§ 15 StAG: Naturalization under Article 116(2) GG

This section is about reparation (Wiedergutmachung).

It applies to people who were persecuted between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945. The persecution must have happened for the reasons listed in Article 116 (2) sentence 1 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

It also applies to the descendants of these people. These are children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on — with no limit on the generation. The law calls them "Abkömmlinge" (descendants).

One of these four situations must apply to you or your ancestor:

1. You or your ancestor gave up or lost German citizenship before 26 February 1955.
2. You or your ancestor were excluded from acquiring German citizenship by law. This applied to acquisition through marriage, through legitimation, or through the collective naturalization of ethnic Germans (deutsche Volkszugehörige).
3. You or your ancestor applied for naturalization. But the naturalization did not happen. Or you were generally excluded from a naturalization that would otherwise have been possible on application.
4. You or your ancestor gave up or lost habitual residence in Germany. This residence had to exist already before 30 January 1933. For a child, residence that only began after this date also counts.

Does one of these situations apply? Then you must submit an application. The authority must then naturalize you. This is a legal entitlement. The authority does not decide this at its own discretion.

One condition applies: You must have legal capacity to act under § 34 sentence 1. Or someone represents you by law, for example in the case of a child.

There is an exception to this right. The exception applies if you have been finally convicted of one or more intentional criminal offenses. This applies to a prison sentence or youth sentence of two years or more. The exception also applies if preventive detention (Sicherungsverwahrung) was ordered in your last final conviction. In these cases, you must NOT be naturalized. Note: § 12a (1) does not apply here.

There are two more restrictions.

First restriction: There is no right to naturalization under this section for anyone who already received German citizenship after 8 May 1945, but then gave it up or lost it again.

Second restriction: There is also no right for anyone who was born as a descendant of this person after this loss or renunciation. This applies to all generations, not only to a child. The same applies if you were taken in as a child after this loss, in other words adopted.

One thing does NOT block your right to naturalization: Did you receive German citizenship after 8 May 1945 and lose it again because you married a foreigner? Or because a foreigner effectively legitimized you under German law? Then this loss does not stand in your way. You still have a legal entitlement to naturalization.