What does the land register offer?
The German land register provides information on the civil law legal relationships concerning real estate, such as ownership and third party rights in rem. The land register is kept primarily in electronic format.
Who can access the land register?
The land register may be accessed only by persons who can show a legitimate interest in consulting it (in particular for legal or economic reasons). To do so, they must first contact the land registry office in the judicial district in which the real estate is located. Persons authorised to access the land register may also apply for excerpts from the land register.
A restricted group of users may consult land register data via an electronic portal for the respective federal states. These users include in particular German courts, public authorities, notaries, credit institutions and utility companies. The judicial authorities of the federal states are responsible for regulating these access rights.
The notaries may communicate the content of the land register to persons who can demonstrate a legitimate interest. The information from the land register may also be communicated in printed form.
Is access to the German land register free of charge?
Consulting the German land register at the land registry office is free of charge. A simple excerpt from the land register costs EUR 10, a certified copy EUR 20. If a file is requested instead of an excerpt, a simple file costs EUR 5, a certified file EUR 10. There is also a charge for accessing or consulting the land register electronically.
How to search the land register
In the German land register, you can search using the following criteria:
- land register folio number
- cadastral unit
- address
- name of the owner
History of the land register.
Using the land register, you can usually trace the ownership history of real estate back to the start of the 20th century.
From the mid 1990s, the paper version of the German land register has been gradually replaced by an electronic version. This migration is now largely complete.