Germany Empire and Current States

Germany Germany Empire and Current States

Current States of Germany and Their Territory From the German Empire Provinces and Duchies

After East Germany and West Germany were reunited, these jurisdictions of the government were put in place. Generally, when researching genealogical records, it is important to discern what government entity would have jurisdiction over the records of that locality at the time the record was made. For example, if the town your ancestor came from is in Baden-Württemberg today, the records in 1890 might be found in a library catalog under just Baden. If you learn that your ancestor lived in Baden in 1890, and you want to write to the local church to enquire about records, use Baden-Württemberg in the address.

Alsace-Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen)

In 1919, the Elsass-Lothringen region was awarded to France as a result of World War I.

Alsace Lorraine, German Empire 1870

Departments Each department has a Wiki page giving instructions and links to online records. Moselle (57) Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) Bas-Rhin (67) Haut-Rhin (68) Vosges (88)

Department Evolution Map

Baden-Württemberg

Historic areas now in Baden-Württemberg Baden Württemberg Hohenzollern

Former States Now in Baden-Württemberg

Modern Baden-Württemberg

Bavaria

Historic areas now in Bavaria: Bavaria Coburg (part of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha) The Pfalz (Palatinate) belonged to Bavaria until 1945, and then became part of the modern state of Rhineland-Palatinate

Bavaria 19th Century and Beyond Duchy of Coburg (now part of Upper Franconia, Bavaria)

Modern Administrative Regions of Bavaria

Comparison of Brandenburg in 1871 and Modern Brandenburg

At the end of World War II, a large section of 1871 Brandenburg, the Neumark, was ceded to Poland. As the Neumark lay east of the Oder-Neisse line which formed the new border between Allied-controlled Germany and Poland, the region was put under Polish administration. Germans remaining in the region were expelled and their land and possessions confiscated. A small part of the German population, mostly technicians for the water supply companies, were retained and used for compulsory labour; they were allowed to emigrate to Germany in the 1950s. According to the Centre Against Expulsions, 40,000 Neumarkers were killed in action as soldiers, 395,000 fled to West or East Germany by 1950, and 208,000 died, disappeared, or were murdered during the course of flight or expulsion by Polish and Soviet troops.
"Neumark" For research help, go to

• Brandenburg, Germany Genealogy
• How to Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Brandenburg, Germany
• Neumark (region), Brandenburg, Germany Genealogy

Brandenburg Prior to Partition The eastern region of the Neumark was given to Poland in 1945 to create modern Brandenburg. (Click on the map to see a larger version.)	Modern Brandenburg (Click on the map, and then click on link "Original version" to see a larger version.)
Kreise of the Neumark in 1873 1. For the 1871 Meyers Gazettee and the Family History Library Catalog, these counties will be listed as part of Brandenburg. 2. When dealing with modern locations, archives, and parish correspondence, they will be part of Poland.

Brunswick (Braunschweig)

The enclaves of Calvorde and Blankenburg are now in Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt. The rest of Brunswick is now in the state of Lower Saxony.

Duchy of Brunswick, 1914 (in orange)

After World War II, Brunswick was divided into the state of Lower Saxony, West Germany (dark gray background), and Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt, East Germany (light gray background).

Hamburg

In 1937-38, several municipalities from neighboring Schleswig-Holstein and Hannover were annexed to Hamburg. These boundary changes will have an impact on where you will find records. These maps show the original areas of Hamburg during the time of the German Empire and the annexed areas which are part of Hamburg today.

1937-1938 Boundary Changes of Hamburg

Regional Gains of Hamburg

The country of Hamburg was in detail:

