The registry office will work with you to prepare your civil marriage ceremony. However, the law has placed a number of bureaucratic hurdles in front of wedded bliss. These pages are designed to help you overcome these hurdles with ease.

Before you can get married at the Olsberg registry office, you have to register the marriage (formerly known as ordering the banns).

Both partners must attend the registry office in person for this.

If one of you is unable to attend, you can issue a power of attorney to your partner. You can print out this power of attorney using the link at the bottom of this page.

If both of you are unable to attend for important reasons, the registry office will provide information on the further procedure.

The registration of the marriage takes place at the registry office where one or both of the parties reside. A secondary residence is also sufficient.
If neither of you is registered in Olsberg, you can still get married in Olsberg. You then register your marriage at the registry office of your place of residence. After registration, the registry office there will send the documents to the Olsberg registry office so that you can get married here.

The purpose of registering the marriage is not only to arrange a wedding date, but above all to establish your marital status and to check that there are no legal obstacles to marriage.

The registration is valid for six months - this means that you can say "I do" within six months of the registration.

You must bring certain documents with you to register your marriage.

Please make an appointment to register your marriage.

Documents for registering a marriage

If the two of you have not yet been married or have not yet entered into a registered civil partnership, are of legal age and German citizens:

• certified printout or certified copy from the register of births (not older than 6 months) available from the registry office in your place of birth
• Extended registration certificates, available from the registration office of your main place of residence.
• Newly issued birth certificate of joint children (you must both be registered as parents)
• Valid passport or identity card
• Cash for the administrative fees

If you have already been married, you will need the following:

• certified printout or certified copy from the register of births (not older than 6 months), available from the registry office in your place of birth.
• a current marriage certificate or a certified copy/printout from the marriage register of the last marriage with a note of dissolution, available from the marriage registry office. Depending on the type of dissolution of the previous marriage, I will also need the divorce decree (with final judgement) or the death certificate of the previous spouse.
• In addition to the immediately preceding marriage, you must list all previous marriages and the type of dissolution. For this purpose, please bring along all available documents from which the data can be reliably recognised, for example family registers, marriage certificates and family register transcripts of older dates, death certificates and divorce decrees.

In all other cases, especially if you or your partner

• have a foreign nationality,
• were not born or adopted in Germany,
• your last marriage took place abroad,
• children were born abroad,
• have already established a registered civil partnership,

you should enquire in person at the registry office.

I ask for your understanding that the registry office has to familiarise itself with the relevant laws in advance in special cases / foreign participation.
An immediate decision is therefore not possible. Due to the large number of nationalities / countries involved, processing takes considerably longer. Please contact me in advance. I will let you know as soon as possible which documents you need to register your marriage.

In the town of Olsberg, civil marriages can be performed at the following locations:

• Wedding room (Olsberg town hall)
• "Old horse stable" (Bruchhausen Castle)
• "Auf der Deele" (Olsberg youth centre, slide)
• Refectory of the castle (Bruchhausen Castle)
• Steigerhaus am Philippstollen (at the Eisenberg, opposite the Schinkenwirt)

Fees for marriage ceremonies

The costs cannot be quantified as a lump sum. It always depends on the individual case.