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Germany has no single company register; a GmbH appears in three. The Handelsregister, the commercial or trade register kept by the local courts, shows that the company exists, who may sign for it and what it has filed. The Unternehmensregister holds its annual accounts. The Transparenzregister records who ultimately owns or controls it, and since 2022 it is closed to the general public.
| Register | Kept by | Shows for a GmbH | Who can look | Free or paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handelsregister | Local courts (Amtsgerichte), one portal at handelsregister.de | Name, seat, objects, capital, managing directors; filed documents such as the articles and shareholder list | Anyone | Free online; an official printout from the court is paid |
| Unternehmensregister | Bundesanzeiger Verlag, for the Federal Ministry of Justice | Annual accounts, register announcements, insolvency notices | Anyone | Search free; a micro company’s deposited balance sheet is paid |
| Transparenzregister | Bundesanzeiger Verlag as registrar under the Money Laundering Act (GwG) | Individuals with more than 25% of capital or votes, or other control | Authorities, obliged entities, anyone proving a legitimate interest | Paid per document |
The Dutch business register of the Kamer van Koophandel (KVK) is also called the Handelsregister; for a KVK search see our page on the Netherlands company register.
As a rule the Amtsgericht at the seat of a regional court keeps the register, electronically, for that court’s whole district, and the Länder may assign other courts (section 8 HGB, section 376 FamFG), so the court in a company’s number is often in another town; the portal lists Berlin’s register court as Berlin (Charlottenburg). Since 2007 all Länder share one search, the Gemeinsames Registerportal der Länder at handelsregister.de, run by North Rhine-Westphalia, where entries are also officially announced (section 10 HGB).
The normal search takes a name or keywords, matching all words, any word, the exact name or similar-sounding ones, narrowed by seat, register type, number and court; the advanced search adds Land, legal form, postcode and town. A tick box adds closed register sheets, such as those of deleted companies. Use is free and needs no registration, within 60 searches or retrievals an hour; systematic retrieval to build a register of one’s own is forbidden.
Section A of the register (HRA) holds sole traders (e.K.), general and limited partnerships (OHG, KG) and European economic interest groupings; Section B (HRB) holds the GmbH, including the UG (haftungsbeschränkt), the AG, the SE and the KGaA (section 3 HRV). Numbers run consecutively within each section (section 13 HRV), so an HRB number identifies a company only together with its court. A GmbH & Co. KG has two entries to check: the partnership under HRA and its general partner GmbH under HRB.
A change of name stays on the same register sheet; if the seat moves to another court’s district, the old and new sheets refer to each other (section 13h HGB, section 20 HRV). A GmbH’s business letters must state its register court and number (section 35a GmbHG), so its letterhead gives the search key. Tax and VAT numbers are separate; our page on the company registration number compares other countries.
The portal offers these forms, all free:
| Retrieval | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Current printout (AD) | Only the entries in force today; issued when no other form is requested (section 30a HRV) |
| Chronological printout (CD) | Every entry since the register went electronic, including those struck out |
| Historic printout (HD) | The entries of the former paper register |
| Documents | Everything filed electronically: applications, shareholder lists, articles |
| Structured content (SI) | Current and chronological data as an XML file |
None of these is certified. The certified form is the official printout (amtlicher Ausdruck), issued by the register court under its seal and counting as a certified copy (section 9(4) HGB, section 30a(3) HRV), or an electronic file the court certifies through an eIDAS trust service (section 9(3) HGB). Both are paid, and a German bank may simply inspect the register itself (section 12(2) GwG), so ask which form is accepted first.
The entry names the managing directors, not the shareholders; those are in the shareholder list, free among the documents: for an individual surname, first name, date of birth and place of residence, for a company its name, seat, court and number, and for every share its serial number, nominal amount and percentage of the capital (section 40(1) GmbHG). After each change the managing directors file a new list, or the notary does where one took part, as in a share sale (section 40(2)); earlier lists stay on file, so ownership can be traced list by list.
