Last checked against the official sources: 29 August 2026
The first official duty after a birth in Germany is neither address registration nor insurance: it is notifying the registry office within one week. The deadline is far shorter than new parents expect. And there is a rarely mentioned door in the other direction: a person born abroad can have that birth entered in the German register on application — which solves a whole chain of document problems at once.
The rules as stated
- The deadline
- One week to notify the registry office in whose district the child was born (§ 18(1) PStG).
- Stillbirth
- Notification by the third working day following the birth at the latest.
- Who notifies
- The persons named in § 19, orally or in writing, or the institutions named in § 20 in writing — the hospital, where the birth took place there. Individuals notifying must make the birth credible.
- What is recorded
- First names and birth name · the place and the day, hour and minute · the child’s sex · the parents’ first and family names and their sex (§ 21(1)).
- Born abroad
- The event may be entered in the German birth register on application, and for German nationality the time of the application is decisive (§ 36).
One week — not two
Two deadlines are routinely confused: address registration runs two weeks, while notifying a birth runs one. Jurisdiction is strictly local: notification goes to the registry office in whose district the child was born, not the one where you live.
Who notifies? Either the persons named in the Act — orally or in writing — or the institution in writing. That is why the hospital normally handles it for hospital births, while the burden falls on the parents for a home birth or a birth centre.
Where individuals notify, one further requirement applies: the person notifying must make the birth credible — by presenting something that supports it, such as a midwife’s certificate or a medical report.
Stillbirths carry a tighter rule: notification by the third working day following the birth at the latest.
What is actually recorded — down to the minute
The birth register is not a general form but a defined list under § 21: the child’s first names and birth name, the place and the day, hour and minute, the child’s sex, and the parents’ first and family names and their sex. Recording the minute is not a formality: it settles the order of twins and everything built on it in questions of succession and entitlement.
Alongside the entry, notes are added that matter just as much to foreign families:
- the parents’ nationality where they are not German and their foreign nationality has been proven;
- the parents’ marriage, where they are married to each other;
- the recording of the mother’s and the father’s own births;
- the child’s acquisition of German nationality under § 4(3) of the Nationality Act — the route for a child born in Germany to foreign parents.
That last note is the one that matters most in practice: it is the official trace on which proof of the child’s nationality later rests, so confirm it has been added rather than discovering its absence years later.
For a stillbirth only items 2 to 4 are taken, with the addition that the child was stillborn; first names may also be entered at the request of a person who would have had parental care had the child been born alive. Where care would have rested with both parents and they do not bear a common family name, a family name can only be entered if they agree on one of theirs.
Born abroad? § 36 opens a separate door
This is the provision that solves a great many problems and is almost never mentioned. Where a German was born abroad, the event may be recorded in the German birth register on application. The decisive wording: for possession of German nationality, the time the application is made is what counts — not the time of the birth.
The same applies to stateless persons, homeless foreigners and foreign refugees within the meaning of the Refugee Convention who have their habitual residence in Germany. That opens the route to a far wider group than German nationals.
Who may apply in the case of a birth: the child’s parents, the child itself, its spouse or registered partner, and its children.
Jurisdiction lies with the registry office in whose district the person born abroad has or last had their residence, or has their habitual abode.
The benefit is purely practical: instead of a foreign document you hold a German birth certificate, accepted in every domestic procedure without translation, legalisation or argument about the form of a foreign record.
What happens automatically afterwards
Once the birth is recorded, an automatic notification chain runs without any request from you: registry offices notify the registration authorities immediately of the recording of the birth and of every change of civil status, and the registration authorities notify the registry offices of the tax identification number.
That is why the newborn’s tax ID letter arrives unrequested, and why a baby living with its parents needs no separate address registration — registration is required only if the child is taken into a dwelling other than that of the parents or the mother.
Practical steps
- Ask the hospital directly: are you notifying? For institutional births the duty is theirs; otherwise it is yours — and the deadline is a week.
- Go to the registry office of the place of birth. Jurisdiction follows the birth, not your address.
- Bring proof of your foreign nationality. The nationality note is added only where it has been proven.
- Check that the note on acquisition of German nationality was added where § 4(3) of the Nationality Act applies — before you leave the counter.
- If a family member was born abroad, consider a § 36 application. A German birth certificate spares you a chain of translations and legalisations.
- Do not register the newborn’s address needlessly. While the baby lives with its parents there is nothing to register, and the chain between the offices runs by itself.
Official sources
§ 18 PStG — notifying a birth · § 21 PStG — what the birth register records · § 36 PStG — recording an event that occurred abroad · § 17 BMG — notification between the offices
Please note: this page is general guidance, not legal advice. Fees and procedural detail differ between municipalities and Länder, and every case is assessed individually — check with the competent registration office or registry office before acting.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to notify a birth?
One week, to the registry office in whose district the birth took place. For a stillbirth, by the third working day following the birth at the latest.
Does the hospital notify for us?
The institutions named in the Act notify in writing, which is the normal course for hospital births. For a birth outside one, the duty falls on individuals, who must make the birth credible.
What does the birth register record?
First names and birth name, the place and the day, hour and minute, the child’s sex, and the parents’ names and sex — plus notes on the parents’ nationality and marriage and on the child’s acquisition of German nationality.
My child was born abroad — can it be registered here?
Yes, by an application under § 36 where the person is German, or is stateless or a refugee with habitual residence in Germany. Nationality is judged at the time the application is made.
Do I register the newborn at the registration office?
No, while the baby lives with its parents. Registration is required only if the child is taken into a dwelling other than that of the parents or the mother.