Website for a GmbH or UG: The Mandatory Details Almost Everyone Forgets
Key takeaways
- A GmbH or UG needs its register court, commercial register number and every managing director with a written-out first name in the legal notice.
- The same details belong in every business email — German company law makes no distinction between letter and email.
- A UG must always call itself 'UG (haftungsbeschränkt)'; plain 'UG' isn't enough.
- Share capital needn't be stated — but if you do state it, outstanding contributions must be shown too.
- When a managing director changes, the legal notice and email signatures must be updated straight away.
Many founders carry their old sole-trader legal notice over to their new GmbH and simply swap in the company name. That almost always leaves out the details a limited company is required to show.
The website isn't even the most important place. The same details belong in every business email the company sends. Few people know this — and that's where they're missing most often.
This article is for founders running a German GmbH or UG, including those who set one up from abroad. For sole traders simpler rules apply; they're in the article on websites for sole traders. A caveat first: I'm a developer, not a lawyer. For company-law questions, a lawyer or tax adviser is the right contact.
Contents
What makes a GmbH different
A sole trader is a person. They stand behind their business with their own name.
A GmbH — the German limited liability company — is a legal entity: a separate legal personality, distinct from the people who run it. So the legal notice names the company first and then the people who represent it. And because every GmbH is entered in the commercial register, that entry is among the mandatory details.
Those two points — representatives and register entry — are exactly what's missing from a carried-over sole-trader notice.
The mandatory details in the legal notice
The obligation comes from two laws at once: section 5 of the Digital Services Act (DDG) for the website, and section 35a of the Limited Liability Companies Act (GmbHG) for business correspondence. For a GmbH or UG, the legal notice must include:
| Detail | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Full company name | Exactly as in the commercial register — with the legal form |
| Address of the registered office | A serviceable address, so no P.O. box |
| Every managing director | Surname and at least one written-out first name |
| Register court | For example "Amtsgericht Braunschweig" |
| Commercial register number | For example "HRB 12345" |
| Email address | Plus a second fast contact channel, usually phone |
| VAT identification number | Where one exists |
| Chair of the supervisory board | Only if there is a supervisory board |
Two details cause mistakes again and again.
Every managing director. Not just the one handling the website, but every registered director — including deputies. With at least one written-out first name: "M. Müller" isn't enough.
The exact company name. The legal notice must match the commercial register. A shortened or brand-styled version doesn't replace the registered name.
What else belongs in the legal notice and privacy policy is covered in the article on Impressum and GDPR.
The email trap
This is the point almost everyone overlooks.
Section 35a GmbHG requires the mandatory details on all business letters, in whatever form, sent to a specific recipient. Email counts as a business letter. So the details — company name, registered office, register court, register number and every managing director — belong in the signature of every business email.
The term is broad. On a common reading, even a birthday greeting to a business partner can fall under it. Only internal emails between staff and messages to an unspecified group, such as marketing mailings, are exempt.
The simplest fix: set the signature up completely once, on every device and for every employee who writes externally. If you use an email address on your own domain, set it up centrally — more on that in the article on hosting and email.
A signature modelled on your own legal notice is almost always right. If anything it contains more than required — and more is better than too little.
The UG and its suffix
The UG — Unternehmergesellschaft — is the GmbH's little sister. It can be founded with share capital from one euro, which makes it popular with founders starting on little capital, including many who move to Germany to start a business.
In return, a strict naming rule applies. Under section 5a GmbHG, the company must use the designation "Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt)" or, abbreviated, "UG (haftungsbeschränkt)".
Plain "UG" isn't enough. The suffix "(haftungsbeschränkt)" — German for "limited liability" — is mandatory and may not be abbreviated further. It signals to business partners that there may be very little capital behind the company.
In practice, signatures, business cards and websites often show just "Example UG". That's precisely the mistake the law was written to prevent.
A UG must also set aside a quarter of its annual profit until the GmbH minimum capital of 25,000 euros is reached. It can then convert to a GmbH — and has to update its legal notice and signatures accordingly.
Share capital: optional, with a catch
Share capital doesn't have to appear in the legal notice or the signature. Many state it anyway, because it signals solidity.
Here's the trap. Anyone who gives details of capital must, under section 35a GmbHG, always state the share capital and, if not all cash contributions have been paid in, the total outstanding.
A proud "share capital €25,000" is only correct if it has been paid in full — otherwise the outstanding amount belongs next to it. If you'd rather avoid that, simply leave the capital out.
When something changes
For a GmbH, the legal notice isn't a one-off document.
Change of managing director. When a director leaves or joins, the legal notice and every email signature must be updated as soon as the change is entered in the commercial register. An outdated legal notice is an infringement competitors can pursue with a warning letter, and the register court can also impose a coercive fine.
Change of registered office. A new seat often means a different register court and sometimes a new register number.
Change of name. For instance from UG to GmbH.
Formation phase. While registration is still pending, there's no register number yet. The company then appears as a "GmbH in Gründung" — a GmbH in formation.
Not just the website
The legal notice obligation covers every business online presence — including company profiles on LinkedIn, Instagram, Xing or Facebook. The legal notice must be reachable there through a direct, clickable link, for example in the profile or info field.
And in your Google Business Profile, the company name should appear exactly as in the commercial register — for a UG, that means including "(haftungsbeschränkt)". Different spellings across website, profile and directories weaken the trust Google places in the details.
What a GmbH website should do beyond that
The mandatory details are the foundation. But a GmbH often addresses business customers, and they expect more.
Who's behind it. Especially with limited companies, business partners want to know which people they're dealing with. A page showing the directors and team builds trust an anonymous company lacks.
References. Concrete projects and clients — but only with their consent.
Clear services. What the company offers, for whom, and how working together goes.
Reachability. A named contact feels more committed than an anonymous form.
How the cost of such a website breaks down is in the price breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
What must a GmbH's legal notice contain? The full company name with its legal form, the registered office address, every managing director with a written-out first name, the register court and commercial register number, an email address and a second fast contact channel, and the VAT identification number where one exists.
Does a business email need a legal notice too? Yes. Section 35a GmbHG requires the mandatory details on all business letters, and that includes emails to specific recipients. Company name, registered office, register court, register number and every managing director belong in the signature.
Is writing 'UG' enough? No. Under section 5a GmbHG the designation must be "Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt)" or "UG (haftungsbeschränkt)". The suffix "(haftungsbeschränkt)" is mandatory and may not be abbreviated further.
Do I have to state the share capital? No. But if you do, you must state the share capital and, if not all of it is paid in, the outstanding contributions. To avoid that, leave the capital out.
What happens when a managing director changes? The legal notice and every email signature must be updated as soon as the change is entered in the commercial register. An outdated legal notice can draw a warning letter, and the register court can impose a coercive fine.
Do the GmbH's social media profiles need a legal notice? Yes. Company profiles on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook are business online presences too. The legal notice must be reachable there through a direct, clickable link.
In short
A GmbH or UG needs more than a sole trader's legal notice: the register court, the commercial register number and every managing director with a written-out first name. And the same details belong in every business email.
For a UG, the suffix "(haftungsbeschränkt)" is mandatory. You needn't state the share capital — but if you do, state it fully. And with every change in the commercial register, the legal notice and signatures follow straight away.