Unopened envelope with a bunch of keys on a wooden table.

Trial

Criminal record in Germany and the Führungszeugnis

Author: Rechtsanwältin Virginia Elisabeth von Burgsdorff
Published: 8 August 2026
Last updated: 10 August 2026
Topics: Trial
8 minute read: 8 minute read

You have a criminal record as soon as a criminal conviction has become final and is entered in the Bundeszentralregister (the federal central criminal records register). That is what § 4 BZRG provides for, and it applies regardless of how high the penalty is. Whether the same conviction also appears in the Führungszeugnis (a certificate of conduct issued from the register on application) is a separate question: under § 32 Abs. 2 Nr. 5 BZRG, a fine of not more than 90 Tagessätze (daily units) and likewise a prison sentence or a Strafarrest (a short custodial penalty known to German law) of not more than three months are not taken into the Führungszeugnis if no further penalty is entered in the register. Anyone covered by that exception may under § 53 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 BZRG describe themselves as having no criminal record, even though the entry in the register remains.

This distinction is the heart of the subject. The two are easily confused, and confusing them has consequences, because people decide about applications, requests and disclosures on this basis.

The register and the Führungszeugnis are two different things

The Bundeszentralregister is kept by the Federal Office of Justice; the same authority also keeps an Erziehungsregister (a register of measures ordered against young people) (§ 1 Abs. 1 BZRG). What is entered in the central register is listed in § 3 BZRG. For criminal convictions, § 4 BZRG applies. Under § 5 Abs. 1 BZRG the entry contains, among other things, the personal data, the date of the offence, the date on which the judgment became final, the legal designation of the offence, the criminal provisions applied and the penalties imposed.

The Führungszeugnis, by contrast, is only an extract from this register. Every person who has reached the age of 14 receives a Führungszeugnis on application (§ 30 Abs. 1 BZRG). § 32 Abs. 1 BZRG provides that the entries designated in §§ 4 bis 16 BZRG are taken into it. Subsection 2 then takes a series of convictions out again. The register is therefore complete; the Führungszeugnis is filtered.

When do you have a criminal record, and when does anyone see it?

The question when you have a criminal record and the question who finds out about it have different answers. In terms of the register, you have a criminal record once the conviction has become final. It becomes visible to an employer who asks for a Führungszeugnis only where none of the exceptions in § 32 Abs. 2 BZRG applies.

For the exception that matters most in practice, what counts is the number of Tagessätze, not the sum of money. A fine is imposed under § 40 Abs. 1 StGB in Tagessätze; it is a minimum of five and, unless the law provides otherwise, a maximum of 360 full daily units. The amount of an individual daily unit is set under § 40 Abs. 2 StGB at a minimum of one and a maximum of 30,000 euros. For § 32 Abs. 2 Nr. 5 BZRG only the number counts: not more than 90 Tagessätze. Whether the daily unit is 15 euros or 300 euros makes no difference to that.

The same number has a second variant that is easily overlooked: a prison sentence or a Strafarrest of not more than three months is likewise not taken into the Führungszeugnis if no further penalty is entered in the register. A short prison sentence therefore does not rule out the exception from the outset.

Two limitations are important. First, the exception applies only where no further penalty is entered in the register. If a second conviction is added, the first one too can appear in the Führungszeugnis. Second, § 32 Abs. 1 Satz 2 BZRG provides that the exceptions in subsection 2 numbers 3 to 9 do not apply to convictions for an offence under §§ 174 bis 180 oder 182 StGB.

May I describe myself as having no criminal record?

§ 53 Abs. 1 BZRG deals with this expressly. Convicted persons may describe themselves as having no criminal record and need not disclose the underlying facts where the conviction is not to be taken into the Führungszeugnis, or only into a Führungszeugnis for public authorities, or where it is to be removed from the register.

This rule has a limit. Under § 53 Abs. 2 BZRG, convicted persons cannot derive any rights from subsection 1 number 1 as against courts and authorities that have a right to unrestricted information, where they are instructed about this. Which bodies receive information about entries that do not appear in the Führungszeugnis follows from § 41 BZRG; they include courts, public prosecution offices and certain other authorities. Someone who makes use of their right under § 53 Abs. 1 BZRG in a job interview is therefore in a different position from someone who is asked by an authority after express instruction.

When does the entry disappear again?

Here too, two periods run alongside each other, and they are not the same length.

