Citizeo
Pathway

German Citizenship for Nazi-Era Loss

Germany Citizenship
Pathway overview

At a glance

Germany's Article 116(2) route is for people whose German citizenship was taken away by the Nazi regime, and for their descendants. It generally requires proof of the original German citizenship, the loss or persecution connection, and the family line.

Type
Citizenship restoration
Restoration fit
Families affected by historical citizenship loss
Core records
Family line, citizenship loss, and historical records
What to know
Historical rules can be record-heavy
What it gives
For a person living abroad, successful restoration normally takes effect when the naturalization certificate is handed over.
Main limit
This is not the broad route for every family affected by Nazi persecution.

Summary

This route restores German citizenship to people whose citizenship was formally taken away by the Nazi regime for political, racial or religious reasons from 30 January 1933 through 8 May 1945. Their descendants can also qualify.

The important question is whether the person was already German and the Nazi government then stripped that citizenship, either individually or through a rule aimed at a group. If persecution instead caused someone to give up citizenship, prevented them from becoming German, or forced them from Germany, Section 15 may be the better route.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The constitutional entitlement applies to:

Citizenship may have been removed through an individual order published in an official gazette or through a Nazi rule that stripped citizenship from an entire group. The records needed depend on what happened to the person.

A 2020 Federal Constitutional Court decision confirmed that older unequal parentage rules must not exclude descendants. This includes, for example, children born in marriage before 1 April 1953 to affected German mothers and foreign fathers, and children born outside marriage before 1 July 1993 to affected German fathers and foreign mothers, together with their descendants.

An ancestor's citizenship must not have been lost before the Nazi deprivation for a reason unrelated to persecution. A person does not qualify merely because an ancestor was German or was persecuted; the formal deprivation and descent both need to be shown.

Article 116(2) itself does not contain the two-year criminal-sentence exclusion found in Section 15. The two routes should not be merged when describing disqualifications.

What This Route Allows

For a person living abroad, successful restoration normally takes effect when the naturalization certificate is handed over. The new German citizen may then apply for a passport.

The second sentence of Article 116(2) also says that a deprived former citizen who established a home in Germany after 8 May 1945 and did not express a contrary intention is deemed not to have been deprived. That historic rule can change whether a person is applying for restoration or documenting citizenship that was legally restored by residence.

There is no residence period, language test, or requirement under German law to give up another citizenship. Each descendant normally submits their own application and civil-record chain.

What This Route Is Not

This is not the broad route for every family affected by Nazi persecution. If the person surrendered or lost citizenship, was prevented from acquiring it, was excluded from naturalization, or lost ordinary residence because of persecution without formal deprivation, review Section 15 StAG.

It is not ordinary citizenship by descent. The applicant still needs records proving the former citizen's status, the deprivation event, and every parent-child link to the applicant.

It is also not correct to assume that every document must automatically be apostilled. The Federal Office of Administration asks for officially or notarially certified copies unless it states otherwise and may set translation or legalization requirements for the particular records.

Next Steps

  1. Identify the deprived person and obtain evidence that the person was a German citizen immediately before deprivation.
  2. Locate the deprivation evidence, such as an expatriation-list entry or records showing collective deprivation under the applicable Nazi decree.
  3. Build the civil-record chain from that person to each applicant with birth, marriage, parentage, adoption, and name-change records as relevant.
  4. Follow the current Federal Office of Administration information sheet for certified copies, translations, and any additional evidence. Do not alter or apostille documents until the responsible authority's instructions are clear.
  5. If living abroad, file the correct Article 116(2) form with the Federal Office of Administration, directly or through the responsible German mission. If living in Germany, contact the local citizenship authority.
  6. If the facts show persecution but not formal deprivation, compare Section 15 before filing.
Compare your options

Other routes in Germany.

Sources