This certificate naturalised Hermann Rieck — and, under the law of the day, his Australian-born wife Fanny — as German citizens at Munich on 27 January 1919. It is the document behind Fanny’s loss of British nationality, and her later need to seek renaturalisation on returning to Australia. The original is held by the Yarrila Arts & Museum, Coffs Harbour, and is reproduced here by courtesy of the City of Coffs Harbour. The handwritten German is transcribed below, with an English translation.
The certificate — German, as written
A pre-printed government form completed by hand. The one struck-through word, Königreich (Kingdom), and the word written in above it, Volksstaat (Free State), are shown here as they appear on the document.
Deutsches Reich.
(Königreich Volksstaat Bayern.)
Einbürgerungsurkunde.
Der Rentner Hermann Hinrich Rieck in Deisenhofen, Gemeinde Oberhaching, Bezirksamt München, geboren am 11. Februar 1837 in Delmenhorst in Oldenburg, sowie seine Ehefrau Fanny Elisabeth, geborene Cox, geboren am 28. März 1860 in Currency-Creek in Australien, haben mit dem Zeitpunkt der Aushändigung dieser Urkunde die Staatsangehörigkeit im Königreich Volksstaat Bayern durch Einbürgerung erworben und sind damit Deutsche geworden.
Die Einbürgerung erstreckt sich nur auf die vorstehend aufgeführten Familienangehörigen.
München, den 27. Januar 1919.
K. Regierung von Oberbayern,
Kammer des Innern.
[signature illegible]
Geb.-Reg.-No. 101
Staatsgebühren — [?40 / 90] M.
Zustellgebühren — 80 Pfg.
Postgebühren — 80 Pfg.
Postnachnahme — 25 Pfg.
Summe — [?41 / 91] M. 85 Pfg.
(an das Postamt Nachnahme.)
[Round official stamp: Regierung von Oberbayern · Kammer des Innern. The blue-crayon “13.856” at upper right is the museum accession number.]
English translation
An editorial translation for readers of this site; it is not part of the original document.
German Empire.
(Kingdom Free State of Bavaria.)
Certificate of Naturalisation.
The pensioner [a man of private means] Hermann Hinrich Rieck, of Deisenhofen, municipality of Oberhaching, district office of Munich, born on 11 February 1837 at Delmenhorst in Oldenburg, together with his wife Fanny Elisabeth, née Cox, born on 28 March 1860 at Currency Creek in Australia, have, from the moment of the handing-over of this certificate, acquired citizenship in the Kingdom Free State of Bavaria by naturalisation, and have thereby become Germans.
The naturalisation extends only to the family members named above.
Munich, 27 January 1919.
Royal Government of Upper Bavaria, Chamber of the Interior.
Fees register no. 101 — State fee [?40 / 90] marks; delivery 80 pfennig; postage 80 pfennig; cash-on-delivery 25 pfennig; total [?41 / 91] marks 85 pfennig; sent cash-on-delivery.
- “Königreich” amended to “Volksstaat”: the form was printed for the Kingdom of Bavaria. After the November 1918 revolution Bavaria became a Free State (Volksstaat), and the obsolete word Königreich was struck through and Volksstaat written in by hand, in both the title and the body. The printed “K.” (Königliche, “Royal”) before “Regierung von Oberbayern” was left unaltered. The form’s singular/plural blanks (haben … sind … geworden) were completed by hand for a married couple.
- “Rentner”: Hermann is described as a Rentner — a person living on a pension or private income — rather than by a trade.
- Names and births: read with confidence — Hermann Hinrich Rieck, born 11 February 1837 at Delmenhorst in Oldenburg; Fanny Elisabeth, née Cox, born 28 March 1860 at Currency Creek, Australia. Because the certificate expressly “extends only to the family members named above,” it is the instrument by which Fanny, too, became German.
- Fee figures: the tens digit of the state fee, and of the matching total, reads as either “4” or “9” in this hand (40 marks / 41.85 total, or 90 marks / 91.85 total). Both add up correctly, so the figure cannot be settled by arithmetic; preserved as “[?40 / 90]” and “[?41 / 91].”
- Signature: the official’s signature beneath “Kammer des Innern” is illegible in the available images.
- Margin annotation: a vertical pencil note in the left margin repeats the fee total and a register number; read tentatively as “[?Auslagen] 41 M 85 Pf … [?Reg.] No. [?161].”
- Catalogue date: the source catalogue’s structured date field gives “27 February 1919” in error; the document itself, and the catalogue’s own description, both read 27 January 1919.
Image and document reproduced by courtesy of the City of Coffs Harbour. Original held by the Yarrila Arts & Museum (Coffs Collections), accession 13.856. Readers are encouraged to verify against the source image linked above.