Public registers

Here is a list of the most important public registers and databases. They contain information about admission to professional status and membership in chambers or offer data about the economic or legal situation of the registered people or companies. A click on the relevant entry will take you to the website.

This information can be interesting for you in the course of research examining whether a service provider can be helpful to you. Moreover, you can use it to explore the current supply situation before you start up a business operation in the services sector.

  • Professional registers

  • Other economy related registers

    • Commercial Register - Public list of registered traders in the respective court’s district. It contains basic financial details about traders and companies and can be inspected by anyone.
    • Tradespeople Register at the Chamber of Skilled Crafts - Lists all the owners of licensed trade firms with fixed premises. It is maintained by the local Chamber of Skilled Crafts and can be inspected there. Use the websites of the three chambers in the link list for further information about Handwerkersuche.
    • Handwerkskammer Cottbus, Handwerkersuche - southern part of the state of Brandenburg.
    • Handwerkskammer Frankfurt (Oder) Region Ostbrandenburg Handwerkersuche - eastern part of the state of Brandenburg.
    • Handwerkskammer Potsdam, Handwerkersuche - western part of the state of Brandenburg.
    • Insolvency Notices - This website is used by German insolvency courts to publish notices whenever insolvency proceedings are filed.
    • Legal Services Register - This portal set up by regional justice authorities contains information on the provision of legal services. This announcement platform is divided into the areas of registrations and prohibitions.
    • Debtors’ Register - Debtors who have given a sworn assurance about their assets pursuant to Section 807 ZPO Code of Civil Procedure or Section 284 of the AO Tax Code or who have been threatened with custody to force them to reveal this information are entered by the local court in the Debtors’ Register in accordance with Section 915 ZPO Code of Civil Procedure.
    • Company Register - This can be used to search free of charge and without having to sign up for all the important information subject to compulsory disclosure about commercial companies as well as to access the electronic register of companies, cooperatives and partnerships.
    • List of Income Tax Support Groups - A list maintained by the Federal Association of Income Tax Support Groups which can be searched by postcode or location.
    • Register of the DPMA German Patent and Trademark Office - The DPMA Register can be used to search for patents which have been applied for, registered and granted, and to find out about their current legal and procedural status.
    • Central Register of Trade and Industrial Offences - The GZR Central Register of Trade and Industrial Offences is managed by the German Federal Office of Justice as a special department of the Federal Central Register. Not all traders in the Federal Republic of Germany are listed here. Instead, it contains administrative decisions (e.g. prohibition of further trade activity, withdrawal of licences or concessions), rejected applications to pursue a trade or some other economic undertaking in connection with withdrawal or revocation procedures, fines exceeding €200 for regulatory infringements in connection with the pursuit of a trade as well as certain legally binding criminal convictions against traders.
    • Federal Central Register - Decisions of courts, law enforcement and administrative authorities which have to be published under the Federal Central Register Act are recorded in the Federal Central Register