Towards the company only the listed person counts as shareholder (section 16(1)). A buyer can even acquire in good faith from a listed seller who is not the owner, unless the list has been wrong for under three years without the owner’s fault, the buyer knew or was grossly negligent, or an objection (Widerspruch) is attached (section 16(3)). For the people behind a corporate shareholder, see the Transparenzregister.
Accounts are not on handelsregister.de. The managing directors transmit the adopted accounts, in German, to the Unternehmensregister within one year of the balance sheet date (section 325 HGB); a micro company may deposit its balance sheet instead of publishing it (section 326). Accounts for financial years beginning after 31 December 2021 are there; earlier years went to the Bundesanzeiger.
The search is free and needs no registration, except for deposited micro balance sheets, released only on application to a registered user and paid (section 9(6) HGB and the register’s terms of use). The register also carries insolvency court notices (section 8b HGB). Where accounts are late or incomplete, it informs the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz), which brings fine proceedings against the managing directors or the company (sections 329 and 335 HGB). Whoever files must first be identified, by eID or the register’s video identification.
Every GmbH must report its beneficial owners without delay: each individual holding more than 25% of the capital or votes, or controlling it otherwise (sections 3 and 20 GwG). The old rule that details already in the Handelsregister counted as reported ended on 31 July 2021, and GmbHs that relied on it had to file by 30 June 2022 (section 59(8) GwG).
Public access ended with the Court of Justice judgment of 22 November 2022 (C-37/20 and C-601/20), which declared invalid the EU rule opening this data to any member of the public. Section 23 GwG now admits authorities and courts in full, obliged entities such as banks and notaries for their customer checks, and anyone proving a legitimate interest. Users register online, individuals identify with an official photo ID, and each document retrieved is paid.
A legitimate-interest extract shows name, nature and extent of the interest, month and year of birth, country of residence and nationalities, but not the day of birth or the town (section 23(1)), and minors or owners at risk of crimes such as extortion can have even that restricted (section 23(2)). A company can view its own entry by applying for a Selbstauskunft, and an extract notes any discrepancy review under way (section 23a GwG).
Before a notarial share transfer of a ready-made GmbH, the Vorratsgesellschaft, check:
The transfer itself and the economic re-formation that follows are explained on our page on ready-made shelf companies in Germany.
We are not a register and issue no extracts. We can supply a ready-made GmbH or handle company formation in Germany, prepare the notary documents and the Handelsregister and Transparenzregister filings, and help with the bank application described on our page on bank accounts for German companies. The Germany overview covers tax and the yearly cycle.
Yes. Searching handelsregister.de and opening the printouts, the shareholder list, the articles and other documents filed electronically is free and needs no registration. What is paid is a certified extract from the register court, as an official printout or a certified file, and a micro company’s deposited balance sheet at the Unternehmensregister.
Search the name on handelsregister.de, using the exact-name option if the results are too broad, or narrow the advanced search by seat, legal form or postcode. The result gives the court and the HRB number, which belong together. A GmbH must also print both on its business letters.
The Handelsregister is the legal register kept by the local courts: a GmbH exists from its entry there, and its directors, capital and filed documents are recorded there. The Unternehmensregister is a federal platform for what companies must disclose, above all annual accounts, which are never on handelsregister.de.
Not the general public, since the Court of Justice ruling of 22 November 2022. Authorities and courts see the full Transparenzregister entry, banks and notaries see it for their customer checks, and anyone else must prove a legitimate interest and receives a reduced extract. Direct shareholders stay visible in the free shareholder list.
An extract from the commercial register. The current printout shows today’s entries and the chronological printout every entry since the register went electronic; both are free on handelsregister.de and neither is certified. Where a certified extract is required, the register court issues an official printout under its seal, and that is paid.
Buying or forming a German GmbH? Tell us what you have in mind and we will set out what it would need from you; Telegram and WhatsApp reach us at +48 663 247 166.