Registered association (Germany)

An eingetragener Verein (German: [ˈaɪnɡəˌtʁaːɡənɐ fɛɐˈʔaɪn]; lit. 'registered association'), abbreviated e.V. (German: [ˌeːˈfaʊ] ), is a legal status for a registered voluntary association in Germany. While any group may be called a Verein, registration as eingetragener Verein confers many legal benefits, because it confers the status of a juridical person rather than just a group of individuals. The legal status must be mentioned in the name as well. Like certain other corporate bodies, an eingetragener Verein can apply for the status of a charitable organization (Gemeinnützigkeit).

History

The oldest known social club is La Court de Bonne Compagnie, established in London and mentioned in 1413. The club was set up by a group of devout Templars for the purpose of "charitable causes". To represent the professional interests of craft and merchant guilds, societies or clubs were formed in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, through which community and various social functional spaces (such as guild houses and music guilds of the Meistersinger) and events were run.

Societies based on language were formed in the seventeenth century, with exclusive English upper class gentlemen's clubs of the eighteenth century, Masonic lodges, the literary societies of the Enlightenment, and political clubs of the French Revolution being some of the earliest examples. One of the most notable social clubs of the early period was the Berliner Montagsclub, founded in 1749.

The first cross-class associations were founded in German-speaking countries during the 18th century.