Germany Church Records: Difference between revisions

Unfortunately, some of Germany's church records were destroyed in wars or when parsonages burned.&nbsp;Concerns about such destruction led authorities in some areas&nbsp; to require copies of church books, mostly&nbsp;beginning in the late 18th century. Copies were either stored separately or sent to a central archive each year. <br>After civil registration was discontinued in many parts of Germany, local governments often found it helpful to have access to the births, marriages, and deaths recorded by the clergy. Soon local pastors were required to provide the town administration with a yearly copy of these records. These copies are called transcripts or duplicates [Kirchenbuchduplikate], and most are housed in central church archives or state archives. For example, the parish register duplicates of 62 parishes in the Sondershausen Evangelical diocese from 1813 to 1846 were all gathered into the diocese's central archive.  

Parish register duplicates often differ from the originals&nbsp;in their arrangement. Baptisms, marriages, deaths, and sometimes confirmations for each year are grouped together year by year.<br>

A parish may have kept separate books for affiliated villages, both in the original and as duplicates. Sometimes only part of the record set has survived and is available in an archive or on microfilm. This is especially important to understand in regard to records filmed by the Family History Department. Descriptions in the FamilySearch Catalog may only list the name of the parish and thus give the impression that the complete book has been filmed. If the ancestor is not found, the researcher needs to check the film carefully to determine which parts&nbsp;of the church records it contains.&nbsp;