• From the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein
  • The municipality of Altona with 248,589 inhabitants (1937)
  • The district of Wandsbek
  • From the district of Stormarn the municipalities Bergstedt , Billstedt , Bramfeld , Duvenstedt , Hummelsbüttel , Lemsahl-Mellingstedt , Lohbrügge , Poppenbüttel , Rahlstedt , Sasel , Steilshoop and Wellingsbüttel
  • From the district Pinneberg the municipality Lokstedt with Niendorf and Schnelsen
  • From the administrative district Herzogtum Lauenburg the place Kurslack in the Achterschlag of the municipality Börnsen
• From the Lüneburg district of the Prussian province of Hanover
  • Of the administrative district Harburg-Wilhelmsburg with 112,293 inhabitants (1937)
  • from the district of Harburg, the municipalities Altenwerder , Finkenwerder [8] , Fischbek , Francop , Gut Moor , Kirchwerder [9] , Langenbeck , Marmstorf , Neuenfelde , Neugraben , Neuland , Rönneburg , Sinstorf and the town Over Hook the municipality Over
• From the government district Stade of the Prussian province of Hanover
  • from the district of Stade , the municipality Cranz

All the above mentioned cities and municipalities were merged with the city of Hamburg and the municipalities remaining with the Land of Hamburg as of April 1, 1938, into a unitary community, which was called Hansestadt Hamburg .

Territories of Hamburg Given Away

In exchange for this, the Hamburg enclaves went to Prussia

• To the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein
  • To the administrative district Herzogtum Lauenburg the city Geesthacht
  • To the Landkreis Stormarn the municipalities Großhansdorf and Schmalenbeck
• To the administrative district Land Hadeln in the government district Stade of the Prussian province of Hannover
  • The city of Cuxhaven with Neuwerk and Scharhörn as well as the municipalities Berensch and Arensch , Gudendorf , Holte-Spangen, Oxstedt and Sahlenburg , with the exception of the Amerika-Hafen.

With this exception in the fourth implementing regulation to the Hamburg Act of March 22, 1937, Hamburg secured the America port in the city of Cuxhaven as an exclave. --Source: Greater Hamburg Act

File:Hamburg annexations south.png

Alt-Hamburg, the city center. All of these areas were in the city-state of Hamburg during the time of the German Empire. This is a blowup of the central part of the preceding map (Kreise 2, 4, and 6.)

Hessen Refers to Several Different Localities

When your ancestors reported their homeland as Hessen, it could have meant Hessen and Hessen-Nassau is the maps above. It also could refer to one of these territories. Basically, these are areas that went by other names prior to the unification of Germany in 1871. Then they were merged into Hessen and Hessen Nassau.

