German Civil Registration Time Periods

Because Germany was not united until 1871, civil registration (lists of births, marriages, and deaths kept by civil registrars in local communities) in the various German states, provinces, duchies, or kingdoms began at different times. During the French revolution, the western areas of Germany were invaded and occupied by French troops, and the French style of civil registration was introduced in those conquered territories approximately 1792 and some subsequent years. In these regions, civil registers were written in either German or French or both. This is also true of the Alsace Lorraine area. Not all these areas continued civil registration after the French troops left. Some places did not continue the practice of keeping civil registration until 1 January 1876, when the government of Germany required the keeping of civil registration throughout the entire German Empire. Below are the major political units and the beginning dates of civil registration:

Prussian Provinces

• Ostpreussen (East Prussia): October 1874
• Westpreussen (West Prussia): October 1874
• Posen: October 1874
• Schlesien (Silesia): October 1874
• Pommern (Pomerania): October 1874
• Brandenburg: October 1874
• Provinz Sachsen (Province of Saxony): October 1874
• Schleswig-Holstein: October 1874
• Hannover (Hanover): parts of Hannover 1809-1812; October 1874
• Westfalen (Westphalia): parts of Westfalen 1808-1812; October 1874
• Hessen-Nassau (Hesse-Nassau): parts of Hessen-Nassau 1803-1812; October 1874
• Rheinland (Rhineland): west of the Rhine River 1798; east of the Rhine River October 1874
• Hohenzollern: October 1874

Other Areas of Germany

• Sachsen (Saxony, Kingdom) 1876
• Thüringen (Thuringia) 1876
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1876
• Mecklenburg-Strelitz 1876
• Hessen (Hesse, duchy) 1803
• Bayern (Bavaria) 1876
• Württemberg 1876
• Baden (grandduchy) 1792
• Pfalz (Palatine) 1792
• Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) 1792
• Lippe 1876
• Braunschweig (Brunswick) 1876
• Anhalt 1850
• Oldenburg 1811
• Hamburg (free city) 1799
• Lübeck (free city) 1811