Finding and Getting your German Birth Certificate
Dec 19th 2016, 12:51 pm
#1
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,391
Finding and Getting your German Birth Certificate
Don't know if anyone here can be of assistance, but no harm or foul in asking. Here are the facts:
I was born in Karlsruhe-Durlach in 1948 of a German unwed mother who gave birth at home. I have the name of the mid-wife who attended the birth and the address where I was born. My father was in the US Army. They were not allowed to marry until Dad was given his discharge papers and scheduled to be flown home. This occurred 5 months after my birth.
The only birth certificate I have is the one that was issued by the US Department of State issued the week my parents married and just before we flew to the States. It is stamped with I-130 which is the visa number needed for both mom and I to enter the US. I became a US Citizen the moment I entered the US or by virtue of my father's US Citizenship thus eliminating my German citizenship.
What I want to find is my German Birth Certificate. The birth had to have been recorded in Durlach. I know that I can't reclaim my German citizenship but would love to get an EU passport if possible as my goal is to be able to spend 6 months or so in Europe without need for a visa.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I was born in Karlsruhe-Durlach in 1948 of a German unwed mother who gave birth at home. I have the name of the mid-wife who attended the birth and the address where I was born. My father was in the US Army. They were not allowed to marry until Dad was given his discharge papers and scheduled to be flown home. This occurred 5 months after my birth.
The only birth certificate I have is the one that was issued by the US Department of State issued the week my parents married and just before we flew to the States. It is stamped with I-130 which is the visa number needed for both mom and I to enter the US. I became a US Citizen the moment I entered the US or by virtue of my father's US Citizenship thus eliminating my German citizenship.
What I want to find is my German Birth Certificate. The birth had to have been recorded in Durlach. I know that I can't reclaim my German citizenship but would love to get an EU passport if possible as my goal is to be able to spend 6 months or so in Europe without need for a visa.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by Rete; Dec 19th 2016 at 2:30 pm.
Dec 19th 2016, 2:14 pm
#2
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Joined: Dec 2011
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Re: Finding and Getting your German Birth Certificate
You can't get an EU passport (i.e. a passport of an EU member state) just because you were born in a country that is now in the EU. You have to be a citizen of one of the member states. In other words, in your case you must prove that you are a German citizen, or you're not going to get a German passport.
Your case is complex. According to Wikipedia, you acquired German citizenship by virtue of your (unmarried) mother being German; you lost it owing your mother's subsequent marriage to your (non-German) father; and you effectively reacquired it again in 1975 when the German courts retrospectively declared the law under which you lost it to be invalid. And that's ignoring any effect your US citizenship may have had on the process.
As I see it, you were initially a German citizen and subsequently acquired US citizenship. Although in principle that could well result in loss of your German citizenship, it doesn't "just happen". You have to be deprived of your German citizenship by an administrative procedure. Are you sure that such a procedure occurred (if it did, probably when your parents married)?
To find out whether you're still a German citizen, I suggest contacting the German embassy (in the US or wherever you're located) and explaining your circumstances.
Re the birth certificate: I would assume in the first instance that your birth was registered with the German authorities in Durlach (otherwise, it wouldn't have been registered at all for five months, which I think is unlikely).
To get a copy of your birth certificate, contact the Standesamt (registry office) for Karlsruhe-Durlach. The website is here:
www.durlacher.de/buerger-soziales/verwaltung/stadtamt-durlach/standesamt-durlach.html
If you have access to a friendly German speaker, the easiest way is probably to get them to make a phone call or send an e-mail on your behalf.
There are commercial online services that will apply for your birth certificate on your behalf. Be careful about using these – you may find yourself paying through the nose to get something you could have got yourself for a few euros just by filling out a form.
And edit your post again so that Karlsruhe-Durlach is spelled correctly.
Good luck!
Your case is complex. According to Wikipedia, you acquired German citizenship by virtue of your (unmarried) mother being German; you lost it owing your mother's subsequent marriage to your (non-German) father; and you effectively reacquired it again in 1975 when the German courts retrospectively declared the law under which you lost it to be invalid. And that's ignoring any effect your US citizenship may have had on the process.
As I see it, you were initially a German citizen and subsequently acquired US citizenship. Although in principle that could well result in loss of your German citizenship, it doesn't "just happen". You have to be deprived of your German citizenship by an administrative procedure. Are you sure that such a procedure occurred (if it did, probably when your parents married)?
To find out whether you're still a German citizen, I suggest contacting the German embassy (in the US or wherever you're located) and explaining your circumstances.
Re the birth certificate: I would assume in the first instance that your birth was registered with the German authorities in Durlach (otherwise, it wouldn't have been registered at all for five months, which I think is unlikely).
To get a copy of your birth certificate, contact the Standesamt (registry office) for Karlsruhe-Durlach. The website is here:
www.durlacher.de/buerger-soziales/verwaltung/stadtamt-durlach/standesamt-durlach.html
If you have access to a friendly German speaker, the easiest way is probably to get them to make a phone call or send an e-mail on your behalf.
There are commercial online services that will apply for your birth certificate on your behalf. Be careful about using these – you may find yourself paying through the nose to get something you could have got yourself for a few euros just by filling out a form.
And edit your post again so that Karlsruhe-Durlach is spelled correctly.
Good luck!
Dec 19th 2016, 2:30 pm
#3
Concierge
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,391
Re: Finding and Getting your German Birth Certificate
Thanks for the detailed response
Yes, I spelt it incorrectly ... Karlsruhe. Not like I haven't been there many times in the past.
Mom is deceased, as is her sister, who continued to live in the apartment of my birth until her death in 2007. I was over there last to empty out the apartment and deal with her estate. I should have taken care of this while I was there.
My BC from the DOS was issued ? or at the very least signed by the Army and has notations on the front and back but nothing noted about citizenship in either Germany or the US.
I asked about the EU passport because of something I read posted on BE telling someone in the US who was a USC to get their EU passport even though they don't hold citizenship in a member nation but their parent did.
Yes, I spelt it incorrectly ... Karlsruhe. Not like I haven't been there many times in the past.
Mom is deceased, as is her sister, who continued to live in the apartment of my birth until her death in 2007. I was over there last to empty out the apartment and deal with her estate. I should have taken care of this while I was there.
My BC from the DOS was issued ? or at the very least signed by the Army and has notations on the front and back but nothing noted about citizenship in either Germany or the US.
I asked about the EU passport because of something I read posted on BE telling someone in the US who was a USC to get their EU passport even though they don't hold citizenship in a member nation but their parent did.
Last edited by Rete; Dec 19th 2016 at 2:34 pm.
