In the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, authorities have officially registered 358 marriages involving minors since 2012. Of these, only eight have been annulled with final legal effect, according to a response by the state government to a parliamentary inquiry from two AfD members of the Landtag.
The data, compiled by the Tübingen regional authority and released by the Interior Ministry, show that the remaining 350 cases were closed under what officials call “other disposals” – meaning no court-ordered annulment took place. The figures have prompted questions about how effectively Germany’s 2017 Act to Combat Child Marriages is being enforced.
Cases include an 11-year-old bride
Among the documented annulments was the marriage of an 11-year-old Iraqi girl to a 17-year-old Iraqi man, dissolved in 2020. In 2018, the marriage of a 14-year-old Afghan girl to a 30-year-old man was also ended. Two further annulments were recorded in 2024: one involving a 16-year-old German girl and a 25-year-old Pakistani man, and another involving a 16-year-old Syrian girl and a 27-year-old Syrian man.
The state government says it deals exclusively with marriages contracted abroad, as domestic child marriages have been illegal since the 2017 reform. In 2024, the Bundestag tightened rules further to protect minors in marriages concluded outside Germany.
Nikolaos Boutakoglou, one of the AfD MPs who submitted the inquiry, called the issue “really awful” on Facebook, adding that it was being treated as a taboo. His colleague Emely Knorr demanded on Instagram: “Child marriages are incompatible with our values. Children have a right to safety, education and a self-determined future. That is why we need effective protection, early intervention and resolute action against forced marriages.”
Hundreds of cases without state intervention
The high number of cases closed without annulment raises concerns about how these marriages were allowed to continue. For the period from 2015 to 2026, the regional authority lists 350 proceedings under “other disposals.” The state government cites reasons such as the death of a spouse, the child reaching adulthood, a decision not to seek annulment, or a new marriage concluded abroad.
Records for 2023 include the case of a 12-year-old Afghan girl married to a 21-year-old Afghan man. Girls aged 13 and 14 appear several times in the statistics. The most recent entries, from 2026, involve 16- and 17-year-old girls married to adult men. The data records the age and nationality of the spouses at the time of marriage.
According to the Interior Ministry, no court proceedings to annul child marriages were pending when the inquiry was answered.
Impact on schooling and counselling
The two MPs also asked about the educational impact of forced marriages. The Ministry of Education said it does not collect such data, and the state government has no information on the countries where the marriages were contracted.
The state-funded counselling centre YASEMIN, which supports victims of forced marriage, recorded 271 counselling cases in 2025. Of these, 80 involved people at risk of being forced into marriage – 33 of them minors. Four were under 12, five were 12, and two were 13. The centre does not break down cases by school status or year, so the exact number of affected pupils remains unclear.
The inquiry was triggered by an emergency checklist published by the women’s rights organisation Terre des Femmes in July 2026, aimed at teaching staff. In Germany, children are defined as people up to 14, and adolescents from 14 to 18. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, anyone under 18 is a child. Marriage is only permitted for adults, and forced marriage is a separate criminal offence under the Penal Code.
The figures highlight a broader European challenge: while laws exist to protect minors, enforcement and data collection remain uneven. As Germany pushes for fiscal discipline in the EU, questions about social policy and child protection continue to test the country’s federal system. The case also echoes concerns raised by WHO data on childhood adversity across Europe, which shows that many young people face significant risks before adulthood.
