Investor Guide
2026-10-10 09:46

Beschränkte persönliche Dienstbarkeit (limited personal easement): Stronger Than a Lease

A beschränkte persönliche Dienstbarkeit is a limited personal easement: a right, registered in the land register (Grundbuch), for a specific person or company to use someone else's plot in certain respects. On a supermarket site it secures, for example, the rights of an energy company, a rooftop solar operator or the tenant itself — and these rights bind every later owner, including you.

What it is

Its content matches that of an easement (Grunddienstbarkeit) — use of a plot in particular respects, or another power an easement may confer — but it belongs to a specific person (§ 1090(1) BGB). In case of doubt, its scope follows the holder's personal needs (§ 1091 BGB). It is entered in section II of the burdened plot's register (§ 10(1) GBV) and cannot be transferred; others may exercise it only if this is permitted (§ 1092(1) BGB). It ends with a natural person's death or when a company ceases to exist (§§ 1090(2), 1061 BGB). In a company reorganisation, it passes to the legal successor unless this is expressly excluded (§§ 1092(2), 1059a(1) BGB).
The ban on transfer has an important exception. A company's easement can be transferred if it covers use of the plot for solar, wind or other renewable-energy installations, or for electricity, gas, water or telecommunications lines (§ 1092(3) BGB).

Why it matters to investors

Supermarket roofs increasingly carry photovoltaic systems (see Part 3 of the series German Prime Retail). If a third party owns the system, its right to the roof may be secured by such an easement. The operator may then transfer the easement to another company, so you no longer choose who shares your roof.
A tenant that has invested in the store can also protect itself with such an easement. This is stronger than a lease: the buyer at a forced sale may terminate a lease with the statutory notice period (§ 57a ZVG), whereas an easement ranking ahead of the enforcing creditor's claim survives (§§ 44, 52 ZVG). For the owner, this ties the tenant more firmly to the property. But the easement does not end with the lease unless it carries a condition or a time limit, so its deletion must be agreed.

What to check

• Every limited personal easement in section II: holder, content, term and conditions.
• Easements of solar, charging and grid operators: transferability, maintenance of the equipment, and arrangements during roof repairs.
• The tenant's easement: whether it is tied to the lease, and whether the tenant must approve its deletion when the lease ends.
• The easements' rank relative to the land charges (Grundschuld), which your bank will also check.
• Consistency of the easements with the lease and the operators' contracts.
Related terms: Grunddienstbarkeit · Rangvorbehalt · Nießbrauch
Sources: BGB §§ 1059a, 1061, 1090–1092; ZVG §§ 44, 52, 57a; Grundbuchverfügung (GBV) § 10; Gordon Real Estate Group, "German Prime Retail", Part 3. Legal position as of 10 October 2026.
Photo: Annie Spratt / Unsplash
This entry is general information and not legal or tax advice.