Wegen des Diebstahls erstatte ich auf der Polizeiwache Anzeige.

Because wegen traditionally takes the genitive case in standard German.

• der Diebstahl = nominative
• des Diebstahls = genitive

So:

• wegen des Diebstahls = because of the theft

You may sometimes hear wegen dem Diebstahl in informal spoken German, but learners should treat wegen + genitive as the normal standard pattern, especially in writing.

That extra -s marks the genitive singular of many masculine and neuter nouns.

Here, Diebstahl is masculine:

• nominative: der Diebstahl
• genitive: des Diebstahls

So in wegen des Diebstahls, both words show the genitive:

• des = genitive article
• Diebstahls = genitive noun form

In this sentence, erstatten is part of the fixed expression Anzeige erstatten, which means:

• to file a report
• to report something officially to the police

So erstatten is not being used in a broad, general sense here. It belongs to a specific formal phrase.

This is why the sentence sounds more official than something like everyday melden.

Both are possible, but Anzeige erstatten without an article is very common in formal or institutional German.

Compare:

• Ich erstatte Anzeige. = I file a report.
• Ich erstatte eine Anzeige. = also possible, but slightly less fixed/formulaic in tone

German often drops the article in set expressions, especially in legal, bureaucratic, or formal contexts.

Not here.

German Anzeige can mean different things depending on context:

• advertisement / ad
• report / complaint to the police
• formal notice

In Anzeige erstatten, it specifically means a police report or criminal complaint, not an ad.

This is a good example of why learners should not rely on one-to-one word matches.

Because German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule.

The first position in the sentence can be taken by many different elements, not just the subject. Here, the sentence starts with the reason:

• Wegen des Diebstahls = first position
• erstatte = second position
• ich = comes after the verb

So the structure is:

• Wegen des Diebstahls | erstatte | ich | auf der Polizeiwache | Anzeige

If you started with the subject instead, you would get:

• Ich erstatte wegen des Diebstahls auf der Polizeiwache Anzeige.

That is also grammatical.

Because ich is the subject, but in German the subject does not always come first.

When something else is placed in the first position—here, Wegen des Diebstahls—the finite verb still has to stay in second position. The subject then usually moves after the verb:

• Wegen des Diebstahls erstatte ich ...

This is very normal in German and one of the biggest differences from English word order.

Because this phrase describes a location, not movement.

With auf, German uses:

• dative for location: where?
• accusative for direction: where to?

Here it means at the police station, so it is a location:

• auf der Polizeiwache = at the police station

If someone were moving toward it, you might have:

• Ich gehe auf die Polizeiwache. = I’m going to the police station.

This is largely idiomatic: certain nouns regularly go with certain prepositions.

With Polizeiwache, German often says:

• auf der Polizeiwache = at the police station

Even though English uses at and learners might expect in or bei, the natural German expression here is often auf der Wache / auf der Polizeiwache.

You may also hear other expressions in related contexts, such as:

• bei der Polizei = with the police / at the police
• zur Polizei gehen = go to the police

So this is something to learn as a collocation rather than translate word-for-word.

Because in German, parts of the sentence that belong closely together semantically do not always stand next to each other.

Here, Anzeige erstatten is the verbal expression, but the noun Anzeige appears later in the sentence because German word order allows other elements, like adverbials of place, to come before the final object:

• Wegen des Diebstahls erstatte ich auf der Polizeiwache Anzeige.

That is completely natural.

You could also say:

• Wegen des Diebstahls erstatte ich Anzeige auf der Polizeiwache.

But the original order sounds quite normal, especially in a formal register.

Yes, it sounds fairly formal and a bit official.

The main reasons are:

• wegen des Diebstahls rather than a more conversational phrasing
• Anzeige erstatten, which is an official/legal expression
• the overall sentence structure

In everyday speech, someone might say something more like:

• Ich gehe wegen des Diebstahls zur Polizei.
• Ich melde den Diebstahl bei der Polizei.

Those are less formal and more conversational.

No. für den Diebstahl would mean for the theft, which is a different idea.

Here, wegen des Diebstahls means:

• because of the theft
• on account of the theft

So wegen expresses the reason for filing the report.

Anzeige is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object of erstatten.

The noun is feminine:

• nominative: die Anzeige
• accusative: die Anzeige

Since nominative and accusative look the same for many feminine nouns, there is no visible article here to show the case, but grammatically it is accusative.

Yes. German is flexible, especially with adverbial phrases like this one.

For example:

• Ich erstatte wegen des Diebstahls auf der Polizeiwache Anzeige.
• Auf der Polizeiwache erstatte ich wegen des Diebstahls Anzeige.

These versions shift the emphasis slightly:

• starting with Wegen des Diebstahls highlights the reason
• starting with Auf der Polizeiwache highlights the location
• starting with Ich is more neutral

The finite verb still stays in second position in a main clause.

Yes, that is a very good idea.

It is a common official expression, and learners benefit from storing it as a chunk:

• Anzeige erstatten = to file a police report / make an official complaint

Memorizing common German combinations like this helps you sound more natural than translating word by word.