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Why the register court matters

  • Authority: the register court maintains the legal record and is the point of responsibility for the entry.
  • Uniqueness: register numbers are local to the court. Court + HRB/HRA number is the practical unique reference.
  • Document context: extracts and filings are structured around the court’s register file.

How court names usually appear

Typical patterns:

  • Amtsgericht München
  • Amtsgericht Hamburg
  • Amtsgericht Berlin (Charlottenburg)

Parenthetical qualifiers often distinguish jurisdiction units within large cities.

How the court system handles register matters

Germany operates 640 local courts (Amtsgerichte), but only a subset of these function as register courts. Under the federal structure of German judicial administration, individual Bundesländer decide how to concentrate register jurisdiction. Some states keep register duties at every Amtsgericht; others — for efficiency — pool the work at the Amtsgericht that sits in the same city as a Landgericht (regional court). The result is that a company with its registered seat in a smaller town may be filed with a register court in a different city within the same district.

The court's register section is staffed by judicial officers (Rechtspfleger), not full judges, for routine entries. The Rechtspfleger reviews the formal correctness of the submission — the wording of the company name, the registered seat, the appointment of managing directors, the share capital declaration, and the supporting notarial documents — before authorising the entry. Only in disputed or legally complex cases does the matter reach a sitting judge.

Finding the responsible court for a given company

If you know the registered seat (Sitz) of a company, the responsible court is almost always the Amtsgericht in whose district that seat falls. In states where register matters are concentrated, the seat city may dictate a different court — but this mapping is stable and published by each state's Ministry of Justice. The quickest reliable check is the central federal portal at handelsregister.de, which surfaces the court name on every search result and on every downloaded extract.

The German legal notice (Impressum) on every German business website is also a reliable source: under §5 of the Telemediengesetz (TMG), the operator must publish the responsible register court and the register number. Scroll to the footer of a GmbH or AG website and the line typically reads Registergericht: Amtsgericht [City], HRB [number].

Court fees and electronic filing

All Handelsregister filings have been submitted electronically since 2007, normally routed by a notary through the secure EGVP system. The court charges a fixed fee for registering a new entity — the figure most commonly quoted is in the region of €150 for a routine GmbH first entry, set by the Court and Notary Fees Act (GNotKG), though the exact amount depends on the type of filing. Subsequent changes (managing director swaps, capital increases, address changes) carry separate, smaller fees.

Since 1 August 2022, looking up information has been free at the federal portal. Before that date, the register portal charged €4.50 for a current extract and €1.50 per stored document. The fee removal was introduced by the Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Digitalisierungsrichtlinie (DiRUG), which implemented the EU Digital Tools Directive 2019/1151 into German law.

Common pitfalls

  • Assuming the headquarters city defines the court. The registered seat and the responsible court usually align, but do not infer without the record.
  • Dropping the court from your notes. If you only store “HRB 12345”, you risk matching the wrong company later.

What a Registergericht does

Handelsregister entries are maintained by register courts (Registergerichte). A register court is responsible for keeping the record, receiving filings (often via notaries), and publishing the entry updates. When a register number is cited, it is normally understood in combination with the responsible court.

Why the court matters

The same register number can exist in different court districts. For reliable identification, references often include the court name/location and the section (HRB/HRA). Official extracts are issued from the register maintained under that court’s responsibility.

Typical references

In practice, you may see references such as “Amtsgericht [City] HRB 12345”. The term Amtsgericht is often used because many register courts are local courts. The precise phrasing may vary, but the combination of city/court plus HRB/HRA plus number is the key.

Cross‑border documentation

When register information is used across borders, parties commonly request a current register extract and, if needed, certified copies or apostille/legalization depending on the destination country’s requirements.

What to record when you cite an entry

  • Register court / city (e.g., Amtsgericht [City])
  • Section (HRB or HRA)
  • Register number
  • Registered name and legal form
  • Date of the latest entry update (from the extract/publication)

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