Search and document delivery at a glance
- Search online
- Yes. Public search through the common register portal; accounts are available separately through the Company Register. [1] [2] [11]
- Search language
- Search in German and English. Multilingual information pages are also available separately. [2] [1]
- Digital documents
- Save current, chronological and historical register extracts (AD, CD, HD) directly as PDF. Electronically available filed documents can also be retrieved. [1]
- Document language
- The official register record is in German. Additional filed translations into EU official languages may be available. [20] [21]
- Paper and collection
- Order plain or official paper printouts from the responsible register court. Electronic issue can also be requested. [5] [4]
- International delivery
- Not specified
- Fees at a glance
- Online AD, CD, HD and register filings: €0. Court-issued paper copy: ordinary €10, official €20. Deposited accounts: €1 plus VAT.
- Access
- Public register search does not require an account. Paid retrieval of deposited accounts requires a Company Register user account.
Choose the right register
The joint portal provides access to the commercial, cooperative, professional partnership, civil-law partnership and association registers maintained by the register courts. North Rhine-Westphalia operates the portal for the federal states. Questions about an entry belong with the responsible court. [1]
The register portal and the Company Register serve different tasks. The register folder contains filings such as articles of association and shareholder lists. Financial statements are accessed through the Company Register. [1] [11]
Search published accounts and chargeable deposited financial statements by entity.
Separate beneficial-ownership access, subject to evidence of entitlement.
Names and abbreviations explained
- ADAktueller Abdruck
- A current extract showing entries that remain valid. [1]
- CDChronologischer Abdruck
- The sequence of entries, including superseded entries, since electronic recordkeeping began. [1]
- HDHistorischer Abdruck
- The former paper register up to conversion to electronic records. [7]
- DKDokumentenansicht
- Access to documents filed in the register folder. [1]
- SIStrukturierter Registerinhalt
- Structured register information supplied as XML. [1]
- UBOUltimate Beneficial Owner
- The natural person who ultimately owns or controls an entity. This information has a separate transparency-register access regime. [9]
- HRAHandelsregister, Abteilung A
- Division A includes registered sole traders, general partnerships (OHG) and limited partnerships (KG), including GmbH & Co. KG. [12]
- HRBHandelsregister, Abteilung B
- Division B includes limited liability companies (GmbH), entrepreneurial companies with limited liability, stock corporations (AG) and European companies (SE). [12]
- eGbREingetragene Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts
- A civil-law partnership entered in the separate partnership register, Gesellschaftsregister. [16]
Search step by step
Check current status and earlier changes
Find the entity
Open advanced search. Enter the name or keywords and narrow by registered seat, federal state or legal form if needed. If you know the reference, combine the court, register type and registration number. [2]
Confirm the right record
Compare court, register type, number and registered seat. Include closed register sheets or deleted branches when investigating earlier records. [2]
Open the relevant document
Select AD for current entries, CD for changes or HD for the old paper record. Use DK for available articles, applications and shareholder lists. Save the files with their retrieval dates. [1] [7]
Obtain deposited financial statements
Sign in to the Company Register
Use your email address or username and password, then search for the specific entity. A combined search across all deposited accounts is not available. [11]
Select and pay
Open the deposited-accounts link, select the filing and add it to the document basket. Pay by credit card or SEPA direct debit. Save the download promptly: the basket is cleared after five days. [11]
Request a certified extract for use abroad
Identify the responsible registry court
Take the court name, register type and registration number from the company entry. Address your request to that court. [2] [22]
Specify certification and the destination country
The Deggendorf registry court accepts email requests for certified extracts and extracts with an apostille. For an apostille, specify the country where the extract will be used. Allow additional time for coordination with the regional court. For other registry courts, use their own contact details. [22]
Documents and fees
| Document / information | Contents and purpose | Fee | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| AD, CD and HD [10] [7] | Current entries, electronic history or the former paper register. | Self-service retrieval: €0 each. The fee exemption has applied since 1 August 2022. | Select the extract beside the search result and save the PDF. |
| Register folder / DK [1] [10] | Available electronic applications, articles of association and shareholder lists. | Already available electronic documents: €0. | Open the document view for the specific register record. |
| Court-issued extract or electronic file [5] [4] [7] | An ordinary or officially authenticated register record produced by the court on request, depending on the version ordered. | Paper: ordinary €10, official €20 (items 17000/17001). Requested electronic file: uncertified €5, certified €10 (items 17002/17003). | Apply to the responsible court and specify the format and time coverage. Accepted delivery channels vary by court. |
| Financial statements [10] [11] | Published accounts or separately deposited documents of small entities. | Published filings: free. Deposited accounts: €1 plus VAT. Certification: €0.50 per started page, minimum €5 plus VAT. | Search the Company Register by entity and document type. Deposited accounts require an account and payment. |
| Digitisation of a paper filing [6] [3] | Electronic provision of a document that is still held only on paper. | €2 per started page, minimum €25 for each register record, including one electronic delivery (HRegGebV item 5007). | Apply to the court. The right to request electronic delivery covers documents filed less than ten years before the application. |
