Help
The Normal Search helps you to search through all the data available in the register of the federal states employing a limited number of search criteria. You can conduct a search using the following criteria:
- type of register
In the list of options you will be able to choose between the register types such as HRA, HRB, GnR, PR and VR. You are free to search among all register types.
- register number
Either the register number or a postcode/zipcode may be specified,
or both together.
- register court
In a list of options you can specify the appropriate register court of the company you are looking for.
- company or keywords
In this box you can enter the company's name or part of the company's name. You can also perform a search by using keywords or by entering strings for certain keywords if they have been provided by the responsible register court.
Wird hier kein Firmenname oder Schlagwort eingetragen, müssen mindestens zwei der unten aufgeführten Kriterien ausgewählt werden, um eine Suche durchzuführen.
When employing the company’s name or keywords you can further specify or limit your search by using the option boxes that are additionally available. The following options are available:
- Search for records that contain all keywords
Thus you will search for records that contain all specified keywords. - Search for records that contain at least one keyword
In this case, all register records will be listed that contain at least one of the keywords you have specified. - Search for records that contain exactly the company's name you specified
Only those records will be listed that exactly match with the company’s name you entered.
- subsidiary
You can specify the location of a subsidiary as an optional search criterion.
Die nachfolgend aufgeführten Kriterien dürfen für eine Suche nicht alleine ausgewählt werden. Es muss für eine Suche immer eine Kombination aus mindestens zwei dieser Kriterien ausgewählt oder das Feld „“Firma oder Schlagwörter“ gefüllt werden:
- type of register
- register number
- register court
- subsidiary
In addition, using search options you can perform a fuzzy search or extend your search even to companies that have already been removed from the register. A fuzzy search is sometimes also referred to as the so-called phonetic search. This is a search method that is able to recognize certain strings of characters and words with similar pronunciation as identical. This comparative operation is based on the so-called Cologne phonetics that is employed particularly by public administrative bodies.
- search for placeholder
You can use placeholders to search for exact company names and according to the criteria branch/registered office.
Permitted placeholder characters are * and ?.
The asterisk stands for any number of characters (or none).
The question mark stands for just one character.
Apart from a search for the exact name of the company placeholders at the start of a search term are not permitted.
The key word search does not use placeholders. Here the * and ? characters are interpreted as dividers.
search example
| Name of the company: | Daylite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Federal state: | Hessen (HE) |
| Register court: | Kassel |
| Type of register: | HRB |
| Register number: | 1234 |
| registered office: | Kassel |
| Postal code: | 34121 |
| Location: | Kassel |
| Street: | Frankfurter Str. 10 |
The company can be found using placeholders by entering the following criteria:
| Exact name of the company | = Daylite Leuchten Ziller* |
| Registered office | = Kas* |
By clicking on the button Find you finally initiate the query.
In addition to the selection options of the normal search the Advanced Search allows you to selectively search in the databases of selected states or to search for a specific legal status and addresses. The queries can be specified by using the following criteria:
- type of register
In the list of options you will be able to choose between the register types such as HRA, HRB, GnR, PR and VR. You are free to search among all register types.
- register number
Either the register number or a postcode/zipcode may be specified,
or both together.
- federal states
Es können maximal zwei Bundesländer für eine Suche ausgewählt werden. Soll über mehr als zwei Bundesländer gesucht werden, müssen mehrere Suchen ausgeführt werden.
- register court
In a list of options you can specify the appropriate register court of the company you are looking for.
- company or keywords
In this box you can enter the company's name or part of the company's name. You can also perform a search by using keywords or by entering strings for certain keywords if they have been provided by the responsible register court.
When employing the company’s name or keywords you can further specify or limit your search by using the option boxes that are additionally available. The following options are available:
- Search for records that contain all keywords
Thus you will search for records that contain all specified keywords. - Search for records that contain at least one keyword
In this case, all register records will be listed that contain at least one of the keywords you have specified. - Search for records that contain exactly the company's name you specified
Only those records will be listed that exactly match with the company’s name you entered.
- subsidiary
You can specify the location of a subsidiary as an optional search criterion.
- legal status
With the list of available options you can limit your search to a selected legal status.
- company’s address
You can search for a company using its business address. For this purpose you can use the postal code, location or street as optional search criteria.
