipal changes — new street address within the same Sitz — require an update to the Geschäftsanschrift but leave the register court and the seat untouched.
Seat, address, and the extract
| Attribute | Sitz | Geschäftsanschrift |
|---|---|---|
| Defined in | Articles of association | Register filing |
| Typical form | Municipality | Street address |
| Used for | Jurisdiction, register court, legal identity | Service, correspondence, contact |
| Change requires | Shareholder resolution and notarisation | Register filing |
| Effect on register court | May change competent court | No change to competent court |
Consequences of moving the seat
A seat change has a cascade of effects that go beyond the register itself. The tax office responsible for the company may change. Local trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) rates differ between municipalities. Any court references, letterheads, and contractual notices that mention the Sitz should be updated once the new entry is live. Previously issued extracts continue to reflect the old seat, so parties relying on older documents may need to obtain an updated extract before acting on current facts.
In short: the Sitz is the company's statutory home and fixes the competent register court, while the Geschäftsanschrift is the practical address used for correspondence and service. Both appear in the Handelsregister but change under different procedures.
Related pages
- Changes & filings — how seat and address updates are registered.
- Register courts — how local jurisdiction is organised.
- Register extract — where seat and address appear in practice.