The first period concerns the Führungszeugnis. Under § 34 Abs. 1 BZRG, the period after which a conviction is no longer taken into the Führungszeugnis is three years in the cases of number 1, ten years in the cases of number 2 and five years in the remaining cases. Under § 34 Abs. 3 Satz 1 BZRG this period is extended by the length of the prison sentence, the Strafarrest or the youth custody sentence, but only in the cases of subsection 1 number 1 letter d and numbers 2 and 3. For the remaining cases of subsection 1, such as a fine, this extension does not apply.

The second period concerns removal from the register itself. It is governed by § 46 BZRG. Under § 46 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 Buchstabe a BZRG the period is five years for convictions to a fine of not more than 90 Tagessätze, where no prison sentence, no Strafarrest and no youth custody sentence is entered in the register. For the remaining cases of § 46 Abs. 1 BZRG the law provides for longer periods: 10, 15 or 20 years, depending on the group of cases. Entries about convictions are removed once the period has expired (§ 45 Abs. 1 BZRG). § 45 Abs. 2 BZRG matters in practice: an entry that is to be removed is taken out of the register one year after it became due for removal, and during that year information about the entry may be given only to the person concerned.

Where the entry has been removed, or is due to be removed, the prohibition on use in § 51 Abs. 1 BZRG applies: the offence and the conviction may no longer be held against the person concerned in legal dealings and may no longer be used to their detriment. The wording matters here. The protection begins as soon as the entry becomes due for removal, and not only when it is actually taken out of the register after the year has passed. The rights of third parties, statutory legal consequences and decisions already given remain unaffected by this (§ 51 Abs. 2 BZRG).

What the erweitertes Führungszeugnis changes

An erweitertes Führungszeugnis (an extended certificate of conduct) is issued on application under § 30a Abs. 1 BZRG where a statutory provision provides for it by reference to that section, or where it is needed for the supervision, care, education or training of minors or for a comparable activity involving contact with minors. Information from an ordinary Führungszeugnis therefore says nothing about what an erweitertes Führungszeugnis contains.

And if the proceedings were discontinued?

A discontinuation of the proceedings is not a conviction. § 4 BZRG ties the entry to a final decision by which a penalty was imposed or one of the further consequences named there was pronounced. Anyone wondering whether a discontinuation against a payment changes their position in the register will find the details in our guide on the discontinuation of proceedings under § 153a StPO.

Special rules apply to juveniles and young adults. In addition to the central register, the Federal Office of Justice keeps an Erziehungsregister (§ 1 Abs. 1 BZRG); under § 59 BZRG the provisions of Part Two apply to the keeping of that register, unless §§ 60 bis 64 BZRG provide otherwise. What is entered there is governed by § 60 BZRG, in particular the measures ordered under the Youth Courts Act. For convictions to youth custody, § 97 Abs. 1 JGG provides that the youth court judge may declare the stigma of the conviction removed where the judge is satisfied that the convicted person has shown themselves through irreproachable conduct to be an honest person.

Frequently asked questions

Is a fine a previous conviction?

Yes. A final conviction to a fine is entered in the Bundeszentralregister under § 4 BZRG. The fact that, under the requirements of § 32 Abs. 2 Nr. 5 BZRG, it does not appear in the Führungszeugnis does not change that. The words "not in the Führungszeugnis" do not mean "not in the register".

Can my employer request my Führungszeugnis themselves?

Under § 30 Abs. 1 BZRG the Führungszeugnis is issued to the person concerned on their application. Where the Führungszeugnis is applied for in order to be submitted to a public authority, it is to be sent directly to that authority under § 30 Abs. 5 BZRG; there is no discretion in this. Where it contains entries, however, the applicant may ask for it to go first to a local court of their choosing so that they can inspect it themselves. If they then object to it being passed on, the local court destroys the certificate.

What do 90 Tagessätze mean in euros?

The number of Tagessätze and the amount of a daily unit are two separate figures (§ 40 Abs. 1 und Abs. 2 StGB). For the question of the Führungszeugnis, only the number of daily units counts under § 32 Abs. 2 Nr. 5 BZRG. A high daily unit therefore does not cause the conviction to appear in the Führungszeugnis; a higher number of daily units does.

How long does it take until a conviction is really gone?

Two periods have to be kept apart. The period for inclusion in the Führungszeugnis is governed by § 34 BZRG, the period for removal from the register by § 46 BZRG. The removal period is the longer one. The prohibition on use in § 51 Abs. 1 BZRG applies as soon as the entry has been removed or is due to be removed, that is, as soon as it becomes due for removal. Which period applies in an individual case depends on the type and level of the penalty and on any further entries.

This information is general in nature and does not replace advice on an individual case. It reflects the statutory texts as checked on 10 August 2026.