Handelsregister

Germany: choosing and checking the right record

Choose the correct source

Use the Handelsregister for the registered legal entity and its filings. Match the register category, register number and responsible court; a company-name search by itself can return branches and similarly named entities.

Confirm the entity

Keep the court alongside an HRB or HRA number. Read the German legal form and representation provisions on the record rather than translating every representative into a director or owner.

When the search returns nothing

Try the legal name, spelling variants and the registered town. A business outside the commercial-register scope may need a different source; absence from Handelsregister is not a universal business-existence verdict.

What the record cannot establish

Commercial-register, VAT and beneficial-ownership checks are separate tasks. A manager's name does not by itself establish ownership or unrestricted signing authority. Use the actual entry and current access rules.

Official register-information access guidance

Check current access and document options on the official Handelsregister site. Keep the exact entity identifier, source URL and retrieval date with your evidence. A LemReveal record PDF is not a government-certified extract.