Glossary
Terms from the Handelsregister, briefly explained.
The Handelsregister (commercial register) has its own language. Our glossary explains 207 terms in detail, with reference to the API. Here are the terms you meet most often in the responses.
The most important terms
| Term | In short | In the API |
|---|---|---|
| Registergericht (register court) | The local court (Amtsgericht) that keeps the Handelsregister for a district. Together with register type and register number it identifies a company uniquely, for example Ansbach HRB 6089. |
registration.court |
| HRA and HRB | The two divisions of the Handelsregister. HRA lists sole traders and partnerships such as KG and OHG, HRB lists corporations such as GmbH, UG and AG. |
registration.register_type |
| Prokura | A far-reaching power of attorney for almost all business of a company. It is entered in the Handelsregister. |
Feature related_persons |
| Gesellschafterliste (shareholder list) | The document in which a GmbH names its shareholders with their shares. After every change, a new list goes into the register. |
Feature shareholders, document shareholders_list |
| Bekanntmachung (register notice) | The public notice of an entry, change or deletion in the Handelsregister. |
Feature publications, in the response history |
| Jahresabschluss (annual financial statements) | Balance sheet and profit and loss statement of a financial year, depending on size with notes and management report. Companies must publish them no later than twelve months after the balance sheet date, capital-market-oriented companies after just four months. |
Features financial_kpi, balance_sheet_accounts, profit_and_loss_account, annual_financial_statements |
| Größenklassen (size classes) | Micro, small, medium-sized or large, by total assets, revenue and employees. The class decides how much a company must publish: small companies, for example, do not publish a P&L. |
Search filter company_size_category |