Germany

How to get a humanist wedding in:

Who offers a humanist wedding in Germany
Humanist weddings in Germany are offered by two humanist organizations, who are both EHSN partners:

Languages offered:
Both organizations offer wedding ceremonies in English and German.

Do we get to choose the humanist wedding celebrant ourselves?

HVD: No. All contact with individual celebrants needs to go through the organization.
HV: Yes. You can see their list of celebrants here. Tip: Click the linked pdf-files for an extensive presentation of each celebrant.

How to book a humanist wedding in Germany:

With Humanistische Verband Deutschlands – HVD:
First, send an email to hvd@humanismus.de (or call them at +49(0) 171 495448). Here you share the desired time, place, wishes and preferences for the wedding.

After this initial conversation, and if you are pleased with what HVD has to offer, they will start searching for a celebrant who can find the time and is willing to do the ceremony. Then, both the celebrant and HVD as an organization will contact the family. The celebrant will also visit you for an in-person meeting, if possible.

After this, the celebrant prepares the ceremony and the speech in close contact with you, and coordinates everything with HVD. After the ceremony, HVD will send you an invoice. The celebrant will get a share of this, so there is no need to pay the celebrant directly.

With Humanistische Vereinigung, HV:
First, you send an email to trauung@humanistische-vereinigung.de (or call them at +49(0) 911 431040). Here you share the desired time, place, wishes and possibly your preferred celebrant for the wedding. You will then be invited to a non-binding introductory meeting with the celebrant and possibly another HV representative, by phone, in person or on a digital meeting platform like Zoom, Google meet, Teams etc.

If you are pleased with what HV has to offer, they will arrange further meetings with you to settle all the details. After the ceremony, they will send you an invoice for the service. There is no need to pay the celebrant directly.

Price:

HVD: Free for HVD members. Non-members pay 460 euro.
HV: Free for HV members. Non-members pay 790 euro

How to get in touch:

HVD: Send an email to hvd@humanismus.de, or call them at +49(0) 171 495448.
HV: Send an email to trauung@humanistische-vereinigung.de. You can also send a personal email to Frank Schulze who is in charge of HV´s humanist wedding service.

The boring legal part

None of the two German humanist organizations are authorized to perform legally binding weddings in Germany. The custom in Germany is to go to a municipality office first, and get a civil, legally binding marriage there. And then, afterwards, you can have a symbolic wedding ceremony in a church or in another faith or belief community, like HVD or HV.

If you want to book a civil, legally binding wedding in Germany prior to the ceremony, HVD or HV will be able to help you through the legal requirements. If you want to figure it out for yourselves, check this webpage. German wedding legislation is gender neutral. Same sex and opposite sex couples, as well as non-binary people, are treated equally.

None of the two German organizations require that you are legally wed prior to the humanist wedding. In other words; you can have a purely symbolic and unofficial wedding also.

If you are legally wed in another country, you can of course bring that certificate to the humanist wedding in Germany, but it is not a requirement since the German humanist ceremony, as mentioned, is purely symbolic and unofficial.