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For information about records for non-Christian religions in Latvia, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Resources and Websites

Historical Background

The Latvian polling agency SKDS has also gathered information regarding the religious affiliation of Latvia over the years. In 2018, 26% of the population was Orthodox, 20% identified as Catholic while 17% was Lutheran, and 3% were Old Believers. 14% believed in God without being affiliated to any religion, while 15% declared himself as atheist. A further 3% belonged to other Christian sects or religions.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia has 708,773 members. The Catholic Church in Latvia has 430,000 members. Historically, the west and central parts of the country have been predominantly Protestant, while the east – particularly the Latgale region – has been predominantly Catholic, although Catholics are now common in Riga and other cities due to migration from Latgale. Historically, Lutherans were the majority, but Communist rule weakened Lutheranism much more than Catholicism, with the result that there are now only slightly more Lutherans than Catholics. The Latvian Orthodox Church is semi-autonomous and has 370,000 members. Orthodoxy predominates among the Latvian Russian population.[1]

The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. The traditional Christian faith of Latvia is Lutheran. There were substantial groups of Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, and smaller groups of Jews, Old Believers, and Baptists. The priest/rabbi made a transcript for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction. Jewish transcripts were filed with the local town council (gorodskaia duma). Old Believer and Baptist transcripts were sent to the provincial administration (gubernskoe upravlenie). The distinction between the original and the transcript is often ignored by Latvian record keepers.

Records of Evangelical Lutheran and other Protestant groups begin in 1608 (transcripts begin in 1833); Orthodox, 1722; Roman Catholic, 1613 (transcripts begin in 1826); Jews, 1835; Old Believers, 1874; Baptists, 1879–all to 1949. Record coverage is about 70% of the population to 1830, 90% from about 1830 through the 1940s when civil registration began, 50% among minority religions and dissident groups such as Old Believers and Baptists.

Information Recorded in the Records

Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which may be found in these records.

Baptisms

In Catholic and Russian Orthodox records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and often provides information about the date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might contain the following information:

  • baptism date
  • the infant's name
  • parents' names
  • father's occupation
  • status of legitimacy
  • occasionally, names of grandparents
  • names of witnesses or godparents, who may be relatives
  • birth date and place
  • the family's place of residence
  • death information, as an added note or signified by a cross

Marriages

Marriage registers can give:

  • the marriage date
  • the names of the bride and groom
  • indicate whether the bride and groom were single or widowed
  • their ages
  • birth dates and places for the bride and groom
  • their residences
  • their occupations
  • birthplaces of the bride and groom
  • parents' names (after 1800)
  • the names of previous spouses and their death dates
  • names of witnesses, who might be relatives.

Burials

Burial registers may provide:

  • the name of the deceased
  • the date and place of death or burial
  • the deceased's age
  • place of residence
  • cause of death
  • the names of survivors, especially a widow or widower
  • deceased's birth date and place
  • parents' names, or at least the father's name

How to Find Records

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog

Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:

a. Click on the records of Latvia.
b. Click on Places within Latvia and a list of towns will appear.
c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the record.

Approximately 1,200 volumes of Lutheran church records were filmed in 1940 and acquired in 1994 by the Library from the Zentralstelle für Genealogie in Leipzig. However, the left and right-hand pages were filmed separately, making them difficult to use. Catalog entries note: “l.s.-r.s.” in the description. This is shorthand for “left side – right side”, meaning that the left-hand pages were filmed separately from the right-hand pages. This can be tricky if the entries go across both pages. Often the year will be written only on one side, while the parents’ names are written on the other side of the page.

In this case, you will need to begin you research on the side that has the names. Good note keeping is imperative! Each frame has a frame number stamped above the image. Note this number, left side or right side of the page, and which entry on the page is of interest. Then find the matching frame on the opposite side and match up your information. The frame numbers may be off by one, depending on which side of the page received the first number.

Catholic Church Records

Online Records

Writing to a Local Parish

Earlier records can be held at the diocese, with more recent records still kept in the local parish. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address for a diocese or local parish, consult:

Your letter or email should be written in Latvian. If you do not speak Latvian, first write your letter in English. Take a look at the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for guidance. Use clear, concise words and short, simple sentences as this will aid in translation. Once you have completed your letter, use an online translation service such as Google Translate to help you translate your letter into Latvian. If desired, you may include an English copy of your message below the Latvian version. If the parish responds to your message in English, feel free to correspond in English; however, if they respond in Latvian, continue using Latvian.

Historical Background

The Catholic Church has been present in the area that now constitutes the Republic of Latvia since Saint Canute IV in the mid-11th century brought Christianity to Courland and Livonia and the first Christian church was built 1048 in Courland. Bishop Albert of Riga and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were the first to initiate organized Christianization of all the indigenous people in the early 13th century - at the time tribal cultures like the Curonians, the Latgallians, the Livs, the Selonians and the Semigallians. [2]

Latvian Orthodox Church Records

Online Records

Writing for Records

In some cases, records may still be held at the parish level. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address for a diocese or local parish consult:

Your letter or email should be written in Latvian. If you do not speak Latvian, first write your letter in English. Take a look at the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for guidance. Use clear, concise words and short, simple sentences as this will aid in translation. Once you have completed your letter, use an online translation service such as Google Translate to help you translate your letter into Latvian. If desired, you may include an English copy of your message below the Latvian version. If the parish responds to your message in English, feel free to correspond in English; however, if they respond in Latvian, continue using Latvian.

