First same-sex marriage held in Germany
Germany celebrated its first same-sex weddings on Oct 1, 2017, after a new law came into force putting gay and lesbian couples on an equal legal footing with heterosexual couples.
About 60 guests and an equal number of journalists packed into Schoeneberg town hall’s “Golden Room” to witness the marriage of Karl Kreile and his partner of 38 years, Bodo Mende.
Germany has allowed same-sex partners to enter into registered partnerships since 2001, but these did not give couples exactly the same status in German law as marriage.
The German parliament voted to introduce marriage equality in June, after Chancellor Angela Merkel unexpectedly dropped her longstanding opposition to parliament holding a vote on the issue.
