Germany Church Records: Difference between revisions

''For information about records for non-Christian religions in Germany, go to the [[Germany Religious Records|Religious Records]] page.''

In many regions, it was also common for the local church records to function in the role of Civil Registries. This is especially true in the further Eastern regions (ie. West Prussia, East Prussia).  

== Locating Church Records  ==

To use church records, you must know both your ancestor's religion and the town where he or she lived. You must also determine in which parish the town was located. Consult [http://www.meyersgaz.com '''the 1871 Meyer's Gazetteer Online''']. This will tell you whether the Catholic or Protestant church is in the town, and give you a list of the closest parish churches to the town.

===Online Records ===

===Church Records Tools===

*[[Finding Parish Registers for Germany Areas Now in Other Countries|'''Finding Parish Registers for Germany Areas Now in Other Countries''']].

*[[Media:Localities.pdf|Pdf Archive Inventory]] Part 1 of 2: Church records in Archives" - an inventory of localities and the location or archive where the records should be found.  

*The [http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de/inhalt.htm Kirchenbuchportal] (church book portal) website was created by the Association of Church Archives to facilitate access to German-language church records in 2009. By July 2010 several archives had posted detailed [http://www.kirchenbuchportal.findbuch.net/php/main.php?ar_id=3708 inventories] of the parish registers in their collections. By September 2014 this plan had evolved into a project carried out by twelve Evangelical state churches in Germany. Their records are now accessible at a new fee-based site called [https://www.archion.de/ Archion].

*Berlin Evangelical Central Archive Inventory Online - The [http://www.ezab.de/kirchenbuecher/provinzen.html Evangelical Central Archive in Berlin (EZAB)] holds many Lutheran church records from Eastern areas, including Ostpreussen, Schlesien, Posen, Brandenburg, Pommern and Westpreussen. On the website the box titled "Familienforschung" (family history research) includes a link to the listing of accessible parish registers under "[http://www.ezab.de/kirchenbuecher/kirchenbuch-suche.php Kirchenbuch-Suche]".

**{{RecordSearch|1952871|Germany, Saxony, Freiberg, Funeral Sermons, 1614-1661}}

**{{RecordSearch|2040038|Germany, Westfalen, Minden, Index to Funeral Sermons, 1580-1740}}

=== Local Churches and Archives===

*'''State archives'''. Duplicate records from some parishes are in the state archives. Many of these records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library. However, for records that are not microfilmed, you can sometimes write to the state archives to request searches of the duplicates. For more information, see [[Germany Archives and Libraries|Germany Archives and Libraries]].  

*'''Central church archives'''. In a few parts of Germany, church records or duplicates have been gathered from the local parishes into central archives. Some gaps in the church records of local parishes could be filled using these records. Church archives are often unable to handle genealogical requests, but they can determine whether they have specific records you need, or they may recommend a researcher who can search the records for you.

===Writing a Letter===

Suggestions about how to write to local parishes for genealogical information are given in the [[German Letter Writing Guide|'''German Letter Writing Guide''']]. For details on finding the address for a parish church, click on the wiki research article for the state where the town is located.  Links to those articles are at [[Germany Genealogy#Jurisdictions - 1945-present|'''Jurisdictions 1945-present''']] (for towns located in present-day Germany), and [[Germany Genealogy#Research Articles on Former States of Germany|'''Research Articles on Former States of Germany.''']]

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.

==Research Tips==