Just arrived in Germany and need to register with the police? Expatica's resident German teacher Renate Grasstat gives you all the language you need to cope with doing your Anmeldung.

Going to the Meldestelle - everyone's favourite way to pass a couple of hours

As you may have noticed, bureaucracy in Germany is different from bureaucracy in most other countries (surprise, surprise).

You are not only expected to carry your passport with you, in case of checkups by the police (which are, even in Germany, fortunately not too frequent), or if you need to leave something as a deposit (e.g. in museums when you borrow an audio guide), but you are also required to have an additional paper that gives your address in Germany. Everybody who is not a tourist and expects to stay in Germany for three months or more has to have a paper called "polizeiliche Anmeldung".

This is important if you want to prove your address, for example when borrowing books from libraries or DVDs from video shops, but it is also an obligation by law. The police can, for instance, demand your passport or "polizeiliche Anmeldung" should you be caught without a valid ticket on a train or bus (which can easily happen if you don't know exactly how to use the ticket or forget to validate it...). They can even accompany you to your house if you haven't got it with you!

Having to fill in the form (see for example http://www.berlin.de/labo/infosystem/an_meldg.pdf) is for many expatriates more or less the first encounter with the German language – and a shock. You will probably be able to understand things like "Name", "Strasse" and "Hausnummer", but there are some words even in the first line that may need to be explained. Fortunately Expatica is here to help.

USEFUL VOCABULARY
(Note: Do not fill in the space with thick frames!)

Einzugsdatum: The day you moved into your new flat.

Wohnung: flat / apartment / house (the one you are living in or just going to move to)

Stockwerk: level / floor (write: 1. Stock for first floor, 2. Stock for second etc.)

Zustellpostamt: Every city or district has a so-called "Postleitzahl". Please write your PLZ in here, plus the city:  (e.g. 10119 Berlin)

Next: "Wird die bisherige Wohnung beibehalten?" means: Are you going to keep the flat you have lived in so far?
If your answer is "yes", there is one more form to be used – which I hope you won't need, stressing that you are a foreigner and have no idea about it…

"Hat eine der anzumeldenden Personen eine weitere Wohnung?"
Does one of the persons to be registered have another flat?

Now, let's have a look at the more general questions which might be useful to help you in other situations, too, where you would have to use a form. (Categories which are most probably of no relevance for you are ignored here.)

Geburtsdatum: date of birth
Geschlecht: sex - male: männlich, female: weiblich
Familienname:  surname
Akademischer Grad: academic title

Früherer Name:  former name (e.g. the name before marriage)

Vorname: first name. If you have more than one, please underline the first name that you usually use (Rufname)

Geburtsort: Place of birth (if abroad, please write down the state as well)

Staatsangehörigkeit: nationality (britisch, amerikanisch, kanadisch, australisch etc.)

Familienstand: marital status 
ledig (not married), verheiratet (married), geschieden (divorced), verwitwet (widowed) 

Datum und Ort der Eheschliessung: date and place of marriage

Erwerbstätig: working

Personalausweis: passport

Ausstellungsbehörde: the authorities who issued the passport

Ausstellungsdatum: date of issue

Gültig bis: date of expiration

Datum, Name, Anschrift und Unterschrift des Wohnungsgebers:
Date, name, address and signature of the landlord (or whoever lets the place to you)

Datum, Unterschrift eines Meldepflichtigen: Today's date and your signature.

Now, if you still feel like moving to Germany or getting in touch with German bureaucracy ... good luck!


See also http://www.berlin.de/labo/infosystem/anenglisch.pdf for instructions on filling out the form.
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To read more about Renate Graßtat, you can click on Education- Language Instruction under Expatica's business directory.

Do you have questions about the German language? Write to Expatica and Renate Graßtat may use your question in a future column.

Renate is currently offering new classes on "Survival German", Business Language, Understanding the Media, German Literature and Exam Preparation 2006. Visit http://www.learn-german.de/  or call +49 (0)30 615 26 35 for more information.

16 August 2006

Copyright Renate Grasstat 2006

Subject: Ask our German teacher, learning German in Berlin, German language, German teacher in Berlin, German instruction, German lessons, German classes, Anmeldung, Meldestelle, registering with the police