Standesregister

Standesregister, sometimes referred to as civil-register records, are official civil status records kept by civil registration offices (Standesämter) in many German-speaking countries. They document life events that affect a person’s civil status: births, marriages, and deaths, including basic details such as event date, place, names of involved parties, and relevant familial information (for example, parents of a newborn or spouses in a marriage). Standesregister serve as the primary legal record of an individual’s civil status and are the basis for issuing vital records certificates, such as birth, marriage, and death certificates (Geburtsurkunde, Heiratsurkunde, Sterbeurkunde in German).

Scope and administration vary by country. In Germany and Austria the term Standesregister is commonly used and the registers are maintained by local Standesämter (civil registry offices) within cities or districts. In Switzerland the equivalent records are called Zivilstandsregister. Registers may be organized locally and, in many places, have undergone digitization or are linked to online portals to facilitate certificate requests and civil-status verification.

Access and use are regulated for privacy and legal reasons. Copies or extracts of entries can typically be obtained by the person named in the record or by others with legitimate interest, subject to applicable data-protection laws and minimum age or time‑based restrictions. Older records may be more freely accessible depending on jurisdiction.

Historically, civil registration complemented or replaced church registers as the official record of vital events. Standesregister remain essential for proving citizenship, marital status, parentage, name changes, inheritance matters, and for genealogical research.