Handels-Direct.com is an editorial reference site. Every page is written against a defined set of sources, so that readers can see where the explanations come from and how the site weighs conflicting accounts. This page records the categories of material the editors consult, the order of priority between them, and the conventions used when an official portal, a legal provision and a secondary commentary do not align.
Primary reference material
Primary sources are treated as authoritative for factual claims about how the commercial register and related systems operate. Where a page states that a certain filing is required, a certain fee applies, or a certain portal provides a certain function, the statement is anchored in one of the following categories.
- handelsregister.de: the common access portal for the German commercial register operated on behalf of the state justice administrations. The portal is the reference point for how the public can search for entries, order extracts and inspect filed documents.
- unternehmensregister.de: the central Unternehmensregister, which bundles publications from the commercial register, the Bundesanzeiger, the Transparenzregister and other sources. It is used as a consolidated access point for published company disclosures.
- Bundesanzeiger: the Federal Gazette, operated by Bundesanzeiger Verlag, used for official publications including annual accounts for many corporate forms and other statutory notices.
- Bundeszentralamt fuer Steuern (BZSt): the Federal Central Tax Office, consulted for questions on German tax identification numbers and VAT ID verification procedures.
- BRIS: the Business Registers Interconnection System operated at EU level, used as context for cross-border visibility of commercial register information.
- Legal framework: the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB), the GmbH Act (GmbHG), the Stock Corporation Act (AktG), the Partnership Act and the register ordinance (HRV), together with other statutes that govern registration, publication and transparency duties.
Secondary reference material
Secondary sources are used for explanatory framing, terminology, and descriptions of common interpretation patterns. They are helpful for translating legal German into neutral editorial English, but they do not override the primary material.
- Guidance notes published by chambers of commerce, notary associations and professional bodies.
- Academic commentary and standard practitioner handbooks covering commercial register law.
- Editorial explainers describing how to read an extract, a publication or a registration notice.
Source hierarchy
When a secondary source and a primary source disagree, the page follows the primary source and notes the divergence where it affects the reader's understanding. When two primary sources appear to conflict, the editors prefer the source closest to the act in question: the governing statute for rules, the court or portal for procedural practice, and the Unternehmensregister or Bundesanzeiger for publication facts.
In short: primary legal and portal sources come first; secondary commentary is used for plain-language explanation; the site does not mirror, republish or scrape protected databases.
Sourcing policy
The site does not attempt to substitute for an official record. Pages are written to help readers orient themselves before they consult a register extract, a filing or a publication; they are not a real-time verification service. When a topic lies outside the sources listed above, the page either flags the limitation explicitly or is not published.
Claims that require a specific statutory reference are phrased in a way that reflects the underlying provision without inventing section numbers. Where fees, deadlines or technical workflows vary between courts, the editors describe the variation rather than reporting a single figure as if it were nationwide.
How readers should use the sources
- For decisions or disputes: rely on an official extract, publication or statutory text, not on an editorial summary.
- For orientation: use the pages on this site to understand what you are looking at, what the register records, and what it does not cover.
- For cross-border work: compare the register entry with the BRIS interconnection view where European context is relevant, and seek qualified advice for questions of foreign law.
Limits of this page
This page describes the sourcing approach; it does not provide legal advice, does not offer filing services, and does not sell access to any register. Queries about official data should be directed to the relevant German authority or portal.