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Silesia (Schlesien), German Empire Church Records

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Silesia (Schlesien),
German Empire Wiki Topics
Church in Kl. Tschanz.jpg
Getting Started
Major Record Types
Reading the Records
Additional Silesia (Schlesien)
Record Types
Silesia (Schlesien) Background
Silesia (Schlesien) Ethnicity
Local Research Resources
Germany Record Types
Germany Background

Church records (parish registers, church books) are an important source for genealogical research in Germany before civil registration began. They recorded details of baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. The vast majority of the population was mentioned. To learn more about the types of information you will find in church records, click on these links:


For a comprehensive understanding of church records, study the article Germany Church Records.

In this region, part of Germany which was lost to other countries after World War II, many records, both church/parish registers and civil registration records, were damaged, destroyed, or misplaced.

Parish Register Inventories

1. Online Church Records

Archion ($)

Online records for Silesia are found in Archion in the Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin.

Findbuch Links to Records

Ancestry.com ($)

Ancestry.com collections can be viewed free-of-charge at a FamilySearch Center near you.

  • 1518-1921 Germany, selected Protestant church books 1518-1921 - at Ancestry - index & images ($). There are two categories found under "Browse this collection" (in the right sidebar). Under the (mistakenly labelled) "Schuldistrikt" drop-down menu, find both Silesia (Schlesien) and Not stated. A drop-down menu of links to actual parish records will appear.
Under Schlesien or Silesia this collection covers:
Individual towns: Eisenberg (Strehlen), Glogau (Gramschutz), Goldberg (Haynau), Goldberg (Samitz), Görlitz (Ludwigsdorf), Kammelwitz (Steinau), Wohlau, Laband, Massel, Münsterberg, Postelwitz, Probstein, Strohn, Vielguth, and Zodel.
Counties (Kreise), these cover several towns: Eisenberg Kreis, Glogau Kreis, Goldberg Kreis, and Görlitz Kreis.
Under Not stated this collection covers: Meck (Brüz), Dabrowka-Birkenau (Dabr, Wegorzewo), Festenberg (Ra, Syc u Twardog), Gross Neudorf (Nowawies Wielka), Gross Patschin (Gliwice u Paczyna), Lampersdorf (Grodziszcze), Mühlatschultz (Milocice), Neu Klessengrund Mennonite (Kleiczenko, listed under Sztum)), Nieder Wiesa (Luban u Wieza), and Tost (Gliwice u Toszek).
Mistakenly not listed: Nilbau

Other Collection and Indexing Projects

2. Records at the FamilySearch Library

To find the films:

a. Click on the Places within Germany, Preussen, Schlesien (Silesia) drop-down menu and select your town.
b. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
c. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor. "Taufen" are baptisms/christenings. Heiraten are marriages. "Tote" are deaths.
d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm 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 microfilm.


3. Records in Archives

Church records or duplicates may have been gathered from the local parishes into central archives, either by the churches or the state. Older records are frequently given to these archives for safekeeping. Some gaps in the church records of local parishes could be filled using these records.

  • Pdf Archive Inventory: "Part 1 of 2: Church records in Archives" - is an inventory of localities and the location or archive where their records should be found. The sixth column, "Archives", gives a number. To find the name and contact information, look up that number in the second column of this .pdf: Part 2: Archive Addresses.  It is not clear how up-to-date this inventory is.


Some archives offer searches for a fee. Archives might be unable to handle genealogical requests, but they can determine whether they have specific records you need, sometimes perform very brief research, such as just one record, or they may recommend a researcher who can search the records for you. Archivists are required to speak English.

Email

  • You can e-mail archives and ask whether they have records for a parish. Also, you should inquire whether they provide research services and what their fees are. You can communicate with the archives in English.

Catholic Archives

BZ Regensburg

Bishops' Central Archives Regensburg
St. Petersweg 11-13
93047 Regensburg
Germany

Telephone: 0941 / 597-2520
Fax. 0941 / 597-2521
E-Mail: archiv@bistum-regensburg.de


Archbishop Archives Breslau

Library and Archive Archdiocesan Kapitulne
ul. Kanonia 12
50-329 Wrocław
Poland

Telephone: 71 / 327-11-78
Fax: 71 / 327-11-79
Email: muzeum@pwt.wroc.pl www.muzeum.archidiecezja.wroc.pl

Diocese Archives Katowice

The Diocese of Katowice
Archiwum Diecezjalne w Katowicach
ul. Henryka Jordana 39
40-043 Katowice
POLAND

Tel. (+48) 32 201-75-51
(+48) 32 201-75-50 Ext. 551
Email: archiwum@katowicka.pl
Contact form

Lutheran Records

EZA Berlin (Lutheran)

This is the archive that covered all the former eastern provinces of Germany.

