Genitive preposition 'behufs' (for the purpose of)

behufs is an archaic, administrative genitive preposition meaning for the purpose of / with a view to. It is essentially obsolete in modern German and survives only in dusty officialese or as a deliberately old-fashioned flourish.

It governs the genitive:

• behufs der Klärung - for the purpose of clarification
• behufs einer Prüfung - for the purpose of an examination

Examples:

• Behufs der Klärung wurde eine Sitzung einberufen. - For the purpose of clarification a meeting was convened.
• Behufs weiterer Beratung wurde der Punkt vertagt. - With a view to further deliberation the item was deferred.

Common mistakes: Because it is archaic, do not use behufs in ordinary modern writing - zwecks, zur + nominalisation, or um … zu are the living equivalents. When you do use it, keep the genitive. Many native speakers will read it as old-fashioned or ironic, so reserve it for explicitly historical or satirical contexts.

'behufs' (for the purpose of) takes the genitive; archaic officialese.

Archaic officialese 'for the purpose of'; takes the genitive.

'behufs' (zum Zweck) steht mit dem Genitiv; veraltet-amtlich.