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Gazetteers

Definition

A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or index. Depending on the gazetteer, it may contain information about locations:

• their jurisdictions (voivoideship, powiat, county, province, etc.)
• location of civil registration offices (for birth, marriage, and death certificates)
• parish churches or synagogues
• population numbers
• postal facilities
• communication facilities (telephone, telegraph, and so on)
• local commerce, agriculture, manufacturing works, canals, docks, and railroad stations
• schools, colleges, and universities

Gazetteers are produced to cover a country generally, and cover the locations as of the date they are published. Poland's boundaries frequently changed as different parts of Poland came under the control of various countries, usually Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Names of towns can change to the language of the controlling country. This map shows arguably the longest lasting partition of Poland--from the end of the Napoleonic wars to the World Wars (1815-1918/1945). The gazetteers shown in this article are organized by these regions, and then by post-World War, and modern times.

Prussian Poland

These gazetteers deal with the parts of modern Poland that were under Prussia before World War I: Brandenburg, East Prussia (Ostpreussen), Posen, Pomerania (Pommern), Silesia (Schlesien), and West Prussia (Westpreussen).

Meyers Gazetteer

Meyer’s 1871 Gazetteer: Prussian areas as they existed in 1871. Clickable to the 1871 German Empire map.

"How to" Guides: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key. Abbreviations: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key.
Advantages: Available online; provides Catholic parish, Lutheran parish, and civil registration office as of 1900; old map overlaid on Google maps; used for jurisdictions in FamilySearch Catalog.
Disadvantages: Must know name of the location in German; does not provide Jewish synagogue information.

Kartenmeister

Kartenmeister: Prussian Poland as it existed in 1905. It gives German and Polish names, Catholic and Lutheran parish names, and civil registration office. Clickable to Google Maps.

"How to" Guide: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key.
Advantages: Available online; searchable by German and Polish name; provides Catholic parish, Lutheran parish, and civil registration office as of 1900; approximate location on Google maps.
Disadvantages: The website has stability issues and is sometimes down.

1905 Prussian Gazetteer

1905 Prussian Gazetteer (Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preußen): Gives Catholic, Lutheran, and other religious parishes, and Standesamt (civil registration office).

• Volume 1. Ostpreußen
• Volume 2. Westpreußen
• Volume 3. Berlin und Brandenburg
• Volume 4. Pommern
• Volume 5. Posen
• Volume 6. Schlesien

"How to" Guide: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key.
Advantages: Available online; shows population of location according to language and religion; provides Catholic parish, Lutheran parish, and civil registration office as of 1900.
Disadvantages: Online but browsable only; only searchable by name of the location in German.

• Alphabetisches Ortsnamenverzeichnis der Deutschen Ostgebiete unter fremder Verwaltung, Band 11. V. 1. 1955

Other areas

Posen / Poznań

1902 gazetteer for the Grand Duchy of Posen (Greater Poland) showing Catholic and Lutheran parishes: Księga adresowa wszystkich miejscowości w Wielkim Księstwie Poznańskiem:

Śląsk /Silesia / Schlesien

Whole Schlesien:
1845 - Alphabetisch-statistisch- topographische Uebersicht der Dörfer, Flecken, Städte und andern Orte der Königl. Preuss. Provinz Schlesien
1876 - Handbuch für die Provinz Schlesien
1885 - Gemeindelexikon für die Provinz Schlesien
1901 - Schlesisches Ortschafts-Verzeichniß
1941 - Schlesisches Ortschaftsverzeichniss

Opole / Oppeln area:
1860 - Ortschafts- und Entfernungs-Tabelle des Regierungsbezirks Oppeln
1886 - Ortschafts- und Entfernungs-Tabelle des Regierungsbezirks Oppeln

Russian Poland

Several gazetteers can help with the Kingdom of Poland or Russian Poland. See the FamilySearch Wiki page for Russia gazetteers for more information.

1877 gazetteer, Kingdom of Poland

1877 gazetteer for the Kingdom of Poland. The Kingdom of Poland is also known as Congress Poland and was part of Russian Poland.

• Skorowidz Królestwa Polskiego vol. 1 A-N
• Skorowidz Królestwa Polskiego vol. 2 O-Ż

"How to" Guide: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key

Advantages: Available online; provides Catholic parish as of 1877 (which also functioned as civil registration jurisdiction).
Disadvantages: Browsable images only; does not provide Orthodox parish or Jewish synagogue information.

