Germany’s Baden-Württemberg recorded 358 marriages involving minors since 2012, including girls as young as 11. Only eight were legally annulled.
Baden-Württemberg: Authorities in Baden-Württemberg, a state in southwestern Germany, have recorded 358 marriages involving minors since 2012, but only eight have been annulled with final legal effect, according to figures released by the state government.
The figures have raised questions about how cases involving children were resolved and what legal protections were available to the minors whose marriages were recorded.
The data emerged in response to a parliamentary inquiry submitted by Nikolaos Boutakoglou and Emely Knorr, lawmakers from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Tübingen regional authority maintains the records, according to the state’s interior ministry.
Among the cases were an 11-year-old Iraqi girl married to a 17-year-old boy, a 14-year-old Afghan girl married to a 30-year-old man, and a 12-year-old Afghan girl married to a 21-year-old man.
The eight marriages annulled with final legal effect were recorded between 2018 and 2024. They included the marriage of the 11-year-old Iraqi girl, annulled in 2020, and that of the 14-year-old Afghan girl and the 30-year-old man, annulled in 2018.
Two further annulments in 2024 involved a 16-year-old German girl married to a 25-year-old Pakistani man and a 16-year-old Syrian girl married to a 27-year-old Syrian man.
However, the fact that only eight marriages were formally annulled does not establish that the other 350 remained legally intact. Cases may be closed for different reasons, including a spouse reaching adulthood or other changes in circumstances. The figures alone do not establish the current marital status or circumstances of every minor involved.
The disclosures have renewed attention on the legal and child-protection challenges associated with marriages involving minors, particularly those conducted abroad and subsequently brought to the attention of German authorities.
Germany introduced legislation addressing child marriages in 2017, and the legal framework has since undergone further changes. The handling of such cases involves questions of legal recognition, annulment procedures and the protection of children affected by the marriages.
The figures relate specifically to cases recorded in Baden-Württemberg and should not be interpreted as a count of all child marriages in Germany.
The data also highlights the importance of distinguishing between the formal annulment of a marriage and the broader question of whether the child involved received appropriate protection and support.
