Help reclaiming German citizenship through descent: advice needed

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on reclaiming German citizenship through descent and need help figuring out what documents are required. For context, I’m trying to reclaim citizenship based on my 2nd great-grandmother, who lost her German citizenship due to discriminatory laws in the early 1900s. To keep privacy, I’ve changed the names, but here are the key details: • My 2nd great-grandfather, “John Müller,” was born in Germany in 1873. • He emigrated to America in 1882 at around 9 years old. • He was naturalized in 1886, but since he was a minor, I don’t have a naturalization document for him. • In 1900, he married my 2nd great-grandmother, “Anna Schmidt,” who was born in Germany in 1878. • Due to the laws at the time, Anna automatically lost her German citizenship upon marrying John, even though John was originally German himself.

I’ve been told that I might be eligible to reclaim German citizenship under Section 5 of the German Nationality Act (StAG), which allows descendants to reclaim citizenship unjustly lost due to discriminatory laws.

My main questions are: 1. What specific documents do I need to provide to prove my case? Do I need: • Birth certificates for myself and every ancestor in the line back to Anna? • Marriage certificates? • Evidence that Anna lost her German citizenship due to marriage? 2. Are physical certified copies of these documents required, or would clear pictures of the documents be acceptable? 3. Will I need to have these documents translated into German or apostilled?

Any advice or insights, especially from anyone who has gone through this process, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!