Germany Church Records: Difference between revisions

*Concerns about war or fire destruction led authorities in some areas to require the pastor to create a copy of each year's baptism-, marriage-, and burial entries, mostly beginning in the late 18th century. These copies were either stored separately or sent to a central archive each year.  

*After the defeat of Napoleon in 1812, civil registration, which had been required under the French occupation, was discontinued. So local governments often found it helpful to have access to the birth-, marriage-, and death records kept by the clergy. Soon local pastors were required to provide the town administration with a yearly copy of these records. These copies are called transcripts or duplicates (Kirchenbuchduplikate). Most are housed in central church archives or state archives. For example, the parish register duplicates of 62 parishes in the Sondershausen Evangelical diocese from 1813 to 1846 were all gathered into the diocese's central archive.  

Use duplicates, where available, to supplement parish registers that are missing or illegible. Keep in mind that duplicates often differ slightly from the originals.<br>

 

Parish register duplicates often differ from the originals&nbsp;in their arrangement. Baptisms, marriages, deaths, and sometimes confirmations for each year are grouped together year by year, instead of being grouped by record type over a longer time period. Community members belonging to a minority religion may not be recorded in the majority faith's original church books. Instead they may only be &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; included in the Kirchenbuchduplikat, labelled as "birth register" rather than "baptism book."  

 

Also, a&nbsp;parish may have kept separate books for affiliated villages, both in the original and as duplicates. Sometimes only part of the record set has survived and is available in an archive or on microfilm. This is especially important to understand in regard to records filmed by the Family History Department. Descriptions in the FamilySearch Catalog may only list the name of the parish and thus give the impression that the complete book has been filmed. If the ancestor is not found, the researcher needs to check the film carefully to determine which parts&nbsp;of the church records it contains. The parish in question may have included several villages, but only the book for one village has survived.