German Genealogical Research in Eastern Europe

Historical Background

By the end of the Middle Ages, ethnic Germans constituted a signficant minority of most Eastern European countries (the areas now known as Poland, the Baltics, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania). Russia's Germany minority arrived in later centuries and Bulgaria's German population was negligible.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the second wave of Germanic emigration into Eastern Europe and Russia occurred. Some of the reasons for this is that the 150 year Turkish occupation in Hungary gradually ended around 1700 and the Austrian emperors imported settlers of many nationalities to make empty villages productive again. Additionally, German expansion into Russia, outlying areas of Romania, and elsewhere occurred at the end of the 1700s and was the result of a general increase in European population.

The first emigration of Germanic speakers toward eastern Europe took place before and during the Crusades (beginning in 1095). Many of the emigrants were from northern Germany, where an agricultural revoltuion had taken place; the invention of a more effective plow and the adoption of the three-field method for crop rotation increased the food supply and generated a population explosion. This caused land in western Europe to be colonized and new towns founded, which was followed by Germanic colonization in eastern Europe where very fertile, and previously untilled, soil was available to satisfy the hunger for land. This emigration began in the mid-1100s.

At the end of World War II almost all these ethnic Germans were expelled from various eastern European countries. Other countries, such as Romania, kept a good number of its Germans. In addition to expelling the Germans, some of their churches were destroyed. Some expelled Germans founded homeland organizations with active publishing programs which include newspaper, quarterly periodicals, and "homeland" books (Heimatbuecher).

German Settlements in Eastern Europe

Romania

One of the early Germanic colonies was in the Hungarian province of Transylvania (now west central Romania), where immigrants were invited in by the Hungarian king in the mid-1100s. In 1211 the Teutonic Knights founded a series of towns in Transylvania; these Transylvania Saxons still retain their German language and many customs.

Also in Romania are a number of towns founded after 1700 by many different nationalities, including Czechs, Slovaks, Alsatians, Flemish, and French speakers. The Germans are known as Danube Swabians: Swabians because many came from Swabia in southern Germany and Danube because many of the re-settled towns were along the Danube. German parish registers in the Transylvania Saxon and Danube Swabian areas have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library (see the FamilySearch Catalog).

Access to other Romanian records remains difficult as of 1995. Other German settlement areas in Romania (dating to the 1800s) are the Bukovina (in the northeast), Dobrudscha (Romanian Dobrogea, on the Black Sea), and Bessarabia (the easternmost strip of Romania part of what is now in Ukraine).

Microfilms of Danube Swabian parish registers in Romania were made by the Germans during World War II. Most only extend to about 1850. A complete set of these can be found on the FamilySearch Catalog.

Hungary

Many German settlements were begun in the 1100s and succeeding centuries. These earlier settlements were joined by the Danube Swabian communities of the 1700s and 1800s.

Hungarian parish registers are all available on microfilm at the Family History Library (see the FamilySearch Catalog). Civil registers, from 1895 to 1980, have been digitized and are available on the FamilySearch Catalog (see Hungary civil registration, 1895-1980) and so are many church and land records. Hungary has the most easily accessible genealogical records than all other eastern European countries.

Microfilms of Danube Swabian parish registers in Hungary were made by the Germans during World War II. Most only extend to about 1850. A complete set of these can be found on the FamilySearch Catalog.

Former Yugoslavia

What was formerly Yugoslavia also had a good number of Danube Swabian towns. Access to parish registers is through microfilm at the Family History Library and individual town halls. The matri ar (civil records offices) have collected most of the earlier church records. The records are accessible by correspondence or personal visit. Some other parish registers, particularly those ofnow defunct German villages, are in archives.

Microfilms of Danube Swabian parish registers in former Yugoslavia were made by the Germans during World War II. Most only extend to about 1850. A complete set of these can be found on the FamilySearch Catalog.

Poland

Germanic settlements date to the Teutonic Knights in the 1200s and continued into the next centuries. Germans have long been settled in areas which later came under the rule of Poland and Russia. Although Germans settled in the Russian Empire as artisans and craftsmen, military officers, and merchants as early as the 1500s, there was no significant pattern of colonization until the end of the 1700s. In 1762, Catherine the Great issued statements inviting Germans to settle in new areas of the Russian Empire. The first colonies were established along the Volga River in 1764. Other colonies followed. German colonies were established along the Black Sea and Bessarabia. As these colonies matured, the children of the original settlers established new daughter colonies. By the 1850s, there were hundreds of German colonies in various areas of the Empire.

The area around Warsaw was called South Prussia [Südpreußen] and many Germans settled in German colonies there. After 1815 the many Germans who had settled in South Prussia found themselves in the Kingdom of Poland (also called Congress Poland) which came under the dominion of the Russian Empire. Still other Germans settled colonies in southern Poland when the Austrian Empire acquired the area of Galicia. These colonies generally bore German names, even though the official names may have been Russian or Polish.