1827 gazetteer, Kingdom of Poland

• Tabella miast, wsi, osad, Królestwa Polskiego vol. 1 A-Ł
• Tabella miast, wsi, osad Królestwa Polskiego vol. 2 M-Z

Advantages: Available online; provides Catholic parish as of 1827.
Disadvantages: Browsable images only; does not provide Orthodox parish or Jewish synagogue information.

Spiski Gazetteer

The Spiski gazetteer does not cover the Kingdom of Poland, but does cover most other areas of the Russian Empire. You must know the province or guberniya for your location to use the Spiski gazetteer. To find links to your guberniya, see the FamilySearch Wiki article Russia gazetteers.

Spiski Gazetteer: Compiled during the Russian Empire time, organized geographically rather than alphabetically, in Russian.

"How to" Guide: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Advantages: Some gubernias available online; organized geographically along roads; shows location of Catholic or Orthodox parishes and Jewish synagogues.
Disadvantages: In Cyrillic; some gubernias not available online; browsable images only.

RGN: Russisches Geographisches Namenbuch

The best comprehensive gazetteer of all localities in Imperial Russia is by Vasmer, Max. Russisches Geographisches Namenbuch [Russian Geographical Namebook]. Wiesbaden: Harassowitz, 1964-1981. Nachtrag (Supplement), 1988. 11 vols. (FS Library INTL Book 947 E5r). Spiski naselennykh Mest Rossiiski Imperii were the primary source for much of the data. This set of books is referred to as the RGN and includes eleven volumes plus the Kartenband (maps).

Localities are listed in the Cyrillic alphabet but the gazetteer is still usable to non-Russian readers because the descriptions are in German. The pre-1917 administrative units of guberniya (G.) and uyezd (Kr.) are given. The German word for uyezd is Kreis. If there are several localities in the same guberniya, the guberniya is indicated only after the first locality in the guberniya. It is not repeated for each subsequent locality listed.

RGN (Russisches Geographisches Namenbuch): Compiled after World War II, based on the Spiski Gazetteer above. Written in Russian, German, and Polish.

"How to" Guide: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Advantages: Most comprehensive gazetteer of locations in Russian Empire; provides gubernia jurisdiction.
Disadvantages: Only available in book form; some entries Cyrillic or German.

Austrian Poland

The Austrian partition was called Galizien in German and Galicia in English.

Gesher Galicia - Town Locator

Though focused on Jewish records, this gazetteer should include all towns in Galicia, including Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic parish information: Gesher Galicia -- Galician Town Locator (1900)

Advantages: Available online; organized alphabetically; shows location of Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic parishes and Jewish synagogues; used for jurisdictions in FamilySearch Catalog.
Disadvantages: May not include all locations; does not show Lutheran parish; does not consistently show Polish diacritics on place names.

Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia

• Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia: includes the location of the Catholic parish and Greek Catholic, Lutheran, and Jewish congregations. Written in Polish, German, and Ukrainian.

Advantages: Includes section on alternate spellings of locations (Ukrainian, etc.); includes location of Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Lutheran parishes as well as Jewish synagogue; in English.
Disadvantages: Not available online. (FS Library INTL book 943.86 E5L 1999)

Austrian gazetteer: Galicia

Gemeindelexikon – Galizien (volume 12): (appendix, index) Contains information about population, including breakdown by religion.

For instructions on how to use this gazetteer, see the Austria Gazetteers article.
Advantages: Available online; shows population of a location by religion.
Disadvantages: Browsable images only; in German language.

Republic of Poland (1918-1939)

Skorowidz Gazetteer (1930s)

The Skorowidz Miejsowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej is a gazetteer of the early republic of Poland as it existed from 1918 until 1939. Poland at that time extended far into the east, including areas, which after World War II, were ceded to the Soviet Republics of Lithuania, Belarus, and the Ukraine. The gazetteer is arranged with all localities in alphabetical order. Please note that the Polish alphabet has several letters with diacritical marks: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, and ż. These are distinct letters of the Polish alphabet and are alphabetized after the unmarked version of the letter. Information about each locality is given in columns as shown below with translations.

• Skorowidz Gazetteer

Lists type of location (city, town, village, settlement, etc.), jurisdictions, and church parishes.

