There are three common ways descendants come to German citizenship, and each needs a slightly different stack of paper. All three depend on records that are scattered across German Standesämter, church archives and, for families from the former eastern territories, Polish archives.
Our part is the records: we find them and order the certified copies. Whether your family qualifies, and under which section, is a question for a German citizenship lawyer or the Federal Office of Administration (Bundesverwaltungsamt, BVA), which handles applications from abroad.
The three usual routes
You were born a German citizen and nobody noticed. German citizenship passes by descent, and many people abroad hold it without a passport. The question is whether it passed down without a break. Before 1975, children of married parents generally took it only from the father, and an ancestor who naturalised elsewhere before the next child was born usually lost it. The BVA can confirm citizenship with a Feststellung if the chain holds.
Section 5 StAG. This declaration concerns qualifying people born after 23 May 1949 who missed out because of discriminatory transmission rules, and their descendants. Examples include: children of German mothers and foreign fathers born before 1975, and some children born outside marriage to German fathers. Their descendants can use it too. Declarations must reach the authorities by 19 August 2031.
Section 15 StAG. Restoration for people who lost German citizenship, or could not acquire it, because of Nazi persecution between 1933 and 1945, and for their descendants. It is not limited to people who were formally stripped of citizenship. Families who fled before they could naturalise can also qualify.
Since June 2024 Germany allows dual citizenship in general, so most applicants no longer have to give up their current passport.
The documents a file usually needs
- Your birth certificate and the birth and marriage certificates of each generation back to the German ancestor.
- Proof of the ancestor's German citizenship: an old Reisepass, a Heimatschein, a citizenship certificate, military papers, or an entry in a residence register.
- The emigration date and, if there was one, the naturalisation abroad with its exact date.
- For Section 15: records showing the persecution, such as emigration under pressure, loss of property, deportation, or exclusion from a profession.
German civil registration started in 1874 in Prussia and in 1876 for the whole Reich. Anything earlier is in church books.
Where the records are
Standesämter. Births for 110 years, marriages for 80 and deaths for 30 stay with the local registry office. Older registers have mostly gone to municipal or state archives.
Church archives. Protestant church books are largely digitised on Archion. Catholic diocesan archives are partly on Matricula, partly only on site.
State and municipal archives. Residence registers (Meldekarten), emigration files, court records and the files of the Wiedergutmachung offices, which are essential for Section 15 cases.
The Arolsen Archives and the Bundesarchiv. Persecution, deportation and military records.
Polish archives. For families from Silesia, Pomerania, East and West Prussia, the German-era civil registers are now in Polish state archives and registry offices. We work there directly, in Polish, which is often the fastest way to records German offices say they no longer hold.
How we work
The free assessment comes first. Tell us the ancestor's name, the town and roughly when the family left. We tell you which records should survive, which offices hold them, and anything that looks like an early naturalisation.
Then we order certificates from Standesämter, search church books and archives, and assemble the documents in generational order with a short summary. If the case turns on a legal point, such as the exact date of loss or a Section 15 question, we say so early and can work with your lawyer.
Common questions
My ancestor came from Breslau, now Wrocław. Where are the records?
Mostly in Poland. The registers of the Standesämter of Breslau are kept by the Wrocław registry office and the State Archive in Wrocław. Some duplicates went to Berlin. We check both.
Do I need to speak German?
No. We handle the correspondence with German and Polish offices, and you receive everything with a short explanation in English.
How long does the BVA take?
Processing time depends on the procedure, the authority’s workload and any further evidence needed. Check current information with the BVA. A clear file may reduce requests for clarification; it does not guarantee a decision date.
Thinking about a German application? Send us the family details and we will tell you which records to start with.
Read more about research in Germany and the citizenship documents we prepare.
Official sources and scope
- German Foreign Office: acquisition by declaration under Section 5
- Federal Office of Administration: application forms and guidance
Editorial review: 14 October 2026. This is a guide to document research, not a determination of eligibility. Confirm the current procedure and checklist with the competent authority before committing to an application.