Registered association (Germany)
An eingetragener Verein (German: [ˈaɪnɡəˌtʁaːɡənɐ fɛɐˈʔaɪn]; lit. 'registered association'), abbreviated e.V. (German: [ˌeːˈfaʊ] ), is a legal status for a registered voluntary association in Germany. While any group may be called a Verein, registration as eingetragener Verein confers many legal benefits, because it confers the status of a juridical person rather than just a group of individuals.
Source: Wikipedia — Registered association (Germany) (CC BY-SA 4.0)