Evangelical Central Archives Berlin ( EZA )
Bethaniendamm 29
10997 Berlin
Germany

Family Research: 030 / 22504-536
Email:kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de
Space reservation: Fax. 030 / 22504-540 or Email to reservierung@ezab.de


Das Archiv des Evangelischen Oberlausitz
Schlaurother Str. 11
02827 Görlitz
Germany

Post Office:
Ev. Kirchenkreisverband - Archiv
Postfach 300334
02808 Görlitz
Germany

Telefon: 03581 744-211
Fax: 03581 744-299
E-Mail: archiv@kirchenkreis-sol.de

State Archives

Poland State Archives

DZfG Leipzig

German Central Office for Genealogy
State Archives Leipzig
Schongauerstraße 1
04328 Leipzig
Germany

Email: poststelle-l@sta.smi.sachsen.de
Telephone: 0341 / 255-5500

4. Writing a Letter to a Local Church

Catholic

Protestant

In Poland approximately 134 protestant parishes exist. Some records formerly found in such parishes may now be archived in local Catholic parishes. For a list of the Protestant parishes in Poland, and their addresses, you can visit the Lutheran Church in Poland for a listing of Lutheran parishes which are in existence today.

Addressing the Letter

Using these addresses as guides, replacing the information in parentheses. If you do not know the street address of a church, you can omit it.
For State Archive
Urząd Stanu Cywilnego
(street name and number)
(postal code) (name of locality)
POLAND

For a Roman Catholic Parish
Parafia Rzymsko-Katolicka
(street name and number)
(postal code) (name of locality)
POLAND

For a Protestant Parish
Parafia Ewangelicka
(street name and number)
(postal code) (name of locality)
POLAND

For an Orthodox Parish
Parafia Prawoslawna
(street name and number)
(postal code) (name of locality)
POLAND

Letter Writing Guides

How to write a letter: Detailed instruction for what to include in the letter, plus Polish translations of the questions and sentences most frequently used are in the Poland Letter Writing Guide.
In some cases, the records are held in archives in Germany. For letters in German, including addressing the letter, plus German translations of the questions and sentences most frequently needed, use the the German Letter Writing Guide.

Other Religious Groups

  • To learn how to determine the location of other religious records, namely Jewish, French Reformed, German Reformed, etc., watch Hansen’s Map Guides: Finding Records with Parish Maps beginning at 48:00 minutes, to learn how to locate these congregations. Then go back and watch from the beginning to understand how to use the reference book. This course teaches you how to use a set of reference books found at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

5. Compiled Genealogies

Caution sign.png

Compiled genealogies and published genealogies are secondary sources, not original or primary sources.

As such, they are subject to human error through translation or transcription errors, mistaken interpretations, and opinion decisions of another researcher.

You should make every effort to base your research on the actual, original records or their digitized images.

Town Genealogies (Ortssippenbuch or Ortsfamilienbuch)

See the class, Online Ortsfamilienbücher at Genealogy.net, and Wiki article, Germany Town Genealogies and Parish Register Inventories on the Internet. Published town genealogies, Ortssippenbuch (town lineage book) or Ortsfamilienbuch (town family book), generally include birth, marriage, and death data for all persons found in the local records during a specified time period, compiled into families based on the opinion of the author. If one is available, it should only be used as an index or guide to finding the original records. They usually contain errors. Always verify their information in original records.

  • Click here to see OFBs at GenWiki. These are indexed and searchable. OFB Instructions.
  • A bibliography of OFBs held by the Central Office for Person and Family History, and available in their archive in Frankfurt am Main-Höchst, is listed here. You can arrange for copied pages to be sent to you for a fee or donation. Use the "Find" function on your keyboard to search the bibliographies, as they are not alphabetical.

Reading the Records

German Records

  • It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in French and German to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately. Here are some resources for learning to read German records.
German Genealogical Word List
German Handwriting
  • These video webinars will teach you to read German handwriting:
  • Also online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:

Downloadable Handouts

These printable handouts can be used for ready reference when reading German Handwriting.
Letters:

Vocabulary found on Specific Records:

Dates, Numbers, Abbreviations:

Miscellaneous Vocabulary:

Fraktur:

Latin Records

Records of the Catholic church will usually be written in Latin:

Polish

Because Silesia is now in Poland, these articles will help:

Search Strategy

  • Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find their birth record, search for the births of their brothers and sisters.
  • Next, search for the marriage of their parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
  • Search the death registers for all known family members.
  • Calculate the birth date of the parents, using age at death and/or marriage to search for their birth records.
  • Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
  • If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.


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