Die nachfolgend aufgeführten Kriterien dürfen für eine Suche nicht alleine ausgewählt werden. Es muss für eine Suche immer eine Kombination aus mindestens zwei dieser Kriterien ausgewählt oder das Feld „“Firma oder Schlagwörter“ gefüllt werden:
- federal states
- type of register
- register number
- register court
- subsidiary
- legal status
- company’s address
In addition, using search options you can perform a fuzzy search or extend your search even to companies that have already been removed from the register. A fuzzy search is sometimes also referred to as the so-called phonetic search. This is a search method that is able to recognize certain strings of characters and words with similar pronunciation as identical. This comparative operation is based on the so-called Cologne phonetics that is employed particularly by public administrative bodies.
- search for placeholder
You can use placeholders to search for exact company names according to the criteria branch/registered office and company address (postcode/zip code, town name and street).
Permitted placeholder characters are * and ?.
The asterisk stands for any number of characters (or none).
The question mark stands for just one character.
Apart from a search for the exact name of the company placeholders at the start of a search term are not permitted.
The key word search does not use placeholders. Here the * and ? characters are interpreted as dividers.
search example
| Name of the company: | Daylite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Federal state: | Hessen (HE) |
| Register court: | Kassel |
| Type of register: | HRB |
| Register number: | 1234 |
| registered office: | Kassel |
| Postal code: | 34121 |
| Location: | Kassel |
| Street: | Frankfurter Str. 10 |
The company can be found using placeholders by entering the following criteria:
| Exact name of the company | = Daylite Leuchten Ziller* |
| Registered office | = Kas* |
| Postal code | = 3412? |
| Location | = Ka?sel |
| Street | = Frankfurter* |
By clicking on the button Find you finally initiate the query.
In the search result template those companies that fulfill the prescribed search criteria are listed. The use of unambiguous search terms should result in the selection of just a few firms. If more than 200 have been found then only the first 200 hits are shown initially. Since it may for functional reasons be necessary to find more than 200 firms a link offers the option of doubling the number of firms displayed. In this way it is possible to bring up any number of hits.
The companies you have found are arranged and displayed by pages, if all companies that have been found in a search cannot be displayed on a single page. The individual pages consist of the header, the search result and the footer sections. In the header and the footer sections several functions to control the display of the results are provided to the user. You can enable or disable the company history using the selection box History . The selection list company/name allows you to sort the search results by company, court, state, type of register, register number, registered office and status in an ascending or in a descending order. When you click on the button Sort the search result will be displayed in the new selected sort order.
The search results themselves are displayed by individual companies in several lines. The lines are divided into several result columns:
In the column company/name you will find the company details. In the first line the state, the competent register court, the type of register and the register number are indicated. In the next line below the name of the company is indicated. Beneath the company name you will find the history of the company name.
The column ‘registered office’ shows first the current registered office and then below the history of the registered office.
The status of companies is displayed in the status column. Firms can be awarded the status current or deleted .
In the last column on the right references to the documents are found that you can retrieve from this register portal. These are the following documents:
AD Current Hard Copy Printout
The current original in the electronic or mechanical commercial register relates to entries concerning one particular company which contains information (usually in the form of consecutive text) that is valid only at this point in time.
You can view a sample of the current hard copy printout for the company "Thyssen Stahl GmbH" free of charge.
CD Chronological Hard Copy Printout
The chronological printout shows, in chronological order, all entries – both the current ones and also those that are specifically marked as irrelevant – that have been available since the register has been maintained electronically. The entries are optically arranged in the same way as the columns of the register of companies.
You can view a sample of the chronological hard copy printout for the company "Thyssen Stahl GmbH" free of charge.
HD Historical Hard Copy Printout
The historical printout is a hard copy of the paper pages from the former register of companies that have now been transferred to electronic image files.
DK Tree Structure for the Documents Submitted to the Register
The document tree shows in ins structured way all documents available for an entity which since 01.01.2007 have been submitted in electronic form to the competent register court and have been cleared for retrieval from this site by this court. These are notably such documents as articles of association, company statutes, lists of shareholders or minutes of meetings.
Presentation of the document tree
The presentation chart of the document tree has two sections. The left-hand section shows the „Documents on Legal Entity“ in the folder structure. On the second level you will find documents of he current register court under „Documents on Register Number“. They are divided in the following categories:
- Partnership agreement / articles / statute
- Annual financial statement / balance sheet
- List of shareholders
- Model protocol
- Other deeds / documents
- Displayed as registrerd
- Displayed as received
In addition, the second level may display folders with documents from former registration authorities (pre-volumes), e. g. when the registered address of the company has been changed or mergers have taken place. Here you have the same categories as descreibed above.
