A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular.
Edmund Leighton, The Wedding Register.
A couple waiting to get married in the town of Alghero on the island of Sardinia, Italy
People leaving the town hall of Høje-Taastrup, Denmark following a civil marriage
For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities:The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt
The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt (1815–66)
Ceremonial acceptance of the civic oath for the Free City of Frankfurt on October 16, 1816, in front of the Römer. Contemporary lithograph, J. Susenbeth, Institut für Stadtgeschichte Frankfurt am Main
The Alte Börse (Old Stock Exchange) in 1845
The Palais Thurn und Taxis, here a photo from around 1900, was the former seat of the Bundestag, the assembly of the German states.
Goethe memorial, established in 1844 by Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler