Austria Church Records

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Church Records

Online Records

• 1651-1940 Austria Births and Baptisms, 1651-1940 at FamilySearch, index and images, incomplete. How to Use This Collection includes coverage table.
• 1651-1940 Austria, Select Births and Baptisms, 1651-1940 at Ancestry ($), index, incomplete. Also at MyHeritage and Findmypast.
• 1700-1840 Namensregister zu Matriken aufgelöster Regimenter, 1700-1840 Marriage, birth and death indexes to Austria military church records for regiments dissolved before 1840. Arrangement is by the first letter of the surname, then by protocol volume number and year.
• 1722-1898 Austria Marriages, 1722-1898 at FamilySearch, index. How to Use This Collection includes coverage table.
• 1722-1898 Austria, Select Marriages, 1722-1898 at Ancestry ($), index, incomplete. Also at MyHeritage and Findmypast.
• 1750-1883 Militär-Heirats-Cautionen 1750-1883 (Military Marriage Bonds)
• 1768-1918 Austria Burials, 1768-1918 at FamilySearch, index. How to Use This Collection includes coverage table.
• 1768-1918 Austria, Select Burials, 1768-1918 at Ancestry ($), index, incomplete. Also at MyHeritage and Findmypast.

The GenTeam Gazetteer

The town your ancestors lived in belonged to a parish, which may have a different name. GenTeam Gazetteer is an online gazetteer that covers the current countries of Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovenia (most of the area belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire). It gives former (German) and current names of locations, the name of the parish the town belonged to, the beginning year of the records, and the archive that holds the records. It will also give details on earlier parishes the locality belonged to. It then links to the website of that archive.

• Tutorial: GenTeam Gazetteer Online - Instruction, Activity, Answer Key

This is an example of a typical parish record entry that you will see:

Major developments in church records (Kirchenbücher or Matriken)

How parish records were kept was regulated by law. The following major changes occurred in the Austrian Empire:

• 1548: Council of Trent mandates registers for baptisms, marriages, burials, confessions, and communions. This was reinforced in the Second Council of Trent in 1563.
• 1569: A convocation in Salzburg required that Status Animarum (a register of all members of a parish) be kept, as well as registers of those who moved into the parish.
• 1721: Non-Roman Catholics may no longer serve as godparents.
• 1770: In illegitimate births, the name of the father could not be recorded, unless the father explicitly demanded to be listed or the parents subsequently married. It also required illegitimate births be recorded in a separate section (not always followed).
• 1771: Baptism, marriage, and burial records required to be kept in a tabular form, and indication of religious denomination was required. The records were also required to be kept in either Latin or German.
• 1781: Birth names (including maiden name) was required to be kept in church registers and certificates.
• 1781: Official toleration of non-Roman Catholic residents; all legal religious differences between subjects was eliminated. Protestant priests were allowed to establish parishes. Until 1849, non-Roman Catholic civil registry events such as baptisms, marriages, or burials also had to be recorded in the respective Roman Catholic church registers.
• 1783-1786: creation of approximately 470 new parishes in the empire (1783: 1,930 parish; 1786: 2,400 parishes). By 1803, another 180 parishes were created.
• 1784: Several developments occurred, including:
  • Church registers were to also be used as civil registers. The priest assumed the tasks of a civil servant.
  • All registers were to be kept in standardized forms. Marriages required separate sections for the bride and groom.
  • Each village/locality in the parish was required to be kept in a separate section. (This was rarely observed from 1830-1848 onwards.)
• 1797-1845: Various decrees for the keeping of duplicate church registers legally equivalent to the originals.
• 1830: Evangelical clergy were legally required to keep parish registers.
• 1892: All records required to be kept in chronological order and numbered. The priest was also required to record additional information.
• 1907: Marriages and deaths that occurred in another parish were required to be communicated back to the parish of birth; these were usually entered in the records as side notes.

Catholic Records

• GenTeam: Indices of Roman Catholic Vital Statistics (church records) (free account required)
• 1612-1966 Austria-Hungary, Roman Catholic Indexes, 1612-1966 at MyHeritage - index ($)

Burgenland--Diocese of Eisenstadt Matricula: Burgenland Parishes FamilySearch Catalog: Burgenland (click on "Places within Austria, Burgenland") Matriken.at ($) Carinthia (Kärnten] Matricula: Diocese of Gurk 1527-1986 Austria, Carinthia, Gurk Diocese, Catholic Church Records, 1527-1986 at FamilySearch, index. 1614-1940 Carinthia, Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1614-1940 at Ancestry ($), images. Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) Matricula: Diocese of St. Pölten Matricula: Archdiocese of Vienna (Wien) Matricula; Vienna/Lower Austria (East): Archdiocese of Vienna 1600-1960 Vienna (Wien), Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1600-1960 - ($), at Ancestry, images 1600-1960 Vienna, Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1600-1960 - ($), at Ancestry, images. 1628-1955 St. Polten, Lower Austria, Catholic Church Records, 1628-1955 - ($), at Ancestry, images. 1652-1654 Directory of the new converts in the Waldviertel (Verzeichnis der Neubekehrten im Waldviertel) 1652-1654 The index contains the names of about 15000 people who had to change their religion from Protestantism to Catholicism in 1652-1654. The Waldviertal is the northwestern region of Lower Austria. 1816-1868 Foundling Baptisms in Vienna Between 1816 And 1868

Roman Catholic Dioceses of Austria

Upper Austria (Oberösterreinch) Matricula: Diocese of Linz 1581-1919 Austria, Upper Austria, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1919 at FamilySearch, index and images. 1581-1910 Austria, Upper Austria, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1910 ay MyHeritage ($), index. 1614-1938 Upper Austria, Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1614-1938 - ($), at Ancestry, images 1650-1900 Austria, Upper Austria, Family Records Compiled from Parish Registers, 1650-1900 DORIS- historical portal of Oberösterreich, digitized Roman Catholic church records [original books only] and Evangelical parish registers, available up to 1939. To use, click on WebOffice Core. In the left sidebar click on Katholische Kirche or Evangelische Kirche a.B., then on the respective parish in the map. Good images. Typing the town/parish name in the search box on the top right brings up a map showing the locality, with links to the parish[es] and online church books. Salzburg Matricula: Archdiocese of Salzburg 1600-1930 Salzburg, Austria, Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1600-1930 at Ancestry ($), index and images. Styria (Steiermark) Matricula: Diocese of Graz-Seckau Styria, Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1614-1938 at Ancestry ($), images. Tyrol (Tirol) Matricula: Various Parishes Diocese of Innsbruck, and some Archdiocese of Salzburg 1578-1970 Austria, Tirol, Innsbruck, Sankt Jakob Parish Register Index, 1578-1970 at FamilySearch, index and images. Vorarlberg--Diocese of Feldkirchen Matricula: Various Parishes (State of Vorarlberg) 1611-1938 Vorarlberg, Austria, Catholic Church Registers, 1611-1938 at Ancestry ($), images.

Evangelical-Lutheran Records

• 1848-1900 Austria Evangelical-Lutheran Church Records, 1848-1900 at FamilySearch, images only. How to Use This Collection
• 1848-1900 Austria, Evangelical-Lutheran Church Records, 1848-1900 at Ancestry ($), images only.
• GenTeam:Index of Protestant Vital Statistics (church records)

Diocese of Carinthia (Kärnten) and East Tyrol (Tirol)

• Matricula: Kärnten Ev. Kirche A.B

Diocese of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich)

• Matricula: Niederösterreich: Ev. Kirche A.B.
• 1652-1654 Directory of the new converts in the Waldviertel (Verzeichnis der Neubekehrten im Waldviertel) 1652-1654 The index contains the names of about 15000 people who had to change their religion from Protestantism to Catholicism in 1652-1654. The Waldviertal is the northwestern region of Lower Austria.

Diocese of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)

• Matricula: Oberösterreich: Ev. Kirche A.B
  
• DORIS- historical portal of Oberösterreich, digitized Roman Catholic church records [original books only] and Evangelical parish registers, available up to 1939. To use, click on WebOffice Core. In the left sidebar click on Katholische Kirche or Evangelische Kirche a.B., then on the respective parish in the map. Good images. Typing the town/parish name in the search box on the top right brings up a map showing the locality, with links to the parish[es] and online church books.

Diocese of Styria (Steiermark)

• Matricula: Steiermark: Ev. Kirche A.B
  

Diocese of Vienna

• Matricula: Vienna (Wien) Ev. Kirche A.B.
• Matricula: Vienna (Wien) Ev. Kirche H.B. (Reformed

Greek Orthodox Records

• Matricula: Metropolis of Austria, Greek-Orth. church

Writing for Records

For records not available online, try writing directly to the parish. It is customary to first provide a donation to the parish with your request, and then to inquire what further costs they would like covered.

• The Wiki article, German Letter Writing Guide, will assist you in writing to request records.

Addresses for Catholic Parishes

• Parishes in Diocese of Linz
• Parishes in Diocese of Eisenstadt (Burgenland)
• Parishes in Feldkirch Diocese (Vorarlberg)
• Parishes in Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt (Carinthia)
• Parishes in Diocese of Graz-Seckau (Styria)
• Parishes in Diocese of Innsbruck (Tyrol)
• Parishes in Diocese of Linz (Upper Austria)
• Parishes in Diocese of St. Pölten (western Lower Austria)
• Parishes in Archdiocese of Salzburg (Salzburg, eastern North Tyrol)
• Parishes in Archdiocese of Vienna (Vienna, eastern Lower Austria)