"How to" Guide: Instruction, Activity, Answer Key
Advantages: Available online; contains information about locations in interwar Poland (greatest extent eastward); contains information about Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran parishes, Jewish synagogue, and civil registration office; jurisdictions in the FamilySearch Catalog for places not in modern Poland.
Disadvantages: Browsable images only; does not cover all of modern Poland; in Polish.

This gazetteer uses the Voivodeships (Provinces) in place in the Subdivisions of the Second Polish Republic. You will need to use the map in that article to compare it to the more modern maps and determine the current and 1967 voivodeship.

Słownik Gazetteer (1880-1895)

Lists detailed physical descriptions, population, jurisdictions, and location of parishes. The gazetteer can be accessed online in many places, including the following:

• Słownik Geograficzny Gazetteer on FamilySearch
• ICM website
• provincial library of Małopolski in Kraków
  

For help in interpreting the entry, look through the abbreviations and Glossary and information about the administrative units.
Look here for some entries translated into English.

Clickable link to the gazetteer:

Volume	FS Library Film	FS Library book scan	ICM online
1: Aa-Dereneczna	920957	part 1, part 2	volume I
2: Derenek-Gżack	920958	part 1, part 2	volume II
3: Haag-Kępy	920959	part 1	volume III
4: Kęs-Kutno	920960	part 1, part 2	volume IV
5: Kutowa Wola-Malczyce	920961	part 1, part 2	volume V
6: Malczyce-Netreba	920962	part 1, part 2	volume VI
7: Netrebka-Perepiat	920963	part 1, part 2	volume VII
8: Perepiatychna-Pożajście	920964	part 1, part 2	volume VIII
9: Pożajście-Ruksze	920965	part 1, part 2	volume IX
10: Rokszenice-Sochaczew	920966	part 1, part 2	volume X
11: Sochachew powiat-Szlubowska Wola	920967	part 1, part 2	volume XI
12: Szlurpiszki-Warłynka	920968	part 1, part 2	volume XII
13: Warmbrun-Worowo	920969	part 1, part 2	volume XIII
14: Worowo-Żyżyn	920970	part 1, part 2	volume XIV
15A: Addenda, Abablewo-Januszowo	920971	part 1	volume XV, part 1
15B: Addenda, Januszpol-Sniatyn	920972	part 1, part 2	volume XV, part 2

Advantages: Available online; shows very detailed information about Polish locations regardless of which partition they were in (includes locations in Germany, Austria, Kingdom of Poland, and Russian Empire).
Disadvantages: Browsable images only; in Polish; uses a lot of abbreviations.

Modern Poland

Spis Gazetteer (1968)

• Spis Gazetteer, Volume 1 - A-M
• Spis Gazetteer, Volume 2 - N-Ż

(FS Library INTL book 943.8 E5s v. 1 and v. 2)

The Spis miejscowości Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej lists jurisdictions and location of civil registration offices. Spis Gazetteer of Poland Wiki Article, gives abbreviations.

Translated Headings for Spis Gazetteer

Nazwa i rodzaj miejscowości	Gromada (osiedle-osied.) (miasto-m.)	Siedziba PRN	Województwo	Poczta	Stacja, przystanek kolejowy	Urząd stanu cywilnego
Name and type of locality	Next larger admini-strative unit	County Seat	Province	Post Office	Railroad Station	Civil Registration Office

Advantages: Shows location of civil registration office; used for jurisdictions in FamilySearch Catalog.
Disadvantages: Not online; in Polish; does not list church parish.

This gazetteer uses the Voivodeships (Provinces) in place in the Administrative division of the Polish People's Republic, under the section "Poland's voivodeships 1945-75". You will need to use the map in that article to compare it to the more modern maps and determine the current voivodeship.

Nazwy miejscowe Polski: historia, pochodzen, ie, zmiany (Polish Place Names: History, Origins, and Changes)

This gazetteer, published in the late 1990s-early 2000s, includes names of places over time within the modern boundaries of Poland.
Volume 1: A-B
Volume 2: C-D
Volume 3: E-I
Volume 4: K-Kn
Volume 5: Ko-Ky
Volume 6: L-Ma
Volume 7: Mą-N
Volume 8: O-Pn
Volume 9: Po-Q
Volume 10: Ra-Re
Volume 11: Rę-Rs
Volume 12: Ru-Rż
Volume 13: Sa-Si
Volume 14: Sk- Sn