Public opinion was ahead of the political establishment

The legislation was preceded by a fierce political debate. The opposition bloc of conservative parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), denounced it as an "unconstitutional attack on marriage and the family." Lawmakers from the ruling center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), however, described the law as "a long-overdue act of redress."

"There was strong conservative opposition, for instance from churches and civic groups," Alexander Vogt noted. "The debate reflected the classic culture war between traditional and progressive values."

Backed by the governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, the majority of Bundestag lawmakers voted in favor of the Civil Partnership Act in November 2000, despite opposition from the CDU/CSU and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP).

German public opinion was already a step ahead: A 1999 survey showed that 55% of respondents were already in favor of the Civil Partnership Act.

However, Germany was by no means a pioneer. Denmark was the first country in the world to introduce civil partnerships for same-sex couples, doing so as early as 1989. Norway, Sweden, and Iceland followed in the mid-1990s, with France following in 1999.

Two fathers, two babies

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'We simply wanted equal treatment'

Twenty-five years ago, Reinhard Lüschow and his husband Heinz-Friedrich Harre — who has since passed away — became the first same-sex couple in Germany to tie the knot at a registry office under the new Civil Partnership Act. They had spent the preceding decade fighting for legal recognition as a couple.

As early as 1992, they had made a public statement by applying to register their marriage — in a coordinated move by 250 male and female same-sex couples across Germany. When their application was rejected, they took the case all the way to the Federal Constitutional Court. "We simply wanted to be treated equally," Lüschow recently told the Protestant Press Service (epd).

Although the court ruled at the time that marriage was a union between a man and a woman, it also mandated that the legislature ensure same-sex partnerships were not discriminated against. When the Bundestag implemented this requirement through the Civil Partnership Act, Lüschow and Harre reacted immediately.

The Civil Partnership Act regulates matters such as the use of surnames, mutual financial support, and inheritance rights. In the years that followed, the scope of civil partnerships was gradually expanded — first in 2004 to include stepchild adoption, and later to achieve tax equality following several rulings by the Federal Constitutional Court.

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The Civil Partnership Act was merely the first step toward equality. The decisive step did not come until October 1, 2017, with legislation that introduced so-called "marriage for all."

This, too, was a hard-won victory. The conservative parties had come to power again in 2005. They blocked the legislation until Chancellor Angela Merkel authorized a vote free from party-line constraints, meaning lawmakers were to follow only their consciences; this is how the majority was secured in 2017. Angela Merkel and current Chancellor Friedrich Merz voted against the legislation.

Bodo Mende and Karl Kreile were the first same-sex couple to marry. Reflecting on the 2001 Civil Partnership Act, Mende later told DW: "It was a second-class partnership." Although there were few legal restrictions, the status lacked the standing of a conventional marriage.

Married partners enjoy more rights — for instance, regarding naming laws, child adoption, and the equalization of pension rights. Marriage also carries greater recognition internationally.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 108,000 couples had availed themselves of this new option by 2025. At the same time, approximately 24,000 registered civil partnerships remain in existence; these can be converted into marriages upon application.