German Civil Registration Time Periods: Difference between revisions

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 1798 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: