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How it works

Claude looks it up before it answers

Zitierfest is an MCP server: an interface based on the open Model Context Protocol through which Claude looks up German statutes itself during the chat. You install nothing; you only add an address in Claude.
  1. 1

    You ask

    In the chat, in your own words and in English if you like. You do not need to know section numbers or search syntax.

  2. 2

    Claude looks it up

    When Claude recognises a legal question, it calls one of Zitierfest’s tools: retrieve a provision, search the collection, follow cross-references or calculate fees.

  3. 3

    Claude answers with evidence

    The answer relies on the retrieved German wording, with section, subsection and version date. The chat shows which tools Claude used.

An example

Asked about the neighbour’s tree, Claude retrieves §§ 836 and 823 BGB, checks both and answers with the provision that applies. The tool line shows what happens in the background; in the chat it appears as an expandable note. The statutory text stays German; the explanation around it is Claude’s.

Example

Is my neighbour liable if his tree damages my car in a storm?

normen(law="BGB", paragraphs=["836", "823"])

§ 836(1) BGB does not apply: it only covers the collapse of a building or of another structure attached to the land. A tree is grown, not built.

The relevant provision is § 823(1) BGB: vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig … das Eigentum … eines anderen widerrechtlich verletzt.

The tools

Claude decides for itself which of the 9 tools it needs. Tool names and parameters are German, as are all texts they return.

Official wording

Sections and articles exactly as published, in German: with subsections, lists, annexes and tables. One at a time, as a range or several at once, with the version date.

Example § 573(2) BGB

Full-text search

Search across the whole collection with prefixes, exclusions and typo correction, limited to areas of law such as tenancy, traffic or municipal law. Search terms work best in German.

Example “Schönheitsreparaturen” in tenancy law

Cross-references

Which provisions cite a given norm, and what does it refer to itself? Across all statutes.

Example Who cites Art. 3 GG?

Fee calculator

German statutory fees under RVG, GKG, FamGKG, GNotKG and JVEG, with a fee note including expenses and VAT.

Example Fee note for a claim of €12,500

Amendments at a glance

Nightly comparison with the sources. Every provision carries the date of its version.

Example When was the StVG last amended?

EU and professional law

EU regulations and directives (German language version) with recitals, and the professional rules of the German Federal Bar (BORA, FAO).

Example Art. 17 GDPR, § 5 FAO

Case law

Decisions of the German federal supreme courts in the official German wording: decisions on a provision, full-text search and retrieval by docket number with paragraph numbers and a citation line.

Example BGH decisions on § 536 BGB

Ask, for example

  • “Show me § 5 LBO BW.”
  • “Which Federal Labour Court decisions deal with consulting the works council?”
  • “Quote para. 20 of BGH VIII ZR 180/18.”

Many German states use the same abbreviations, such as “LBO” for the state building code. Name the state as well. If an abbreviation matches several statutes, the answer lists the other matches and Claude asks which one you mean.

Step-by-step setup, also for ChatGPT and other clients: Setup. Which laws are included: Laws.