Czechia Research Tips and Strategies
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Czechia Research Strategies
Below are articles giving strategies for various methods of research:
- Guided Research
- Getting Started
- Record Finder
- Online Learning - Video Classes
- Finding Town of Origin
- Beginning Czechia Research
- "How to" Guides
- How to Find Birth Information
- How to Find Marriage Information
- How to Find Death Information
- American Friends of the Czech Republic website gives a brief how to and where to find your Czech Ancestors with links to sites.
Finding Town of Origin
Records are created and organized on the local level. If you do not know the name of the village or parish your ancestors lived in, see
- Czechia Finding Town of Origin, using United States records
- Czechia Emigration and Immigration
Once you have determined the name of the town, look it up in the GenTeam Gazetteer or the Guided Research experience to locate records for that town.
Czechia Research Tips
Below are tips for genealogy research in the Czech Republic:
Census Records. The government of Austria which governed the Czech lands periodically took a census of the population for statistical purposes. The results of censuses were used to follow and regulate various aspects of society particularly taxation and conscription. Czech Republic Census Records
Civil Registrations. Civil Registration refers to records of births, marriages, and deaths maintained by civil authorities. Czech Republic Civil Registrations
Determine the Religion of an Ancestor
Until the 1900s, vital records were kept by church parishes or Jewish congregations. The records of different religions were kept separately. If you are not sure of your ancestor's religion, start by searching Roman-Catholic records. Catholicism was the dominant religion in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not every village in the Czech Republic had its own parish. Often, several smaller villages belonged to one parish. Use gazetteer to determine the proper record keeping jurisdiction.
Determine the Record Keeping Jurisdiction
Not every village in the Czech Republic had its own parish. Often, several smaller villages belonged to one parish. Use gazetteer to determine the proper record keeping jurisdiction.
Find Your Ancestor in the Records
The best sources of genealogical information in the Czech Republic are the church records kept by the local parishes. The FamilySearch Library has microfilms of vital records from only a few German-speaking communities and a limited number of published census returns. Use the FamilySearch Catalog to determine what records are available for the locality.
Most of the Czech vital records were digitized and made available on the Internet. To find out which archive holds the records that you need click here. You may use this gazetteer for free however you will have to register first. Please be sure to spell the locality name correctly. When you know the respective archive, locate Online Databases section on the Czechia home page in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.