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Handelsregister API🇩🇪 Handelsregister · enriched
Handelsregister API: German business register data in one API
The German trade register has no official API. Retrieval through handelsregister.de is free but capped at 60 an hour, and it returns no phone number, no email address and no industry code. CompanyData gives you 6.7M German businesses with those fields, through one REST API.
150 free calls in week one · No credit card · One API covers 200+ countries
6,749,880
German businesses
50+
data fields per record
HRB/HRA
register number on every record
<200 ms
median response time
GET /api/company/search?nationalId=719915
SAP SE
Walldorf, Germany
Register numberHRB 719915
Register courtAmtsgericht Mannheim
Legal formSocietas Europaea (SE)
Websitesap.com
IndustrySoftware development
Source: Handelsregister · example200 OK · 148 ms
The basics
What is the Handelsregister API?
Unlike many countries, Germany has no official Handelsregister API. The data sits on handelsregister.de and unternehmensregister.de and is only reachable through the web interface. Retrieval has been free since the DiRUG law of 1 August 2022, where an extract used to cost €4.50. You get company name, register number, register court, register type, legal form, seat and the object of the company as free text. For a single extract that works well.
The limits are in what the register does not hold and what cannot be automated. There are no phone numbers, no email addresses, no websites, no employee counts and no industry codes. Retrieval is capped at 60 an hour with IP blocking, and only the SI document type is structured, as XJustiz XML. CompanyData starts from the same register and adds those fields, with the same register numbers, through an API that also covers 200+ other countries.
The official route, in short
- No official API from handelsregister.de or unternehmensregister.de, only the web interface
- Free retrieval since the DiRUG law of 1 August 2022
- Capped at 60 retrievals an hour, with IP blocking and a criminal-liability warning
- Only the SI document type is structured (XJustiz XML); AD, CD, HD and DK are PDF or TIF
- No phone, no email, no website, no employee counts, no industry codes
- No nationwide key: the court, register type and number together identify a company
Try it live
Look up any German business
Register fields plus the enrichment layer, in one response. Pick a company; the example needs no key.
- Register number and legal form on every record
- Phone, email and website where available
- The same request across 200+ countries
Side by side
Handelsregister and CompanyData, field by field
The Handelsregister covers the entry in the register. CompanyData returns 50+ enriched fields per German business in a single call.
| Data point | Official register | CompanyData API |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses in the file | ✓ | 6,749,880 |
| Company name | ✓ | ✓ |
| Register number (HRA/HRB) | ✓ | 3,040,985 |
| Register court and register type | ✓ | ✓ |
| Legal form | ✓ | ✓ |
| Seat and address | 5,177,356 | 6,749,414 |
| Industry code (WZ/NACE) | ✗ free text only (Gegenstand) | ✓ structured codes |
| Employee count | ✗ | ✓ structured fields |
| Website | ✗ | 4,101,515 |
| Phone number | ✗ | 4,301,939 |
| Mobile number | ✗ | 1,110,271 |
| Business email address | ✗ | 3,481,383 |
| Managing director or contact person | ✗ | 5,375,056 |
| Revenue and balance sheet | ✗ filed annual accounts as a document only | ✓ structured fields |
| Corporate structure | ✗ | ✓ included |
| International records | ✗ | 365M worldwide |
Our column counts every registered entity we hold for this country, active or inactive. Some registers only serve active entities through their API, which we think is a gap: a holding or a trust can be dormant and still matter as an entity, so we keep it. Measured live in our own file, August 2026, and refreshed monthly.
Search and filter
The official route is built for one company at a time and the web interface caps you at 60 retrievals an hour. CompanyData puts segmentation on top: filter by industry, revenue, employees, region or city, and export in bulk with the enrichment included.
Price
Portal retrieval has been free since DiRUG, but it cannot be automated: 60 retrievals an hour, then the IP block. CompanyData starts at €0.02 per credit, with 150 free calls in your first week and one API for 200+ countries.
See the difference
More fields than the register returns
Managing directors, revenue, phone numbers and email addresses: one lookup away. Defaults to Germany, switch country whenever you like.
Try one:
Best practice
Retrieving from the Handelsregister yourself
There is no official API, so retrieval runs through the portal. Here is how to get an extract, and the things that cost small teams the most time, whether you enrich with us or not.
1
Search through the portal
There is no official API. Retrieval runs through the ordinary search on handelsregister.de, free since DiRUG. Automated bulk retrieval is ruled out by the terms of use.
2
Choose a document type
Only the SI document type is structured, as XJustiz XML. AD, CD, HD and DK arrive as PDF or scanned TIF, and the DK format differs from court to court.
3
Assemble the tuple
Register court, register type (HRA or HRB) and number identify a company together. There is no nationally unique number, and numbers repeat across roughly 80 courts.
Honestly: the official portal is enough if you need a single register extract. As soon as you need phone numbers, email addresses, structured industry codes or international coverage, that is where we come in.
Get your API key01
There is no official API
Neither handelsregister.de nor unternehmensregister.de offers a programming interface. Retrieval runs through the web interface only.
02
60 retrievals an hour, then an IP block
The portal terms cap use at 60 retrievals an hour, with IP blocking, TOR blocked and a criminal-liability warning. Automated bulk retrieval is ruled out.