Addresses for Evangelical-Lutheran Parishes

• Map view with all parishes and links to contact information

Time Coverage

The first Protestant regulation for the keeping of Church books was in 1533, and the first Catholic regulation to do so was in 1563, however, a few isolated parishes had already begun in 1379 in Tirol, 1517 in Dalmatia, 1518 in Hungary and 1523 in Austria. Many early church records were destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648 and in subsequent conflicts. Generally, registers exist for the following denominations:

• Evangelical Lutheran (Evangelisch-Lutherisch) 1533-
• Evangelical Reformed (Evangelisch-Reformiert), 1556-
• Moravian Baptist/Hutterite (Hutterer) 1561-
• Brethren (Brüdergemeine) 1561-
• Catholic (Katholisch) 1563-
• Orthodox 1600-
• Orthodox (Uniat) 1697-
• Jews (Juden) 1709-
• Salzburger (Salzburger Protestanten) 1731-
• Others: Baptists, Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Old Catholics.

Transcripts begin as early as 1784, but some do not start until later. They extend until the advent of civil registration. Felix Gundacker has published a detailed article on the history of parish registers in the Austrian Empire.

Information Content

Baptismal/birth Records

• Dates and places of birth and/or baptism
• Names of children, parents (often mother's maiden name is given)
• Names of godparents and sometimes their relationships to infants.

Marriage Records

• Names of couples
• Date of marriage and/or date of proclamation
• Often names of parents, names of witnesses.

Marriage Contracts and Banns (Heiratskautionen und Belege)

• Names of couples,
• Dates of intention of marriage,
• Places of residence,
• Occupation,
• Names of witnesses,
• Often names of parents and sometimes other relationships.

Death/burial Records

• Names of deceased,
• Date of death and/or burial;
• Often age and cause of death;
• Often name of spouse, especially of women;
• Names of Parents of Deceased Children.

Confirmation Records

Children were confirmed between the ages of 12 and 16.

• Name of child,
• Age,
• Place of residence and
• Name of father.

Church censuses, membership lists, family registers

• Names of married couples,
• Their ages or birth dates and places,
• Sometimes dates of marriage,
• Names of children,
• Ages or birth dates,
• Death or burial dates of children.
• Sometimes marriage dates and names of spouses of children are given.

Reading the Records

You do not have to be fluent in a foreign language to read church records! Only a limited vocabulary is used. Most Catholic records were written in Latin until the 1800s. Protestant records were usually written in German. Local dialects may have affected the spelling of some names and other words in the church records. In German areas under French domination during the early nineteenth century, many church records were kept in French. Sometimes the records combine two languages.

• German Word List
• Latin Word List
• German Script Tutorial

German Paleography Seminar at FamilySearch.

• Old German Script Part 1
• Old German Script Part 2
• Old German Script (German Church and Civil Records) Part 3
• List of Names in Old German Script A comprehensive list of German given names, written in old script, with possible variations.
• Old German Script Transcriber (alte deutsche Handschriften): See your family names in the script of the era. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. Click on the 8 different fonts. Save the image to your computer and use it as you work with old Germanic records.
  
• Catholic Vital Records of Galicia/Halychyna
  
• For detailed description and translation of a Galician Latin birth record, see Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, Baptismal/Birth Record.
• For detailed description and translation of a Galician Latin marriage record, see Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, Marriage Record.
• For detailed description and translation of a Galician Latin death record, see Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia, Death Record.

Downloadable Handouts

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

• Kurrent Letters handout
• Additional Kurrent Letters handout

Vocabulary found on Specific Records:

• Birth Records Vocabulary handout
• Marriage Records Vocabulary handout
• Overview of Marriage Laws and Customs (handout)
• Death Records Vocabulary handout

Dates, Numbers, Abbreviations:

• Days and Months handout
• Numbers Vocabulary handout
• Script Dates and Numbers handout
• Common Abbreviations handout
• Common Symbols handout

Miscellaneous Vocabulary:

• German Occupations Vocabulary handout
• Illnesses Vocabulary handout

Fraktur:

• Fraktur Font--Many forms and books are printed in this font.

Feast Dates

• Calendar Changes in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Low Countries

• Each day of the year had several patron saints and was a feast day to honor those saints. Some vital events are recorded in church records only by the holy day (feast day) on the church calendar. For example, the feast day called “All Saints Day” [Allerheiligentag] is “1 November.” An online feast date calculator may be found at the Albion College website. Simply enter the year and click "Calculate."

Using "Left side-right side" Films

A FamilySearch Catalog entry may indicate that a German record was filmed "l.s.-r.s.", meaning "left-side- right side". The researcher must be aware that two sets of records (odd and even pages) must be searched. Sometimes each side of a book is found on a separate microfilm. In that case, it may be helpful to load both films on adjacent readers. If the entries go across both pages in the book, the side that identifies the key individuals (such as child and parents) must be searched first. Often the child and parents are listed on the left side of the page, and the year and birth/baptism date on the right. Thus it is very important to note the sheet numbers on the tag and identify the relevant entry with its position on the page.