OHG (general partnership)
Also: offene Handelsgesellschaft, general commercial partnership
In short
The OHG is a commercial partnership whose purpose is to operate a commercial business under a joint company name, and all of whose partners are personally liable without limit. It needs no minimum capital and is entered in division A of the commercial register.
OHG (general partnership) explained
The OHG builds on the GbR: unless the HGB provides otherwise, the BGB rules on partnerships apply (Sec. 105 (3) HGB). A GbR automatically becomes an OHG as soon as its business requires a commercially organised operation. Any partnership with a commercial business can voluntarily register as an OHG, and since 2024, depending on professional rules, so can liberal professions (Sec. 107 (1) HGB). There is no upper turnover limit. All partners are personally liable as joint and several debtors, and an agreement to the contrary is ineffective towards third parties (Sec. 126 HGB). As a merchant, the OHG must prepare balance sheets, but has a trade tax allowance of €24,500.