03
The key is a tuple, not a number
Register court, register type and number identify together. HRA covers partnerships and sole traders, HRB covers capital companies. Numbers repeat across roughly 80 courts.
04
Only SI is structured
Only the SI document type comes as XJustiz XML. AD, CD, HD and DK are PDF or scanned TIF, and the DK format differs per court.
05
No industry code in the register
The object of the company is free text, not a WZ or NACE code. Selecting by industry needs a structured source.
06
Nightly downtime differs per state
Maintenance windows differ by Land (Berlin 02:00-06:00 UTC, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 03:10-06:00 UTC), so nationwide overnight batches come back with gaps.
Use cases
What teams use German register data for
KYB and onboarding
Check German counterparties by register number. Legal form, register court and seat verify automatically.
Lead generation
Build prospect lists filtered by industry, region, revenue or business size.
CRM enrichment
Append register numbers, industry codes, revenue and contact details to your German accounts in bulk.
Risk and compliance
Track deletions, insolvencies and changes of managing director across your German supplier base.
Autocomplete on forms
Type-ahead on company names in your signup form, so the register number and address arrive exactly as the register writes them.
ERP and finance systems
Match suppliers and customers to a register number once, then keep name, status and address current automatically.
Beyond Germany
Germany is one of 200+ countries on the same API
The same request and the same response schema, from the Handelsregister to Companies House, KVK and Sirene. Build the German integration once and take it across the border.
See the Company Data API
More local registers
The same API, register by register
Customer stories
What teams build with register data
Onboarding, KYB and supplier checks in production, on the same endpoints you tried above.
BankID · Digital identity
Live business KYC inside BankID
Norway's national trust mark verifies businesses against the register in real time, cutting verification time by 99%.
Read the story
Cellbunq · KYB
Global KYB compliance on one integration
Up-to-date business details from around the world, screened straight inside the onboarding flow.
Read the story
Zen.com · Fintech
Customer onboarding without the friction
Large-scale KYB verification through business lookup, built straight into the signup path.
Read the story
Sumsub · KYB platform
Verifying the address and the director, at scale
350M statutory addresses and registry director records inside Sumsub's global KYB flows, so shell offices and nominee directors get caught at onboarding.
Read the story
Veriff · Identity verification
UBO checks where the paperwork is hardest
Registry-sourced business and UBO data across Africa, Asia and Latin America, with 80% fewer manual reviews.
Read the storyHandelsregister API pricing
Transparent credit-based pricing. Start with a free trial.
Free trial
Make your first 150 calls free
- 150 lookups and 10 exports in week one, key issued on signup
- 1 credit per company returned, usage-based after that
- No credit card, no contract, no sales call
Questions? Ask a human.
No ticket queue. Your question lands with our data team and you get an answer within 24 hours.
Amsterdam HQVijzelgracht 53D · +31 20 705 2360
BerlinFriedrichstraße 123 · +49 30 21480480
DubaiBuilding A1, Dubai Digital Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis
Mon to Fri 9:00 to 17:30 CET · info@companydata.com
What our customers say
Real feedback from the people using CompanyData every day.
★★★★★
The best data company we have worked with.
Helmut Huberti, M.D.
World Arthrosis Org., Heidelberg
★★★★★
Great feedback from our team on the data quality.
Stefania Guerra
Dyson, Milan
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official Handelsregister API?
No. Neither handelsregister.de nor unternehmensregister.de offers an official programming interface. Retrieval runs through the web interface, capped at 60 retrievals an hour with IP blocking. With CompanyData you get the same register data through a REST API.
Is Handelsregister retrieval free?
Since the DiRUG law of 1 August 2022 retrieval through the portal is free, where an extract used to cost €4.50. Free does not mean automatable, though: 60 retrievals an hour, then the IP block kicks in.
With CompanyData your first 150 lookups in week one are free, and you pay on usage after that.
Does the Handelsregister return phone numbers and email addresses?
No. The register holds no phone numbers, email addresses or websites. Employee counts and industry codes are missing too, because the object of the company is free text rather than a WZ or NACE code.
For phone and email you need an enriched source. We include those fields on the records where they are available.
What is the difference between HRA and HRB?
HRA covers partnerships and sole traders, HRB covers capital companies such as GmbH and AG. The unique key is the tuple of register court, register type and number, because numbers repeat across roughly 80 courts.
Can I retrieve managing directors from the Handelsregister?
Not in structured form. Only the SI document type comes as XJustiz XML; AD, CD, HD and DK arrive as PDF or scanned TIF. Shareholder lists have to be read with OCR, and AG shareholders are not in the register at all.
Can I retrieve register data in bulk?
Not through the portal: 60 retrievals an hour, IP blocking and no API make bulk retrieval impossible. We do support bulk selections, filtered by industry, region, revenue and business size, exported to Excel, CSV or straight through the API.
How many German businesses do you cover?
6.7 million German entries, updated continuously from the register and other official sources.
Make 150 free API calls before you spend anything
Tell us which German businesses you need. You get a trial key with 150 lookups and 10 exports, plus a real sample response for your target group, within 24 hours.
or call +31 (0)20 705 2360