If you open the tree structure for the first time for a legal entity, the lower levels of the document structure will be closed. Each next level in the hierarchy will be opened by activating the respective folder. You can select a document or a whole folder with documents that you want to retrieve by activating the respective folder. The selected document or the selected folder will then appear against a coloured background. Please note that the fee to be charged for retrieving documents is payable for each document you have selected.
Further information on your current selection can be found at the right of the browser window. For individual documents this field shows information for “download“ or “detailed information“; when a folder is selected the detailed information is revealed. The “Download“ information allows you to select the file format required for document fetch. For your information the file size in the available file formats as well as the type of document are also displayed. In addition, the number of selected files and the related fetch charges are shown. The download button is situated below the information on fees; with this you can initiate document fetch. When you have selected an individual document you will find further detailed information on this document under the download button. If available, the date of receipt of the document, the creation date or the relevant reference date are given.
Retrieval of documents
When you have selected the desired documents or folders you can start to retrieve the information by clicking on the “download” button in the right-hand section of the browser window. You will be directed to a new webpage that will show the documents you have selected along with the fees that will be charged for these documents. You have also the option to enter a file reference number. In your monthly advice of charge the current charges will then be listed under this file reference number. After you have confirmed the fees you shall be charged with, you will access the download area from which you can retrieve the selected documents. Since the retrieval of documents is reserved only for registered users, you will be asked to log on to the portal, if you have not done so before.
Cross-references between documents
Cross-references between documents are displayed in a particular way in the document tree structure. In particular this is relevant for objections against the lists of shareholders; although the same way of displaying cross-references will be used also for other types of references, if they have been made by the register court and have been cleared for publication. Cross-references between documents will be made in the following manner:
If there are other documents referring to the current document, then such documents will be gathered in a subfolder. The name of the subfolder will contain the expression "(+ references)". This subfolder will then contain the actual document and all other documents referring to it. The referring documents are marked with the prefix “=>” in the document name. Example:
There are two shareholder lists for a company of which one is dated 01.10.2007 and the other one is dated 01.01.2008. And there is an objection to the list dated 01.01.2008 which was filed on 10.01.2008. Therefore, under the “list of shareholders” you will find the following hierarchy:
This subfolder with references can be retrieved in the same manner as information from any other folder.
Explanations of the detailed information relating to register documents:
In the register folder detailed information regarding selected documents is indicated, the meaning of which is explained in the following:
Admission in the register folder on:
Date on which a document was first admitted in a register folder. If this date is not indicated it can be obtained from the registration office responsible.
Created by:
Date on which the alteration shown in the register document became effective according to the submitter.
Created on:
Date the document was created.
Received on:
Date on which the document was received by the registration office.
UT Entity Data
VÖ List of the Register Announcements
SI structured register content
XML file with the Current Printout and Chronological Printout data for further automated processing.
Any structured information provided for retrieval by individual federal states if any, shall be deemed a non-binding service provision. In some specific cases the contents may vary from the current printout or may contain information that is incomplete.
Apart from the list of the register announcements (VÖ), the entity data (UT) and the tree structure of submitted documents (DK), these are all documents that are subject to a charge and are available only to registered users of the portal.
For the company "Thyssen Stahl GmbH" you can view sample files for the current hard copy printout and chronological hard copy printout free of charge.
Branches were previously registered as independent companies with their local court. The headquarters tab only contains a reference to the branch.
In compliance with the Electronic Commercial Register, or EHUG, branches have only been registered under the location of the headquarters since 01.01.2007. The tabs on the location of the branch have been formally deleted, so that their status has changed from “current“ to “deleted“ although they still remain in the commercial register. The headquarters tab has been left largely unchanged. The references to the branches have been supplemented with the postcodes/zipcodes of the location of the branches. This means that data on the branches can only be established via the registration court responsible for the main office.
A direct search for a main office remains unchanged. The new law means that branches are now set out in the search result under their headquarters. A main office can then also be found indirectly via one of its branches.
These branches, which now have an independent entry, can continue to be searched for as main offices.
These branches have been deleted and transferred to the entry for the headquarters.
These branches have been entered directly on the headquarters tab.
