> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.libratech.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Handelsregister

> The official German commercial register: company facts, ownership, beneficial owners, filed documents. No connection needed, included at no extra cost.

<video autoPlay muted loop playsInline src="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/5Pm7pEl9igcUcCSB/assets/videos/integrations/germany/handelsregister.webm?fit=max&auto=format&n=5Pm7pEl9igcUcCSB&q=85&s=c4b8747da01924a1e071b6993dda72b3" className="rounded-xl border w-full" data-path="assets/videos/integrations/germany/handelsregister.webm" />

**Handelsregister** is the official German commercial register, maintained by the Amtsgerichte (Registergerichte) of the Länder. Businesses are recorded in two divisions: sole traders and commercial partnerships in **HRA**, capital companies (GmbH, UG, AG, KGaA, SE) in **HRB**.

<div className="libra-buddy-callout">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/wgVZXcGnHS4aJk9T/assets/images/libra-buddy/presenting.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=wgVZXcGnHS4aJk9T&q=85&s=db41075b4a259a172f68465ae5c3421e" alt="Libra mascot presenting" width="827" height="615" data-path="assets/images/libra-buddy/presenting.png" />

  <div className="libra-buddy-callout-content">
    Cite by HRB number + Amtsgericht, *"HRB 12345 / München"*, disambiguates immediately for generic company names; faster than name search.
  </div>
</div>

## What you can pull

| Field                           | Details                                                                                                                                           |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Firma & Rechtsform**          | Company name and legal form (GmbH, AG, KG, OHG, e.K., UG, KGaA, SE), including former names.                                                      |
| **HRB / HRA + Registergericht** | Register division, registration number, and the registering court.                                                                                |
| **Sitz & Geschäftsanschrift**   | Registered office and business address, with postcode and city, including earlier addresses.                                                      |
| **Gegenstand des Unternehmens** | Business purpose.                                                                                                                                 |
| **Vertretungsberechtigte**      | Geschäftsführer, Vorstand, Prokuristen and other registered representatives, with the Vertretungsregelung as it appears in the register printout. |
| **Stamm-/Grundkapital**         | Registered capital and currency, plus the capital changes recorded over time.                                                                     |
| **Ownership**                   | Current shareholders and their percentages, historical ownership, and ultimate beneficial owners.                                                 |
| **Holdings**                    | Subsidiaries and investments the entity itself holds.                                                                                             |
| **Financials**                  | Published financial figures: revenue, balance-sheet total, equity, net income, liabilities, employees.                                            |
| **Status**                      | Whether the entity is still active, the register status recorded for it, and the incorporation date.                                              |
| **Filed documents**             | Current and chronological register printouts, historical printouts, and Gesellschafterlisten (current and historical).                            |

## How Libra sources it

Libra reaches the register through **OpenRegister**, a structured API over the German commercial register. That gives Libra fast, queryable access by company name, HRB or HRA number, and lets it fetch the underlying PDFs and read them in full. Citations point at the register documents Libra actually retrieved, or at the entity's OpenRegister record when no document was pulled.

<Note>
  These are **uncertified** extracts, fine for due diligence, KYC, briefing, and target research. For certified register extracts (e.g. for filing in court), order via the relevant Amtsgericht.
</Note>

## Finding the right entity

Start with the company name — Libra matches it against the register and comes back with the candidates. When the name is generic or the group has many German entities, add constraints in the same question: legal form, register court, city, incorporation date, or size thresholds such as revenue, employees, or balance-sheet total. Those constraints narrow a name search rather than replacing it, so keep at least a partial name in the question.

If name search comes up empty and you have the company's website, give Libra the URL instead — it can resolve a hostname to the register entry.

## People, ownership and beneficial owners

Beyond the company record, Libra works the register from the person side, which is what most KYC and AML questions actually need.

Ask for the **ultimate beneficial owners** of an entity and Libra resolves the ownership chain rather than stopping at the immediate shareholders. Ask for **historical owners** and it reconstructs how the shareholding changed over time, pulling the successive Gesellschafterlisten where it needs them. Ask about an individual and Libra searches the register for the person by name — narrowed by date of birth or city where several people share a name — then returns the management positions they hold and the companies they hold stakes in.

## What you can ask

* *"Pull the management and share-capital information for \[Company Name AG]."*
* *"Wer ist aktueller Geschäftsführer der XY GmbH und wie hoch ist das Stammkapital?"*
* *"Who are the ultimate beneficial owners of \[Company Name GmbH]?"*
* *"How has the shareholding in \[Company Name GmbH] changed since incorporation?"*
* *"Which German companies does \[Person Name], born 1974, hold a stake in?"*
* *"What are the registered offices and HRB numbers for these three GmbHs?"*

## Setup

None. Handelsregister is **Included** with every Libra subscription and needs no connection, so it isn't listed in **Settings → Integrations**. It appears directly in the **Research** picker for firms that have Germany among their jurisdictions.

## Tips

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="HRB / HRA number speeds it up">
    *"HRB 12345 / Amtsgericht München"* gets a faster, more precise answer than a name-only search, especially if the company name is generic.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Ask for the chronological printout for history questions">
    The chronologischer Ausdruck carries every register change in one document, so it answers "when did this change" questions in a single step. A shareholder list is the better ask when you need ownership at one specific date.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Say UBO when you mean UBO">
    Asking for "the owners" returns the shareholders on record. Asking for the beneficial owners makes Libra follow the chain through intermediate holding companies, which is what an AML file needs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Combine with case-law search for litigation prep">
    Pull the company details from Handelsregister, then run a **[Statutes & Case Law](/en/integrations/germany/german-case-law)** search for any decisions naming the entity.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next steps

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Wolters Kluwer Online" icon="book-marked" href="/en/integrations/germany/wolters-kluwer-online">
    Add legal-research depth on top of company facts.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Research mode" icon="https://mintcdn.com/libra-4206ec93/vIwxn8dmEk0jsP5x/assets/images/icons/research.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=vIwxn8dmEk0jsP5x&q=85&s=b71b64b69957b598c1506ba997da54e8" href="/en/features/chat/research-mode" width="16" height="16" data-path="assets/images/icons/research.svg">
    Use Handelsregister in any chat.
  </Card>
</Columns>