How to Open a Cannabis Club in Germany: English Step-by-Step Guide 2025

Germany's Cannabis Act (CanG) came into force in April 2024, legalising Cannabis Social Clubs — officially called Anbauvereinigungen. If you're an English speaker based in Germany (expat, international resident or bilingual founder), navigating the German bureaucracy can be daunting. This guide explains every step in plain English.

Step 1: Understand what you're creating

An Anbauvereinigung is a registered non-profit association (eingetragener Verein, e.V.) that grows cannabis collectively for member consumption. It cannot sell, cannot profit, and can only distribute to registered adult members with German primary residency. Maximum 500 members. The legal basis is §§ 11–26 CanG.

Step 2: Find your founding members

You need at least 7 founding members to register an association under German civil law (§ 56 BGB). All must be adults. You'll elect a board with at minimum a chairperson (Vorsitzender), deputy chairperson (stellvertretender Vorsitzender) and treasurer (Kassenwart).

Step 3: Draft your articles of association (Satzung)

This is the most critical document. It must state your club's purpose in CanG-compliant terms (collective cultivation for member self-consumption), membership requirements (18+, German residency, single club membership), governance structure, membership fees, and dissolution procedure. Get this reviewed by a German lawyer familiar with the CanG — budget €200–400 for this.

Step 4: Hold your founding meeting and notarise

Hold a formal founding meeting, adopt the statutes, elect the board and document everything in minutes. The minutes and statutes need to be notarised (notariell beglaubigt) for registration. Notary costs: €100–250.

Step 5: Register at the district court (Amtsgericht)

Submit your registration application to the Vereinsregister at your local Amtsgericht. Required documents: notarised statutes, founding meeting minutes, board members' personal details. Processing time: 4–8 weeks. Cost: ~€75.

Step 6: Apply for the CanG licence

Once registered as an e.V., apply to your state authority (Landesbehörde) for the operating licence under § 14 CanG. Required: association registration certificate, security concept, youth protection concept, prevention concept, and clean criminal records for board members. Timeline: 2–6 months. This is the longest step — start early.

Step 7: Find suitable premises

Cultivation and distribution areas must comply with CanG distance requirements from schools and youth facilities. The premises must be secured against unauthorised access. Get local planning permission (Betriebsgenehmigung) from your municipality.

Step 8: Set up your management system

Before accepting member one, have a management system in place that automatically checks all five CanG compliance requirements: 500-member limit, 25g/month, 7g/visit, 30-day waiting period, and age restrictions. This is legally required — not optional.

THC Gestión is available in German, handles all CanG compliance automatically, is DSGVO-compliant with AVV, and has a 30-day free trial so you can set it up before the licence arrives.