| Transparency Register extract [8] [9] | Beneficial-owner information within the applicant’s permitted scope. | €1.65 per retrieved document. A separately requested postal printout adds €7.50. | Establish eligibility before using the separate Transparency Register service. |
Available search criteria
Advanced search supports exact company names, all or any keywords and similar-sounding words. Additional filters include registered seat, postcode, legal form, court and closed register records. This form does not offer a separate director-name search field. [2]
What a current extract contains
AD shows currently valid entries. These include the registered name, seat, business address and general representation rules. Depending on the legal form, it identifies managing directors, board members or personally liable partners, authorised signatories and their powers. Corporate records also include the business object and registered capital. Dissolution or recorded insolvency decisions may appear. [12] [1]
A civil-law partnership appears in the Gesellschaftsregister only after registration. Section 707 BGB generally permits registration; particular transactions require it, such as entering the partnership on a GmbH shareholder list. [15] [13]
Access from abroad
Section 9 of the Commercial Code permits individual informational retrieval by anyone. This access is not limited to German citizens or domestic founders. An account used to file your own company documents is separate from public research access. [3] [2]
Shareholders and beneficial owners
For a GmbH, inspect the latest filed shareholder list under DK. It identifies shareholders and their shares, including percentage holdings. Shareholders are not entered as such on the commercial register sheet. An AG does not have an equivalent complete shareholder list in the commercial register. The company maintains its own register of registered shares; section 67 AktG gives shareholders access to their own data. [12] [13] [14]
A shareholder list in the register folder is a filed document. Beneficial-ownership access follows the separate Transparency Register rules: authorities, eligible obliged entities or applicants demonstrating a legitimate interest. The latter receive a restricted dataset. Finding a company does not automatically confer UBO access. [1] [9]
Individual research and technical limits
The portal permits at most 60 searches or legal-entity retrievals per hour. Its terms prohibit systematic collection to build parallel registers. A separate application to the service office is required for justified higher-volume access. [1]
Official samples and reading guides
Statutory blank model: current register contents (Section B)
Annex 7 shows the blank model for the current register contents. Item 3 covers capital, item 4 representation and item 7 the latest entry date. Use it to understand the layout of a current extract. It contains no real company data. [17] [19]
Statutory blank model: tabular entries (Section B)
Annex 5 arranges entries by number and date across seven columns. The blank model helps explain the tabular register layout. Section 50 distinguishes it from the continuous-text presentation of the current register contents. [18] [19]
Official explanation of extract types
The court explains current, chronological and historical extracts and official versions. [7]
Avoid common mistakes
- HD does not show present status. Start with AD to check current representation and add CD where the changes matter. [7]
- A free download is not automatically a court-issued official extract. Ask the recipient which format is required. An apostille is a further requirement, not an inherent property of every download. [3] [4]
- A missing online filing may still exist on paper. [3] [1]
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay for a German register extract?
Not when downloading available register information yourself. Charges apply, for example, when the court issues a copy or certified electronic file on request. [10] [5]
Will I find the balance sheet under DK?
Use the Company Register for accounts. DK opens the register folder, including documents such as articles and shareholder lists. [1]
Original sources
Sources reviewed: 16 September 2026. The guidance is based on the linked information published by registers and public authorities.
- Registerportal: Informationen und häufige Fragen Ministerium der Justiz Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Registerportal: Erweiterte Suche Ministerium der Justiz Nordrhein-Westfalen
- § 9 Handelsgesetzbuch: Registereinsicht Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- § 30a Handelsregisterverordnung: Ausdrucke Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz, Kostenverzeichnis Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- Handelsregistergebührenverordnung, Gebührenverzeichnis Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- Amtsgericht Memmingen: Registersachen Bayerisches Staatsministerium der Justiz
- Transparenzregistergebührenverordnung Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- § 23 Geldwäschegesetz: Einsichtnahme Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- Unternehmensregister: Kosten der Nutzung Unternehmensregister / Bundesanzeiger Verlag
- Unternehmensregister: Hinterlegte Jahresabschlussunterlagen Unternehmensregister / Bundesanzeiger Verlag
- Amtsgericht Passau: Aufbau und Inhalt des Handelsregisters Bayerisches Staatsministerium der Justiz
- § 40 GmbHG: Liste der Gesellschafter Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- § 67 AktG: Aktienregister Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- § 707 BGB: Anmeldung zum Gesellschaftsregister Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- § 707a BGB: Wirkung der Eintragung Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- Handelsregisterverordnung, Anlage 7: aktueller Registerinhalt, Abteilung B Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz / Bundesamt für Justiz, Gesetze im Internet
- Handelsregisterverordnung, Anlage 5: tabellarischer Registerinhalt, Abteilung B Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz / Bundesamt für Justiz, Gesetze im Internet
- Handelsregisterverordnung, § 50: Gestaltung des elektronischen Registers Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz / Bundesamt für Justiz, Gesetze im Internet
- § 184 GVG: Gerichtssprache Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- § 11 HGB: zusätzlich eingereichte Übersetzungen Bundesministerium der Justiz und Bundesamt für Justiz
- Registerauszug und Apostille beim Registergericht Deggendorf Bayerische Justiz