Branches not already deleted before 01.01.2007 are shown in the search results under the firm name of the headquarters (and in their history where applicable). The information can be displayed or hidden. Where a branch corresponds to the company designations searched for this information is shown directly in the search result. If the search terms only match the headquarters the information on the branches is hidden, although it is still possible to see that branches are present. The listing under the main office contains only the branches affected by the new law which have been entered or transferred in compliance with EHUG.
The search masks for normal and extended searches make a special area available in addition to the general information in which only details of the main office may be entered. The whole inventory of firms (headquarters and branches in accordance with the old and new laws) is searched in all instances. Since, in accordance with the new law, a branch inherits those attributes that are exclusively assigned to their main office a successful search is achieved if information is given on the branch in the upper part of the mask and details for the related headquarters are given in the lower part applicable to the main offices. Characteristics of the main office and branch may not be combined here. In addition it should be noted that deleted branches are found only when searching for deleted firms. This also applies if the main office is still active.
Disclosures from the period prior to EHUG can be researched only for a branch via the (deleted) independent entry on the branch, while all disclosures effected after EHUG belong to the main office and are displayed via this.
Example 1
| Main office | |
| Name: | Daylite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| State: | Hessen (HE) |
| Register court: | Kassel |
| Type of register: | HRB |
| Register number: | 1234 |
| Registered office | Kassel |
| Postal code: | 34121 |
| Location: | Kassel |
| Street: | Frankfurter Str. 10 |
| Branch A | |
| Name: | Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Location: | Gotha |
| Postal code: | 99867 |
The “Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH” is situated at Helios Strasse 14, 99867 Gotha, Thüringen/Thuringia.
If the firm is searched for under the branch address (e.g. according to the street) this does not lead to the firm being searched for:
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Street | = Helios Strasse |
| Search result: | Firm not found |
Instead of this the firm is found via the address – here the street – of its main office:
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Street | = Frankfurter Str. |
| Search result: | Firm found |
The postcode/zipcode of the main office is different from that of the branch:
A part of the address applies to the headquarters while the postcode/zipcode refers to the location of the branch. So the search for the branch should also be found via the postcode of the headquarters.
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Postal code of the main office | = 34121 |
| Search result: | Firm found |
A search for the postcode/zipcode of the branches is not possible.
A search for the branch according to the state is possible:
| State | = Thüringen/Thuringia |
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Search result: | Firm found |
Since the branch is classified under its own state it cannot be found by using the following combination:
| State | = Hessen |
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Search result: | Firm not found |
The firm being searched for cannot be found even in this combination:
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Location | = Kassel |
| Search result: | Firm not found |
If the name of the branch is given the choice must be limited to a location of that branch:
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Location | = Gotha |
| Search result: | Firm found |
Example 2
Headquarters and branch A as in Example 1
There is another branch:
| Branch B | |
| Name: | Lunatec Leuchtsyteme Ziller GmbH |
| Location: | Wolfsburg |
| Postal code: | 38440 |
The next three combinations depend on the assignment of the key words:
| Key word | = Lunatec |
| Location | = Wolfsburg |
| Search result: | Firm found |
| Key word | = Lunatec |
| Location | = Gotha |
| Search result: | Firm not found |
| Key word | = Lunatec |
| Location | = Kassel |
| Search result: | Firm not found |
Example 3
Headquarters and branch A as in Example 1
Since the key words for a branch are individually assigned to just this branch the combination below does not produce a hit if the search is limited to “Include all key words”.
The branch and the headquarters can be found with “containing at least one key word”.
| Key words | = Daylite, Sunlite |
| Search result: | Dependent on search options |
Example 4
| Branch C | |
| Name: | Sunlite Müller Leuchten GmbH |
| Location: | Jena |
| Postal code | 07743 |
| Status: | deleted |
This is an example of the effect on the search result of the search option “Also search for deleted entries.” In the first example the branch is searched for, but without extending the search to deleted entries:
| Exact name of firm | = Sunlite Müller Leuchten GmbH |
| Search option | = Do not search for deleted items |
| Search result: | Firm not found |
The firm has not been found although its headquarters are current.
In the second example the main office is searched for with the exact name, but only among the current firms.
| Exact name of firm | = Daylite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| Search option | = Do not search for deleted items |
| Search result: | Firm found without deleted branch |
The deleted “Sunlite Müller Leuchten GmbH” branch will also not be displayed in the search result if all branches of the main office are shown. This can be displayed only if the “Also search for deleted entries” option is selected.
