Germany Empire and Current States: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:27, 10 June 2016

Current States of Germany and Their Territory From Historic States[edit | edit source]

After East Germany and West Germany were reunited, these jurisdictions of the government were put in place. Generally, when researching genealogical records, it is important to discern what government entity would have jurisdiction over the records of that locality at the time the record was made. So, if the town your ancestor came from is in Baden-Württemberg today, the records in 1890 might be found under just Baden.

Baden-Württemberg[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Baden-Württemberg, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Bavaria[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Bavaria, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Bavaria
parts of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha

Hessen[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Hessen, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Lower Saxony[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

North Rhine-Westphalia[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Rhineland-Palatinate[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Rhineland-Palatinate, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Rhineland
parts of Bavaria (the Rhenish Palatinate)
the southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province (including the District of Birkenfeld, which formerly belonged to Oldenburg)
parts of the Prussian Province of Nassau (see Hessen-Nassau)
parts of Hesse-Darmstadt (Rhenish Hesse on the western bank of the Rhine).

Saarland[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Saarland, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Prior to its creation as the Territory of the Saar Basin by the League of Nations after World War I, the Saarland (or simply "the Saar", as it is frequently referred to) did not exist as a unified entity. Until then, some parts of it had been Prussian while others belonged to Bavaria.

Saxony[edit | edit source]

The modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. From these historic areas now in Saxony, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Saxony-Anhalt[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Saxony-Anhalt, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Anhalt
Province of Saxony (Prussia)

Schleswig-Holstein[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Schleswig-Holstein, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Thüringen (Thuringia)[edit | edit source]

From these historic areas now in Thüringen (Thuringia), click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.

Historic States of Germany and Their Modern State[edit | edit source]

Conversely, if you know which state your ancestor was from prior to the World Wars, you might need to know where that historic German state is administered today. This list is inverted from the above list. An excellent example of a situation like this is that Elsass-Lothringen, Germany, is today Alsace-Lorraine in France. You would be looking in the Family History Library catalog under France to find the records.

Historic State:Current Jurisdiction

Alsace-Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen): France
Anhalt: Saxony-Anhalt
Baden: Baden-Württemberg
Bavaria: Bavaria
Brandenburg: Brandenburg
Bremen: Bremen
Brunswick: Lower Saxony
East Prussia:

In 1945, East Prussia was partitioned between Poland and the Soviet Union. Southern East Prussia became part of Poland. Northern East Prussia was divided between Russia (the Kaliningrad Oblast) and Lithuania (the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region).

Hamburg: Hamburg
Hannover: Lower Saxony
Hessen: Hessen
Hessen - Nassau: Hessen
Hohenzollern (Prussia): Baden-Württemberg
Lippe: North Rhine-Westphalia
Lübeck: Schleswig-Holstein
Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Oldenburg: Oldenburg
Pomerania:

split between Poland and Germany

western Pomerania is in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

see map

Posen: Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie, Poland
Province of Saxony:Saxony-Anhalt
Reuss Older Line: Thuringia
Reuss Younger Line: Thuringia
Rhineland:

In 1946, Rhineland was divided into the states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Saxony: Saxony
Sachsen-Altenburg:Thuringia
Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha:

part in Thuringia, part in Bavaria

Sachsen-Meiningen: Thuringia
Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach: Thuringia
Schaumburg-Lippe: Lower Saxony
Schleswig-Holstein: Schleswig-Holstein
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: Thuringia
Schwarzburg Sondershausen: Thuringia
Silesia:

mostly in Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany

Waldeck: Hessen
West Prussia: Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
Westphalia: North Rhine-Westphalia

