Opava Provincial Archives Instructions
Finding Parish Records in the Opava Provincial Archives
Online Tutorial
- Using Online Czech Records: Land Archives in Opava - online class
Step-by-Step Instructions for Opava Regional Archives
1. Click on the website Zemský archiv v Opavě
2. You may choose English, Czech, or German language by clicking on the British, Czech, or German flag in the upper right corner. However, very little of the information in the register list will be translated. Instructional pages in other sections of the website will have English text.
3. The list you now see is a list of all the parishes for which there are registers. In the search field at the top, enter the German or Czech version of the locality name and click "Search".
4. Next, you will see a list of all the registers for that parish or locality.
- The title will show the Czech name. Use the above chart to convert the German name to the Czech name, if necessary.
- The title lines are a little cryptic because they include register call numbers for use in the archives. All you need to decipher are the name of the parish, the events covered, and the year range.
5. How to read the listing:
- The top line tells the events covered:
- N = Narození or Geborene--baptisms
- O = Oddaní or Vertrauene--marriages
- Z = Zemřelí or Gestorbene--deaths
- N-I for index to births/baptisms
- N-O for index to marriages
- N-Z for deaths/burials
- The box to the right of the events list gives the year range.
- The bottom line gives the name of the parish.
6. Click on the entry that covers the time period and type of record you need.
7. A detail screen will pop up next with many details about the record and a thumbnail photograph. The religion of the parish is clear here. Click on the photograph of the record, which takes you to the scanned images of the register.
8. To work with the digitizer itself, you can use tools to enlarge the image to full screen size, reduce it again, rotate the image, move the image, or enlarge and reduce it.
9. Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.
10. If indexes are available in the images, check these for the name first. Indexes are usually located at the beginning of a group of images or at the end. They can also be found in individual folders. Find your ancestor's name and look for the locator information next to the name (such as page, entry, or certificate number). This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection.
For more information, see the article Opava Provincial Archives, Czechia Church Records.