Example 5
Headquarters and branch A as in Example 1
The discrete “Sunlite Müller Leuchten GmbH” branch entry deleted by EHUG is still to be found.
| Branch according to the old law | |
| Name: | Sunlite Leuchten Ziller GmbH |
| State: | Thüringen/Thuringia |
| Register court: | Jena |
| Register court: | Jena |
| Type of register: | HRB |
| Register number: | 246 |
| Registered office: | Gotha |
| Postal code: | 99867 |
| Location: | Gotha |
| Street: | Helios Strasse 14 |
| Status: | deleted |
The firm has been found via its own attributes as if the search were conducted for a main office.
You can view samples of the current and chronological documents as shown below:
The current hard copy printout from the register of companies maintained electronically or in an automated form is relevant for entries concerning companies and contains information currently valid which, as a rule, is displayed as continuous text.
You can view a sample of the current hard copy printout for the company "Thyssen Stahl GmbH" free of charge.
The chronological printout shows all entries – both the current ones and also those that are specifically marked as irrelevant – in chronological order that have been available since the register has been maintained electronically. The entries are optically arranged in the same way as the columns of the register of companies.
You can view a sample of the chronological hard copy printout for the company "Thyssen Stahl GmbH" free of charge.
The following sets out an explanation of the file formats which can be retrieved in the register portal, as well as assistance in searching for a display program on the internet if no suitable program is installed on your computer. In general you can also find programs for all current file formats which you can download and use free of charge.
Due to competition laws we are not permitted to offer any concrete product recommendations regarding the latter.
The zip file format is an open-source format for archiving compressed files and directories (container).
If you do not have a program which allows you to open zip files (unzip program) you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
download software zip
Please note that some zip files cannot be opened by all unzip programs.
tif (Tagged Image Files)
tiff (Tagged Image File Format)
This relates to a graphics file which can be opened with a graphics program.
If you do not have a graphics program that allows you to open tif files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
open download tiff format
Please note that some graphics programs cannot open any tif files or can only open certain subclasses of this format.
pkcs7, p7m, p7s (file formats with embedded signature)
The contents of files in "pkcs7", "p7m", "p7s" file formats are encrypted and can only be displayed with appropriate signature programs.
PKCS (Public Key Cryptography Standards)
Described in RFC 2315. Forms the basis for S/MIME and is used to sign or encrypt PKI messages. RFC 2315 has been superseded by RFC 3852. In the meantime RFC 5652 is the prevailing version.
Here are the following file extensions for PKCS#7:
S-TRUST Sign-it Software saves data in various file formats. You can set the format in the S-TRUST Sign-it Security Environment Manager. When installing the software the format is set by default in such a way that the signature file and the original data are saved in one file.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software pkcs7
p7s format
p7s files are PKCS#7 data: they use a detached signature. This means that the signed data and the signature are saved in two separate files. This has the advantage that it is possible to view the original data with the associated program. As long as this is not changed the signature also remains valid. The signature is linked to the original file by the same file name. If you open a p7s file by double clicking on it the signature check starts automatically.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software p7s
p7m format
p7m files are PKCS#7 data: signed, encrypted or signed and encrypted data may be concealed. Signed or signed and encrypted p7m files exist as composite files. This means that the files contain both one or more signatures in p7s format as well as the original data which was signed or signed and encrypted. If you double-click on a p7m file the file, if encrypted, is decrypted. Finally the signature test, if a signature is present, is started.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software p7m
There are viewers, plug-ins or programs with which you can open this file format.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software odt
pdf (Portable Document Format)
PDF is a platform-independent file format for documents, independent of the original user program and rendered true to the original.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software pdf
Text file with formatting properties which can be read by different text processing programs with formatting retained.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software rtf
ascii (text file with ASCII character set)
Text file without formatting properties which can be read by many editors.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software ascii
Text file without formatting properties which can be read by many editors. Can be in different text encodings (e.g. Unicode, UTF8, ASCII).
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software txt
File name extension for Microsoft Word documents. These files can also be opened by other programs.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software word doc
xml (Extensible Markup Language)
Standard for the creation of structured files that can be read both by machine and by people and which can be opened with different programs
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software xml
Other, unlisted, document formats
The above document formats are defined for data exchange in the register portal. Potentially any file formats can be transferred, however. They can be recognised by the file extension.
If you do not have a program that allows you to open such files you can use your chosen browser search engine to find suitable programs with the following search terms:
Open download software word doc <file extension>
