My mother was German, am I a German citizen?
That depends on when you were born a whether your parents were married. It notably does not depend on where you were born, whether in Germany or not.
- If your parents were not married and never married: German mothers have always passed on German citizenship to children born out of wedlock.
This question commonly comes up in the context of a German mother who moved to the US, it matters how old you were and whether you were a minor when she did so. In the US naturalization process, minors naturalize automatically without anyone making the conscious choice that they should naturalize. This means that though the parent forfeits their German citizenship, the minor child does not. If this is your situation you likely remain a German citizen to this day. - If your parents were married at the time of your birth: German mothers did not pass on German citizenship to children born in wedlock before 1/1/1975, but German fathers did. If your parents were married at the time of your birth, then you were not born a German citizen. However the modern state of Germany has decided that this gender discriminatory policy was unconstitutional, and defined a declaration process called Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz § 5 (StAG5) by which descendants of such persons can declare their German citizenship, which you would be eligible for.
- If your parents were not married at the time of your birth but later married: you were born a German citizen, but that citizenship was revoked upon their marriage as your birth was legitimized and treated as though they had been married. HOWEVER, a 2006 court case in Germany reversed this revocation upon legitimization for children born after 1953 when a relevant law went into effect. Retroactively, such children are considered to have been German citizens for their entire lives.