Historical Background

Orthodoxy was planted in Latvia in the 11th century, when it became a mission field of the diocese of Polotsk. The country remained mostly pagan until it was conquered in the 13th century by the Catholic Teutonic Order. Prior to this, however, part of prominent Latgalian noblemen and a large part of Latgalian people, in general, had converted to Orthodoxy voluntarily. There were Orthodox churches in Jersika from the evidence of the Livonian Chronicle; many church-related words came into pre-Latvian languages in that time. An Orthodox presence continued after the Teutonic Order conquest at least officially, in the form of churches for Russian merchants and others, but these were small communities among a majority of Catholics before 1525 and Lutherans afterwards.[citation needed]

After Latvia was annexed to the Russian Empire in the 18th century (most of Latvia, a result of the Great Northern War by the Treaty of Nystad, the Latgale region after the First Partition of Poland in 1772), Russian and Orthodox presence increased substantially, but the Orthodox Church remained foreign to the Latvians. The Latvian Orthodox Church, as a body including ethnic Latvians as well as Russians, dates back to the 1840s, when native Latvians petitioned Nicholas I of Russia to be allowed to conduct services in their native tongue. The Orthodox Church enjoyed some success in its missions among the Latvians due to its use of the Latvian language and by personal appeal of local Orthodox bishops, who sought to support native Latvian inhabitants, whose rights were limited by Baltic Germans. The predominantly German character of the Lutheran Church in Latvia was a factor in the movement of some 40,000 Latvians from the Lutheran to the Orthodox Church. When religious freedom was proclaimed in 1905, about 12,000 Latvians moved from Orthodoxy to Lutheranism; in most cases, this seems to have occurred because of mixed marriages and the difficulties of maintaining a religiously divided family.

On July 6, 1921, the Russian Orthodox Church granted autonomy (limited self-governance) to the Orthodox Church in Latvia, thus creating the Latvian Orthodox Church (named "Archidiocese of Riga and all Latvia").

The autonomy of the Latvian Orthodox Church was ended abruptly by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, which was followed by the German Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944, and a second Soviet annexation lasting from 1944 to 1991. The church suffered oppression during this period, as did organized religion throughout the Soviet Union, though this was partly mitigated from 1943 to 1948 (due to the support of the Church during World War II) and in the last years of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. In December 1992, the Latvian Orthodox Church was again proclaimed autonomous, preserving canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

In modern Latvia, there are 350,000 Orthodox Church members.[5] The services are in Church Slavonic and the members are predominantly Russian speakers. Ethnic Latvians are a minority among church members; there are parishes with services in Latvian in Riga, Ainaži, Kolka, Veclaicene and in other places.[3]

Lutheran Church Records

Online Records

Writing for Records

In some cases, records may still be held at the parish level. To locate the mailing address or e-mail address of a local parish, please consult:

Your letter or email should be written in Latvian. If you do not speak Latvian, first write your letter in English. Take a look at the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for guidance. Use clear, concise words and short, simple sentences as this will aid in translation. Once you have completed your letter, use an online translation service such as Google Translate to help you translate your letter into Latvian. If desired, you may include an English copy of your message below the Latvian version. If the parish responds to your message in English, feel free to correspond in English; however, if they respond in Latvian, continue using Latvian.

Historical Background

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia sees itself as being in a continuous tradition of Christian life since the earliest recorded Christian missionary work in the area, in the 12th century. Latvia was highly influenced by the Reformation and the style of Lutheran church which emerged followed the more Protestant German-type Lutheranism, rather than the episcopal or Nordic-type Lutheranism that emerged in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Finland.

Since the fall of communism, the church has experienced massive growth and expansion. A special Synod in April 1989, following the return to post-communist independence, established a network of revived congregations, and put in place an almost entirely new leadership.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia reports that there are 136 pastors and 86 evangelists serving its 300 congregations. In 2013, the estimated baptized membership was 250,000. In comparison, the independent Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad has 25,020 baptized members.[4]

Old Believers

Digital Images

Historical Background

Old Believers (Russian: староверы or старообрядцы) are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintin the liturgical and ritual practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. Old Believers, under the leadership of Archpriest Avvakum Petrov publicly denounced and rejected all ecclesiastical reforms. Old Believers began experiencing harsh persecution in the 1680s. These persecutions inspired many Old Believers to find refuge in neighboring countries such as Latvia.[5]

Baptists

Digital Images

Greek Catholic

Digital Images

Reading the Records

German

Russian

Latvian

Polish

Latin

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Religion in Latvia", in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, accessed 21 April 2020.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Catholic Church in Latvia", in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, Catholic Church in Latvia, accessed 21 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Latvian Orthodox Church", in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, Latvian Orthodox Church, accessed 21 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia", in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, accessed 21 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Wikipedia. Old Believers
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