Because of the territory shifts in 1919 and 1945 (due to peace settlements), present-day Poland has parish registers (whether Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Byzantine Catholic, or Protestant) of former territories of Germany, Russia, Austria, and pre-1921 Poland. The languages of these registers are Latin, Polish, Russian, and German. The ability to read old German script is generally required. Many parish registers from all parts of Poland have been digitized and are available on the FamilySearch Catalog. However, there are still gaps. Some information is obtainable by writing to local parishes and various archives.

Czech Republic

The kingdom of Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman Empire and, although it was primarily a Slavic (Czech) speaking kingdom, German language was frequent in official documents. Czech was the official and predominant language of the administration until 1620, when the Hapsburgs took over the country and installed a German-speaking nobility. They remained in power until 1918.

The entire western and northern portions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia was German speaking. Before World War II, 30% of Bohemia's population was ethnic German. In 1945, these Germans were summarily expelled to West and East Germany and Austria.

In the 1950s, all parish registers were collected in the Czech and Moravian regional archives, of which there are seven. The language of the registers are Old Czech, Czech, Latin, and German. The pre-1850 registers are in the old script, whether German or Czech.

Many other sources of genealogical information are available: land records, urbaria, serfs' lists, estate records, etc. The archive administration does genealogical research for a fee.

Many parish registers and other records have been digitized and are available on the FamilySearch Catalog.

Slovakia

As early as 1150, Germans settled in the Zips (Spi county) in northeastern Slovakia. According to legend, they were part of the group of Saxons who went on to found the German-speaking colonies in Transylvania. By the 1300s, many towns and villages were predominantly German. Also at this time another settlement area, called Hauerland was founded in central Slovakia.

The Bratislava area already had many German speakers because it is just across the Danube from Austria Bratislava itself (which was essentially as German town before World War II). According to the 1930 census, there were about 38,000 Germans in the Zips, about 41,200 in Hauerland, and 50,000 in the Bratislava area. AFter the evacuation of 1945-1946, there were 24,000 ethnic Germans in Slovakia.

Parish registers, covering the period up to 1895 or so (when Hungarian civil records began), area in seven Slovak regional archives. Religious denomiations are: Roman Catholic, Reform, Lutheran, Byzantine Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Jewish. Languages are Latin, Hungarian, German, SLovak, and Russian (from 1850 to 1855 in Byzantine Catholic registers).

Some Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Reformed Church parish registers are available on the FamilySearch Catalog (see Slovakia church and synagogue books, 1592-1935 and Slovakia, church records : localities not verified, 1687-1897). The Slovak archive administration conducts genealgoical research in their parish registers for a fee.

Germany

The Family History Library has microfilmed and digitized many parish registers from Germany (see the FamilySearch Catalog).

Russia

Germans have long been settled in areas which later came under the rule of Poland and Russia. Although Germans settled in the Russian Empire as artisans and craftsmen, military officers, and merchants as early as the 1500s, there was no significant pattern of colonization until the end of the 1700s. In 1762, Catherine the Great issued statements inviting Germans to settle in new areas of the Russian Empire. The first colonies were established along the Volga River in 1764. Other colonies followed. German colonies were established along the Black Sea and Bessarabia. As these colonies matured, the children of the original settlers established new daughter colonies. By the 1850s, there were hundreds of German colonies in various areas of the Empire. hese colonies generally bore German names, even though the official names may have been Russian or Polish. Germans settled in a number of areas in the former Russian Empire; Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia had sizable German minorities.

The Family History Library has microfilmed and digitized many parish registers in these locations (see the FamilySearch Catalog). A number of genealogical agencies now offer research services as well in these areas.

See Germans from Russia for more information.

German Research in Polish and Russian Areas

Finding Former German Localities

Whether ancestors were Germans from areas now in Poland or Poles living in areas that were within the historic boundaries of German states, knowing the German and Polish/Russian place names for ancestral town homes will make finding ancestral records easier. If an ancestors' home town did not have its own parish church, synagogue, or civil registration office, look for the nearest town in which these agencies existed and then determine the German and Polish/Russian names for that town.

The areas now known as Poland was the homeland to Slavs, Germans, and other people. Various kingdoms and peoples fought over this land over the centuries. For an in depth history of the area known today as Prussia, see Raymond S. Wright III's article "Finding Former German Localities Now in Poland" (FEEFHS Quarterly VI no. 1-4 (1998): 3-7).

Finding records of German ancestors from areas now in Poland requires knowledge of the German and Polish spellings of ancestral home towns and the location of these communities on current and historical maps. Because of the name changes communities underwent in former German ruled areas of modern Poland, many government and private publishers produced bi-lingual gazetteers and geographical dictionaries. Keep in mind that these gazetteers and dictionaries were based upon boundaries at the time of publication. Some of these publications are available at the Family History Library, other smaller libraries, or online.

