Standesamt

The Standesamt in Germany is usually part of the town or city hall. It is responsible for keeping track of mariage, birth and other family records.

It is also the place where the legal part of a wedding ceremony takes place and the bride and groom sign their marriage license. The officer will usually conduct a brief ceremony and give a short speech before he asks the bride and groom if they want to get married out of their free will. Signing of the papers concludes the act.

This certificate of marriage is necessary even if the couple decides to have a religious service. The officiant cannot perform the mariage without receiving this document. He has no legal power unlike his U.S. counterpart.

In most cases the Standesamt preceeds the church wedding by a day. The most popular days of the week are Friday for Standesamt and Saturday for the church, however in our case they will be about two weeks apart to give us and our guests the chance to get to Michigan and finish last minute preparations for our ceremony in East Lansing.

Last updated by JHM. This site is hosted by the Department of Physics&Astronomy, MSU.