German to Russian Translation

This direction comes into play when a German document has to be put before a Russian-speaking procedure. A large Russian-speaking community lives in Germany, and using a diploma, a professional document or a civil registry record issued in Germany or Austria in Russia or in the CIS countries where Russian is an administrative language is a frequent need. The defining technical issues of this pair are the transliteration of names in the move from the Latin alphabet to Cyrillic and the two different legal terminologies.

The typical users are people with a connection between Germany and the Russian-speaking world: a Russian-speaking family that later settled in Germany, someone submitting a German diploma for recognition in Russia, documents a German company will put before its subsidiary in a Russian-speaking market, the employment and pension records of someone who worked in Germany for many years and is returning to a CIS country. In these profiles the most critical point of the process is that the spelling of the name matches the official record exactly.

The particular difficulties of this pair

In transferring German names into Cyrillic the only criterion is the spelling in the person’s official Russian records or passport; names containing umlauts (Müller, for example) are transliterated accordingly and used consistently across every document. German’s long compound institution names are translated into Russian by their function. The date format reverts to day-month-year order, and in most official texts the month is written out in words. Because Cyrillic typesetting and line-breaking rules are different, the page layout is rebuilt.

The second difficulty lies in legal and title terminology. German company forms (GmbH) are not converted straight into a Russian abbreviation (ООО, for example); the original form is kept and explained, because the liability structures of the two systems are not the same. German educational and professional titles are not forced into an equivalence with a Russian degree; the recognition decision is left to the relevant body, and the German grading system is explained rather than converted. The positions of seals and signatures in the source document are preserved in the translation with a note; their content is translated and their function preserved.

Third, whether the target is Russia or a CIS country where Russian is an administrative language affects the form of approval and some of the terminology. Abbreviations in German documents are not carried into Russian as they stand but unpacked; registry and file numbers are not translated, and the record they belong to is stated. In pension and social security files, transferring the periods worked and the employer names exactly determines the accuracy of the calculation in the receiving country, which is why date ranges are given particular attention.

In this direction documents often travel back and forth between institutions in the two countries; the employment records, insurance contribution records and court judgments of people who worked in Germany for many years and then returned to a Russian-speaking country are the typical example. In these files the complete transfer of employer names and period details is essential if the institution on the other side is to calculate correctly. German civil status and registry documents (Eheurkunde, Geburtsurkunde) are translated into Russian by their institutional function; place names are aligned with the forms used in the person’s Russian records. Since the notary in Russia usually certifies the translation as bound to the original, all pages of the document are submitted in full and the presentation is planned accordingly from the outset. The Cyrillic spelling of the name must be a single form throughout all the person’s procedures in Russia; even the smallest difference between two documents compared later can suspend the procedure. If the target is a CIS country where Russian is an administrative language, most institutions accept the Russian version of the document even where the country’s own language is different; which institution requires this is clarified in advance.

Which documents call for this direction

Diplomas, transcripts and professional documents lead the way; they are followed by civil registry, marriage and criminal record documents and then by trade registry extracts, contracts and pension or employment record documents. Throughout the file the Cyrillic spelling of the name is kept in a single form.

• German or Austrian diplomas, transcripts and professional documents
• Civil registry, marriage and criminal record documents
• Trade registry extracts, contracts and company documents
• Pension and employment record correspondence

The chain of approval

Russia works on the basis of notarised translation (нотариальный перевод); the translation is usually certified by a notary locally. Although Russia is party to the Hague Apostille Convention, bilateral agreements mean that an apostille may not be required for some documents; confirm in advance the approval regime of the institution you will be applying to. For CIS destinations, notarisation applies.

Look at the requirements for the document type, then upload your document to see the page count and the current fee on the card above, and compare unit prices.

The information below is a guide; for this language pair the level of approval is determined by the target institution. Ask the competent authority for confirmation before you apply.