Standesamt

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A Standesamt (German, plural "Standesämter") is a German civil registration office, which is responsible for recording births, marriages and deaths.

Soon after the German Empire was created in 1871 from the previous collection of German states (kingdoms, duchies, etc), a universal system of register offices was established, taking effect on January 1st, 1876. The system had previously been introduced in Prussia on October 1, 1874 and had been in use since the beginning of the XIXth century in areas where the French Civil Code applied. Usually, the office was located in the local city or town hall.

Today, those register offices (Standesämter) are still part of the administration of every German municipality (in small communities, they are often incorporated with other offices of the administration). Since 1876, Germans in Germany can only enter into a legal marriage in a Standesamt. Therefore, every German marriage takes place before the local registrar (called Standesbeamter). A religious ceremony can be organised afterwards, but has no legal effect. Apart from that, every child born in Germany has to be registered at a register office (normally by its parents) and every death has to be registered, also. In some Bundesländer, same sex life partnerships are also entered into at the register office.

The term "Standesamt" is also used for Austrian register offices, whereas in Switzerland the German word for register office is "Zivilstandsamt".