How to get a German ID card as a British citizen

We moved to Germany a couple of months ago. We did all the registrations at the Rathaus and expected to get a call to come in and pick up our ID cards. After hearing nothing for 6 weeks, I contacted them only to be told that, as UK citizens we didn't need a German ID card. I accept this is true, but can we insist on getting an ID card anyway?

An "ID card" as in "Personalausweis" is only issued to German citizens.

While the rest of us are required,made,asked to carry passports..

no you aren't. For the frickin hundred millionth time, THERE IS NO LAW IN GERMANY WHICH REQUIRES YOU TO CARRY A FORM OF ID ON YOU! EVEN FOREIGNERS!

Interestingly though, there appears to be precisely such a law in the Netherlands:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ausweispflicht

Never would have thought...

I'd appreciate it if you explained this to the local police...they love to harrass tourists, then the tourists complain to me, I'm sick of hearing it. Also, every time the police stop me (rarely, maybe twice a year...I'm a tour guide, so I'm always around the areas they'd check)...they bitch me out for only having a german driver's license as the only ID they recognize, they want my passport. They let me go with a 5-minute lecture.

I also carry an american license on me, but they want a passport.

EDIT: actually, I nearly always carry a color photo-copy of my passport as well as work permit too...but that makes them even more pissed off that I don't have my actual passport

maybe you could simply ask the police to quote which paragraph of which law requires you to carry an ID on you. They won't be able to because there isn't one.

You are required to be able to prove your identity. But you are not required to carry this proof on you at all times. If the police require you to prove it, they can escort you home to show them or ask you to come to the police station with it. Of course, if you are likely to be hassled all the time by the police and wish to avoid the inconvenience of a trip home to pick up your ID, then by all means feel obliged to carry it on your person at all times.

from the German wiki which explains it quite nicely:

Thanks for the reply. So even as a resident, I don't need ANY form of German ID?

I've been stopped a number of times by the police for things like riding the wrong way on the bike path, or having no front light at dusk etc.. I have always just given them my British driving license and there's never a problem. Saying that, I'd like one of these German Ausweis's just for the sake of convenience.

I can honestly say that in over 20 years of living here, I have never been asked to provide any id by the police, except when I've been doing something naughty in my car and had to show my Drivers licence, nothing else.

the Police aren't required to accept any form of ID except a passport or an official ID card (Ausweis). driving licences, photocopies etc are sometimes satisfy the police but they have no obligation to accept them. The point is, though, since you are under no obligation to carry an ID, you won't get into any trouble or be fined for not having it on you. The worst that can happen is that you get inconvenienced while you have to go get it.

No. As has been stated, not only do you not need a German ID, there is no official German ID available for foreigners. Use your passport.