My spouse's mother was German and emigrated to the United States in 1958. Until 1975 German mothers did not pass on citizenship to children born in wedlock. My spouse was not born a German citizen for this reason. The modern state of Germany has decided that this gender discriminatory policy was unconstitutional, and defined a declaration process called Staatsangehörigkeit § 5 (StAG5) by which descendants of such persons can declare their German citizenship.
Our journey in this area began in 2020 with genealogical research, then filing a declaration of citizenship for spouse and our children, and finally taking trips to Germany as new German citizens. I've written a number of blog posts on this topic, roughly categorized below.
German Genealogy
- German Genealogical Research
- Getting Started with German Genealogy
- Hannover Stadtarchiv indexes online
- Hannover Stadtarchiv Success
German Citizenship
- German Genealogy Results
- German Mothers Prior to 1975
- German Mothers and the Year 2031
- Your Parent Did Not Give Up German Citizenship at 18
Other Topics of Interest to Americans, Concerning Germany
- Charles Schwab brokerage debit card
- California Driver's License reciprocity with Germany current status
- Renewing US Passports early
- physicaladdress.com notes
- Mail-in Apostille in California
- California Driver's License reciprocity status 1.2025
- Passport Cards
- Ausland Urkunden, Berlin Standesamt 1
- High School German with UCScout On Demand
Our European Experiences