Political and economic motives as well as wars and a thirst for adventure are probably the most common reasons that have always motivated people to emigrate. In 1555, every German was granted the right to emigrate for reasons of conscience or religion for the first time. This marked the beginning of German emigration history. The preferred emigration destination was North America. Many descendants of these emigrants now ask themselves what happened to the German citizenship of their ancestors and whether they perhaps acquired it by descent and are therefore entitled to a German passport.
For a long time, there was no German nation state and therefore no uniform German citizenship. It was not until the 19th century that the individual German territorial states began to include provisions on citizenship in their constitutions. In 1870, a federal citizenship law (StAG 1870) was introduced to ensure that citizenship was regulated according to the same principles in all member states. This law applied until the German Reich and Nationality Act (RuStAG) came into force on January 1, 1914, which in turn was replaced by the current German Nationality Act (StAG) on January 1, 2000.
The StAG 1870 and the RuStAG contained numerous regulations on the acquisition of German citizenship in the event of marital or non-marital birth in Germany and abroad, as well as the loss of German citizenship in the event of emigration, non-registration in the consular register, acceptance of a foreign citizenship, entry into the foreign military and marriage of a foreign citizen. During the National Socialist era in particular, the prevailing racial ideology led to numerous laws that resulted in the loss of German citizenship due to a certain race or religion. In addition, the German Citizenship Act was long characterized by gender-discriminatory regulations.
The German state has long been trying to make amends for these discriminatory regulations and has recently created further possibilities with the amendment to the Citizenship Act of August 20, 2021, which allows descendants of (former) German citizens to apply for German citizenship even from abroad and without knowledge of the German languag, provided that the (former) German citizenship of their ancestors can be proven.
I would be happy to provide you with comprehensive advice on this topic and support you in your research and in applying for German citizenship on the basis of descent.
Created on 04.06.2024