Registration of sole traders, commercial partnerships and corporations in the commercial register

If your commercial enterprise requires a commercial business operation or if you want to set up a corporation, an entry in the commercial register is required.

If your commercial enterprise requires a commercial business operation, you must have it entered in the commercial register.

Registration is required, for example, if you

• carry out a wide range of activities, especially internationally,
• require a large warehouse,
• have a high turnover volume.

If you want to set up a corporation, such as a GmbH, this only becomes effective once it has been entered in the commercial register.

You must also register certain changes. These include, for example

• Change of company name (name of the company),
• relocation of the registered office, granting of power of attorney,
• Change of name or place of residence of authorized representatives,
• conversions,
• dissolutions.

You can only apply for registration electronically in a publicly notarized form. The notarization is carried out by notaries who also check the eligibility for registration and send the application electronically to the commercial register.

• Publicly notarized application to the commercial register
• Depending on the legal form of your company and the type of facts to be entered, further documents are required (in some cases also in notarized or publicly certified form)

You can find out which documents you need to submit in each individual case from the notary and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK).

• Complaint

You can register with the commercial register on site or online with a notary.

The notary will notarize the application, check its registrability and send it as an electronic document with a qualified electronic signature to the electronic court and administrative mailbox of the competent registry court. If desired, the notary will also prepare the draft for the application and provide you with comprehensive advice on this.

The registry court enters the entry in the court's internal database and also publishes the entry on the Internet (www.handelsregister.de). You will receive a notification of registration.

If there are important changes, you must also register these with a notary for entry in the commercial register.

There is no deadline. Changes must be notified promptly. The registry court may enforce the registration by imposing a penalty payment if the registration is not made.

The registration court decides on the entry immediately after the application has been received. If all documents are available and no objections from the court are necessary, entries are usually made within a few working days.

Fixed fees are charged for entries in the commercial register in accordance with the Commercial Register Fees Ordinance. In addition, notary fees are regularly incurred for the preparation of the draft or notarization of the required commercial register application.

There are no indications or special features.