How do I Find Someone's Address in Black Forest, Germany?

A Black Forest, Germany, home

The Black Forest is situated in the county of Baden-Wurttemberg in southern Germany and comprises 262 towns and municipalities. In 2008, its population was 1.2 million inhabitants. Much of the region is a protected nature reserve. A couple of approaches are available to find a Black Forest resident's address.

Municipal Registers

Black Forest Gateau, the icon of the region

German citizens and foreign subjects settling in Germany are obliged by law to register their address at the local municipal office. The information is not classified and can be obtained unless the registered person has provided legal documentation that excludes him from the legislation. For a fee of 15 euro (in 2010) and the supplement of an acceptable reason, municipalities can give address information for people registered in the specific region governed by them. All municipalities and councils can be contacted via the Internet.

Phone Book

The Black Forest has some of the highest waterfalls in Germany.

German Telecom has placed its entire inventory of telephone numbers and corresponding addresses on the Internet. Its website instructions are available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish. Even though it is an advantage if the searcher knows at least the person's town, the website's search engine manages to limit the results if Schwarzwald (German for "Black Forest") is typed into the location field. The service is free.

Professional Help

Several German, Austrian and Swiss companies specialize in finding addresses but charge a fee ranging from 15 to 40 euro (in 2010) for their services. In addition, they invoice the fees claimed by the municipal register offices they encounter during their search. Most research companies demand the last known address of the person being searched for before agreeing to render a service.

References

• Statistisches Landesamt Baden-Wurttemberg: Struktur und Regionaldatenbank (Black Forest Population Statistics)
• Bundesministerium der Justiz: Melderechtsrahmengesetz (German Law of Municipal Registration)

Resources

• Black-Forest-Travel.com: List of Towns and Municipalities in the Black Forest
• Das Telefonbuch: German Telephone Book