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ===Baden-Württemberg===
+From these historic areas now in Baden-Württemberg, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Baden Genealogy|Baden]]
 :*[[Württemberg Genealogy|Württemberg]]
@@ Line 9: / Line 10: @@
 :*the [[Württemberg Genealogy|Württemberg]] part of Swabia.
 ===Bavaria===
+From these historic areas now in Bavaria, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Bavaria Genealogy|Bavaria]]
 :*parts of [[Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha Genealogy|Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha]]
-===Berlin (city and state)===
-===[[Brandenburg Genealogy|Brandenburg]]===
-===[[Bremen Genealogy|Bremen (independent city]])===
-:*Bremen
-:*Bremerhaven
-===[[Hamburg Genealogy|Hamburg (independent city)]]===
 ===[[Hessen Genealogy|Hessen]] ===
+From these historic areas now in Hessen, click on  the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Hessen Genealogy|Hessen]]
 :*[[Hessen-Nassau Genealogy|Hessen-Nassau]]
 :*[[Waldeck Genealogy|Waldeck]]
 ===Lower Saxony===
+From these historic areas now in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Lower Saxony Online Genealogy Records|Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)]]
 :*[[Hannover Genealogy|Hannover]]
 :*[[Brunswick Genealogy|Brunswick]]
 :*[[Schaumburg-Lippe Genealogy|Schaumburg-Lippe]]
 ===Mecklenburg-Vorpommern===
+From these historic areas now in Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Mecklenburg-Schwerin Genealogy|Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
 :*[[Mecklenburg-Strelitz Genealogy|Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]
 :*[[Pomerania Genealogy|Western Pomerania]]
 ===North Rhine-Westphalia===
+From these historic areas now in Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Rhineland Genealogy|Northern Rhineland]]
 :*[[Westphalia Genealogy|Westphalia]]
 :*[[Lippe Genealogy|Lippe]]
-===[[Oldenburg Genealogy|Oldenburg (independent city)]]===
 ===Rhineland-Palatinate===
+From these historic areas now in Rhineland-Palatinate, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Rhineland Genealogy|Rhineland]]
 :*parts of [[Bavaria Genealogy|Bavaria]]  (the Rhenish Palatinate)
@@ Line 45: / Line 41: @@
 :*parts of the Prussian Province of Nassau (see [[Hessen-Nassau Genealogy|Hessen-Nassau)]]
 :*parts of Hesse-Darmstadt (Rhenish [[Hessen Genealogy|Hesse]] on the western bank of the Rhine).
 ===Saarland===
+From these historic areas now in Saarland, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 *Prior to its creation as the Territory of the Saar Basin by the League of Nations after World War I, the Saarland (or simply "the Saar", as it is frequently referred to) did not exist as a unified entity. Until then, some parts of it had been [[Prussia, Germany Genealogy|Prussian]] while others belonged to [[Bavaria Genealogy|Bavaria]].
 ===[[Saxony Genealogy|Saxony]] ===
-The modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, [[Anhalt Genealogy|Saxony-Anhalt]]  and the [[Westphalia Genealogy|Westphalian]] part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
+The modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony.
+Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, [[Anhalt Genealogy|Saxony-Anhalt]]  and the [[Westphalia Genealogy|Westphalian]] part of North Rhine-Westphalia. From these historic areas now in Saxony, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 ===[[Anhalt Genealogy|Saxony-Anhalt]]===
+From these historic areas now in Saxony-Anhalt, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Anhalt Genealogy|Anhalt]]
 :*[[Province of Saxony, Germany Genealogy|Province of  Saxony]] (Prussia)
 ===[[Schleswig-Holstein Genealogy|Schleswig-Holstein]] ===
+From these historic areas now in Schleswig-Holstein, click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Schleswig-Holstein Genealogy|Schleswig-Holstein]]
 :*[[Lübeck Genealogy|Lübeck]]
 ===Thüringen (Thuringia)===
+From these historic areas now in Thüringen (Thuringia), click on the former state for your locality and click on the related article.
 :*[[Sachsen-Meiningen Genealogy|Sachsen-Meiningen]]
 :*[[Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach Genealogy|Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach]]