Germany Civil Registration: Difference between revisions

Most civil records are still maintained by the civil registration office in the local towns. Older records may be at the local office or in the town archives. <span id="fck_dom_range_temp_1218831041676_99" /><span>Use search engines, such as http:[http://www.google.de www.google.de], to enter the name of your town and find town web sites with contact addresses, etc. </span><br>The civil registration office is usually called "Standesamt", but may also be part of the "Bürgerbüro" [citizens' office], "Bürgerdienste" [citizens' services] or some other unit. If you cannot find the Standesamt on the website, send your record request to the address given under "Kontakt" (usually the webmaster)&nbsp;or "Impressum" (the person or office responsible for the Website). Usually the request is then forwarded to the proper office. Requests for records should be written in German or simple English. Electronic translators should not be used to translate letters that will be sent to someone. Either find a German-speaker who can write a letter for you, or use the [[Germany Letter Writing Guide]]. It's best to ask for one or two records at a time.  

After determining who has jurisdiction over the&nbsp;records for the time period you need, write a short request to the proper office. Be careful not to ask for too much when writing German archives. They can briefly answer questions about the records in their collection, but are often reluctant to do research in these records. You may have more success if you ask for a referral or a list of local researchers you could hire to search the archive's records. See [[Germany Letter Writing Guide]] for more information about writing letters to Germany.