Are people with disabilities aware of the implications of marriage? They actually have a right to it.

In less than ten minutes, what they've been waiting for for 885 days is over. The registrar doesn't say much. As they enter the room at the town hall, Andy Borg quietly plays: "The famous three words." "And does it sound a bit pathetic, I mean? It's the way I say it."

The papers are prepared. They sign the documents themselves. An administrative act—and yet so much more. Shortly after 11 a.m. on August 9, 2025, Kathrin Pollnow and Klaus-Dieter Rose are married.

In front of them, on a light, heart-shaped piece of wood, lie the rings, behind them a long legal dispute.

When Pollnow and Rose visited the registry office for the first time in March 2023 to file their marriage banns, they assumed they would soon be married. They had known each other for about 15 years. But just a few days later, the official procedure was rejected, as the bureaucratic term goes. Due to lack of legal capacity, the two could not marry.

A rather unique incident. The question was whether the two were aware of the implications of marriage, explains Annett Marziniak. She is a team leader in the residential area of a facility for people with disabilities where Pollnow and Rose live. "But who is aware of that?"

"That's when I said: We'll keep at it," says Kathrin Pollnow, with each letter that came in. The 61-year-old has been living in the Matthias Claudius House, a Diakonie facility for people with disabilities, for a long time. She was working in housekeeping when she met Klaus-Dieter Rose (44), who helped in the kitchen and delivered the food.

"I like that we get along and that we love each other so much," says Pollnow. "Exactly," says Rose. "What she says." Both of them are visibly excited, just a few days before the wedding.

Months of correspondence follow. Care records are requested, medical records are drawn up, and expert opinions are prepared. The State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities in Saxony-Anhalt writes a letter: "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits any form of discrimination."

This is a unique case in Saxony-Anhalt, says state representative Christian Walbrach. The Federal Association of Lebenshilfe (Life Support Association) is also unaware of any similar case in present-day Germany in which a couple was denied a civil wedding due to a disability.

It was only almost two years after the first appointment at the registry office and a personal hearing by the President of the Magdeburg District Court that the decision was made at the beginning of the year that the registry office had to perform the marriage ceremony.

"It shows that sometimes there are mental barriers," says Walbrach, the state commissioner for people with disabilities. "That people with disabilities also have rights." Such cases demonstrate how important it is to repeatedly emphasize the rights of people with disabilities, even within the authorities. "It can be upsetting when a process drags on like this. On the other hand, you can say: Hats off to them, that's a testament to the inner strength of the bride and groom."

For a good two years, Rose and Pollnow have been living together in a small apartment in a building belonging to the facility, which also houses other people with disabilities. There's a cleaning schedule. When Kathrin Pollnow goes shopping, she's accompanied by a caregiver. "Schatzi goes shopping alone," says Pollnow, referring to her future husband.

"This is really about the real thing: love," says caregiver Marziniak. "Some people marry for security, for care, or for money." But that's not the issue in this case, because both are well cared for in the facility.

The Federal Association for Life Support (Lebenshilfe) reports that there are occasionally families who have difficulty with the idea of marriage, particularly due to concerns about legal or practical issues. However, they rarely hear of official bodies putting up obstacles.

"Ultimately, you have to understand our people," explains Oschersleben Mayor Benjamin Kanngießer (independent). "People are unsure." It's good that legal recourse exists, even if it involves a lot of effort.

But: "Not everyone goes that far and has the necessary support," says Annett Marziniak from the Matthias Claudius House. She's standing in front of the steps of the registry office on the market square. Only the bride and groom, the witnesses, and the registrar are present inside for the wedding ceremony.

About 50 people have come: friends, family, and fellow residents from the facility. They line the steps, holding confetti cannons at the ready. On the door of the old town hall is written: "Do what is right and fear nothing."

Then the door opens and the bride and groom come out. Kathrin Pollnow has something planned for later, for the reception: "I want to throw the bridal bouquet." It would be far from the first wedding at the facility.