Certified translation French–German

Copie intégrale or extrait: the three cuts

French town halls issue proof of civil status in several cuts: the complete copy of the entry (copie intégrale), the extract with parentage (extrait avec filiation), and the extract without it. Which version your office wants to see is in its information sheet; usually it is the version with parentage or the complete copy, because only those show parents and marginal notes. Those notes are the real reason: marriage, divorce, a change of name and death are added there, and a copy without them shows an out-of-date state of affairs.

Inside the EU: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191

For documents from France, Belgium and Luxembourg the European simplification applies. As the European Commission sets it out, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 abolishes the apostille requirement for certain public documents — among them birth, name, marriage, registered partnership, domicile and the absence of a criminal record — and simplifies the formalities for certified copies and translations; you can also ask the issuing authority for a multilingual standard form intended to avoid a translation. For documents from Switzerland or Canada this Regulation does not apply.

Source: commission.europa.eu (checked 5 November 2026)

Multilingual extracts

Independently of the EU form there is the multilingual extract from the civil-status register, which many town halls issue on request. The Standesamt in Cologne records the consequence in its checklist for registering a marriage concluded abroad: a translation is not necessary where you present an international document. So it is worth asking the issuing town hall first — a multilingual version makes the translation unnecessary in many cases, and you order nothing here.

Source: stadt-koeln.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Livret de famille, PACS and divorce

Besides the certificate itself we see the family record book (livret de famille) with entries spanning years, the certificate of a registered partnership (PACS), and the divorce judgment of the tribunal judiciaire — since the reform also the uncontested divorce, which is deposited with a notary and is therefore not a judgment. For a German court, § 184 GVG applies: the language of the court is German. We carry judgments and notarial documents over with their headings, endorsements and case numbers.

Source: gesetze-im-internet.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Who may translate in Germany

The Standesamt in Cologne sets out the requirement for registering a marriage concluded abroad: a foreign-language document also needs a translation by an interpreter or translator, who must be publicly appointed or sworn in Germany, and document and translation are to be presented in the original. A translation certified in France by a traducteur assermenté usually does not meet that, however carefully it was made.

Source: stadt-koeln.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Why German at all?

Because the file is kept in German: § 23(1) VwVfG states that the official language is German, and under subsection 2 the authority may require a translation whose accuracy has been certified. The Federal Foreign Office describes the same practice briefly: German authorities and courts frequently call for a translation of foreign-language documents. The case worker's French changes none of it.

Source: gesetze-im-internet.de (checked 5 November 2026), auswaertiges-amt.de (checked 5 November 2026)