These areas combined to make up Hessen-Nassau in 1871. _________________________________________ Hessen-Kassel (a.k.a. Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, 1567-1803; Electorate of Hessen or Electoral Hessen, 1803-1866; Hessen-Nassau, 1866-1945; Province of Kurhessen, 1945-46) Hessen-Homburg, 1668-1806 (a.k.a. part of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1806-1815) Free City of Wetzlar Hessen-Kassel 1871 Kreis Biedenkopf City of Hanau City of Kassel City of Marburg Eschwege Fritzlar Gelnhausen Hanau Hersfeld Höchst Homberg Kassel Kreis Marburg Melsungen Rotenburg Schlüchtern Wiesbaden Witzenhausen Ziegenhain Homburg 1871 Kreis Oberlahnkreis, now Limburg-Weilburg Meisenheim (kreis), Rheinland, now Rheinland-Palatinate Wetzlar 1871 Kreis Wetzlar, exclave of Rhein Province This area became Hessen in 1971. ___________________________________________ Hessen-Darmstadt (a.k.a. Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt; Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (1816-1867); Hessen, 1867-1919; People's State of Hesse, 1919-1945; Greater Hesse (Groß-Hessen), 1945-1946) It consisted of three areas: Rhenish-Hessen or Rhein-Hessen, Oberhessen, and Starkenberg. Rhein-Hessen 1871 Kreis Worms Bingen Alzey Mainz City of Worms City of Mainz Oberhessen 1871 Kreis Giessen Volgelsbergkreis Wetteraukreis Starkenburg 1871 Kreis Bensheim Darmstadt Dieburg Erbach Hepperheim Gross-Gerau Offenbach Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) Historic areas now in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen): Brunswick (Braunschweig) Hannover Oldenburg Schaumburg-Lippe (S-L on map) Former States Now in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) Modern Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Historic areas now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania): Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Western Pomerania Former States Now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) Modern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) Historic areas now in Nordrhein-Westfalen: Lippe North Rhine Westphalia Former States Now in Nordrhein-Westfalen Modern Nordrhein-Westfalen Prussia Brandenburg: the Neumark region, 1945: Poland East Prussia, 1945: Southern East Prussia, (Warmia) and (Masuria), and Soldaubecame part of Poland. Northern East Prussia was divided between: the Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) Oblast: Russia the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region: Lithuania Memel Territory : Lithuania Free City of Danzig, 1945: Poland Pomerania, 1945: western Pomerania is in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Pomeralia (Gdansk Pomerania, or East Pomerania): Poland Posen, 1919: Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie, Poland Silesia (Schlesien),1945: mostly in Poland The Hlučín Area of Moravian-Silesian Region: Czech Republic the small Lusatian strip west of the Oder-Neisse line: Saxony Upper Silesia, 1919: Poland West Prussia, 1919: Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) Historic areas now in Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz): (the Rhenish Palatinate), part of Bavaria parts of Hessen-Darmstadt the southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province Rhineland (Rheinland) parts of the Prussian Province of Hessen-Nassau the District of Birkenfeld, formerly part of Oldenburg Clickable Map CLICK ON THE LINKS IN THIS MAP TO FIND INSTRUCTIONS FOR GENEALOGY RESEARCH IN EACH REGION. Saarland Historic areas now in Saarland: (created after World War I.) the Saar-Pfalz (kreis or county) was from Bavaria all the other counties were from Prussia Modern Saarland and Former Areas Now in Saarland Saar-Pfalz-(kreis or county) Was Bavarian All Other Counties Were Prussian Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Coburg--became part of Bavaria Gotha--became part of Thuringia Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony became modern Saxony (Sachsen). Kingdom of Saxony German Empire, 1871 Modern State of Saxony Former Kingdom of Saxony "Old Saxony"' is the original homeland of the Saxons in the northwest corner of modern Germany and corresponds approximately to the modern German states of: Lower Saxony Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) Westphalia (Westfalen) Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt Historic areas now in Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt: Free State of Anhalt Province of Saxony Brunswick (Braunschwieg) enclaves of Calvorde and eastern Blankenburg Magdeburg, Saxony Halle, Saxony Former States Now in Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt Green: Anhalt Orange: Province of Saxony (Provinz Sachsen) Brown: Brunswick (Braunschwieg): Blankenburg and Calvorde enclaves Yellow: Thüringen Modern Saxony- (Sachsen-) Anhalt Anhalt Detail 1747-1793 Schleswig-Holstein From these historic areas now in Schleswig-Holstein, click below on the related article for the region. Lübeck Schleswig-Holstein Areas annexed from Hamburg the city Geesthacht municipalities: Großhansdorf, Schmalenbeck Lost Areas From the province of Schleswig-Holstein, these areas were annexed to Hamburg in 1937-8 The municipality of Altona The district of Wandsbek From the district of Stormarn: the municipalities Bergstedt, Billstedt, Bramfeld, Duvenstedt, Hummelsbüttel, Lemsahl-Mellingstedt, Lohbrügge, Poppenbüttel, Rahlstedt, Sasel, Steilshoop and Wellingsbüttel From the district Pinneberg: the municipality Lokstedt with Niendorf and Schnelsen From the administrative district Herzogtum Lauenburg: the place Kurslack in the Achterschlag of the municipality Börnsen Areas Now in Denmark, By Kreis Apenrade Hadersleben Sonderburg Tondern Modern Schleswig-Holstein State in Germany Silesia County (Kreis) Map of Silesia Administrative districts: Oppeln=Violet , Breslau=Gold, Liegnitz=Green Thuringia (Thüringen) Historic areas now in Thuringia (Thüringen): Reuss Older Line (Reuss ältere Linie) Reuss Younger Line (Reuss jüngere Linie) Saxony-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg0 Gotha, part of Saxe (Sachsen)-Coburg-Gotha Saxony (Sachsen)-Meiningen Saxony (Sachsen)-Weimar-Eisenach Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg Sondershausen Former States Now in Thuringia (Thüringen)