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Apostille Authorities
An Apostille is the confirmation of the authenticity of a public document and is only conferred by a designated authority of the country which issued the document. The German Missions cannot issue Apostilles.
US Public Documents
In the US in general the Apostille for US public documents (e.g. birth or marriage certificates) is issued by the Secretary of State from where the document originates. A detailed list of each German Mission in the US with information on the US Apostille authorities is provided here:
German public documents
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the following agencies issue what is known as the “Hague Apostille” for German public documents:
Federal Documents
Bundesamt für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Referat Apostillen und Forderungsmanagement
Team Apostillen und Endbeglaubigungen
Kirchhofstraße 1-2
14776 Brandenburg an der Havel
Exception: For Federal Patents Court and German Patent Office documents, the Apostille is issued by the president of the German Patent Office.
German State Documents
In the German states (Bundesländer), jurisdiction is not handled in a uniform manner. For this reason, if you are unsure which office can issue an Apostille in your specific case, please contact the authority in Germany which originally issued the document.
Generally speaking, the following bodies are competent authorities:
Documents of Administrative Authorities (except Judicial Administrative Authorities):
Interior ministries (senate departments), regional commissioners, regional administration;
in Berlin: State Office for Residence and Regulatory Affairs;
in Lower Saxony: Police headquarters in Braunschweig, Göttingen, Hannover, Lüneburg, Oldenburg, and Osnabrück;
in Rhineland-Westphalia: Supervisory and service directorate in Kaiserslautern;
in Saxony: State directorates in Chemnitz, Dresden, and Leipzig;
in Saxony-Anhalt: State administrative office in Magdeburg;
in Thuringia: State administrative office in Weimar.
Documents of Judicial Administrative Authorities, Courts of General Jurisdiction (Civil and Criminal Courts), and Notaries:
Justice ministries (senate departments), chief justices of state (administrative) courts.
Documents of Courts Other Than Those of General Jurisdiction:
Interior ministries (senate departments), regional commissioners, regional administration, justice ministries (senate departments), chief justices of state (administrative) courts.