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February 9, 2010
Court upholds triple surname ban
Published: 5 May 09 10:54 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090505-19067.html
Germany’s Constitutional Court upheld a ban on triple surnames on Tuesday. The ruling denied an appeal from a Munich couple who wanted to combine their last names to give the wife the moniker Thalheim-Kunz-Hallstein.
- Hartz IV welfare benefits ruled unconstitutional - Society (9 Feb 10)
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- Bahn CEO intervenes after railway gives teen wine as redress - Society (8 Feb 10)
The ban on double-hyphenated (or longer) surnames began in 1994. According to daily Süddeutche Zeitung on Tuesday, the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), fought hard for the ban.
But some politicians from the centre-left Social Democrats, including Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries also supported the ban, saying such long names were impractical.
Critics say the ban infringes on the rights of married couples and is much more stringent than name laws in other countries. Others have said that allowing longer last names wouldn’t inspire most Germans to actually choose multiple-hyphen monikers.
The court already ruled against appeals to the law in 2002 and 2004, Süddeutche Zeitung reported.
Germany is also known for its strict rules for determining the appropriateness of first names for children.
DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)
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