Apostillen

The Hamburg Regional Court is only entitled to provide its own certificates and documents certified by notaries with a pre-certification (for later legalization) or an apostille.

The authenticity of the signature is authenticated, the quality in which the signatory acted and, if applicable, the authenticity of the seal or stamp with which the document is affixed. The authenticity of this document is confirmed by certification with subsequent legalization or an apostille, depending on the country of use.

An apostille is required for countries that have acceded to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 on the Exemption of Foreign Public Documents from Legalization (Federal Law Gazette II 1965 p. 876). You can find out which countries these are in detail on the website of the Federal Foreign Office, see link

Documents that are intended for other (non-acceding) countries are authenticated. The legalization is then carried out by a consular officer at the diplomatic mission of the state in which the document is required.

Legalization is a confirmation of the authenticity of a foreign document by the consular officer of the state in which the document is to be used.
The apostille is also a confirmation of the authenticity of a document, which, however, unlike legalization, is issued by an authority of the state in which the document was issued.

The document (s) to be provided with an apostille or pre-certification.

The deed or document was issued by the Hamburg Regional Court or a notary.

The applicable fees are paid in cash. They are EUR 25 for all notarized documents or EUR 15 for all regional court decisions.

You have the option of submitting your notarized document to the joint acceptance point of the district and regional courts in the civil justice building at Sievekingplatz 1. You can obtain the certification application from the information desk at the entrance. You pay the fees at the cash desk and enclose the receipt with your application. The document will then be returned by post.

It usually takes up to a week to process.

Hamburg District Court