There are a few important reference works for research in former German areas of central or eastern Europe:

• Quester, Erich. Wegweiser für Forschungen nach Vorfahren aus den ostdeutschen und sudetendeutschen Gebieten sowie aus den deutschen Siedlungsräumen in Mittel-, Ost-, und Südosteuropa, ed. 4th. (Neustadt a.d. Aisch: Verlag Degener & Co., 1995). The third edition is available in an English translation, Genealogical Guide to German ancestors from East Germany and Eastern Europe (translated by Joachim O. R. Nuthack and Adalbert Geortz). This guide provides brief histories of German areas presently in other countries.
• Kay, George K. Postal Place Names in Poland. (Edinburgh, Scotland: G. K. Kay, 1992). This gazetteer describes former German areas in Poland. Although not every former German, Austrian, and Russian locality is listed, the author provides names for about 8,000 communities.
• Kaemmerer, M, ed. Müllers Verzeichnis der jenseits der Oder gelegenen, unter fremder Verwaltung stehenden Ortschaften. (Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany: Post-und Ortsbuchverlag, n.d.). Identifies localities in terms of their pre- and post- World War II names. One section lists all communities alphabetically using their German names and the second section lists all communities alphabetically using their post-1945 new names. The title of the book was changed to Ortsnamenverzeichnis der Ortschaften jenseits von Oder und Neiße (Leer, Germany: Verlag Gerhard Rautenberg, 1988). This edition includes a map delineating clearly the former German areas part of Poland since 1945.
• Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Deutschen Ostgebiete unter fremder Verwaltung nach dem Gebietsstand am 1.9. 1939, 3rd ed, 3 volumes. (Remagen, Germany: Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, 1955). This work provides the German and foreign language names of most localities that were part of Germany on September 1, 1939, but after 1945 became part of Poland or the Soviet Union.
• Kredel, Otto and Franz Thierfelder, eds. Deutsch-fremdsprachiges (fremdsprachig-deutsches) Ortsnamenverzeichnis. (Berlin: Deutsche Verlagsgeselschaft, 1931). Multi-lingual gazetteer that covered German localities that became parts of other nations as a result of Germany's and Austria's defeat in World War I.
• The Family History Library has a Place Search that is another resource containing both German and Polish place names from German areas in Poland. Sources from former German localities in Poland can be found in the catalog under either the German or the Polish name. The complete catalog entry for each record listed for the locality will contain both the Polish and German names.

For more information about what these references include, see Raymond S. Wright III's article "Finding Former German Localities Now in Poland" (FEEFHS Quarterly VI no. 1-4 (1998): 3-7).

Languages

Reading records created in these areas may be difficult, as they were written in Polish, German, Latin, Russian, and other languages. There are ways to master reading these records. For example, most civil transcripts of church records from the Russian ruled Kingdom of Poland are written in a particular format which varies very little and is used throughout Russian-ruled Poland. A helpful tool are the Genealogical Word Lists found on the wiki.

There are a few books that will teach in great detail how to read certain records

• Frazin, Judith. A Translation Guide to 19th Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents (Birth, Marriage and Death Records). Northbrook, IL: The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, 1989 2nd ed.
• Shea, Jonathan D. Russian Language Documents from Russian Poland; A Translation Manual for Genealogists. Buffalo Grove, IL: Genun Publishers, 1989 2nd ed.
• Ortell, Gerald. Polish Parish Records of The Roman Catholic Church; Their use and Understanding in Genealogical Research. Buffalo Grove, IL: Genun Publishers, 1984 2nd ed.

Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary with information on place names and jurisdictions. The following is a list of some of the best gazetteers of Eastern Europe. Some of these gazetteers are available in public libraries, but all can be found at the Family History Library.

• Uetrecht, E., comp. Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs- Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs [Meyer's gazetteer and directory of the German Empire]. Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, 1912. (FHL call no. 943 E5mo supp. 1) - digital copy available online.

Towns are listed alphabetically. Written in old Gothic script. Gives 1871-1918 political jurisdictions and indicates whether locality had its own parish or synagogue. Abbreviations: Evangelical parish - EvPfk; Catholic parish - KPfk; Jewish synagogue - Syn.

• Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preussen [Gazetteer for the Kingdom of Prussia]. Berlin: Verlag des Königlichen statistischen Landesamts, 1907-1909. (FHL call no. 943 E5kp) - digital copy available online.

Each volume has an index at the end listing in alphabetical order all localities in the province. In each index, there are two numbers given after each place-name. The first number refers to "Kreis" (district) to which the locality belonged. These numbers can be found at the top in the body of the book. The second number refers to the town.

• Sulimierski, Filip, ed. Słownik geograficzny królestwa polskiego i innych krajów slowiańskich [Geographical dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic countries]. 15 Vol. Warsaw: Sulimierski i Walewski, 1880-1902. (FHL call no. 943.8 E5c) - digital copy available online.
• Gemeindelexikon der in Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder [Gazetteer of the crownlands and territories represented in the imperial council]. Vienna: K.K. Statistisches Zentralkommission, 1903-1908. Austrian Empire. (FHL call no. 943.6 E5g) - digital copy available online.

Based on the 1900 census. The volume for each province is arranged by district with an index to both German and local place names. If you do not find the town on the page listed in the index check the footnotes. The parish or synagogue location is listed in the appendix (located between the main text and the index of each volume). The appendix is arranged alphabetically by district and sub-district.

• Spis Miejscowości Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej [Gazetteer of Polish People's Republic Localities]. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa komunikacj i ła̧cznści, 1968. (FHL call no. 943.8 E5s). Localities are listed alphabetically down the page in the first column. Township, district, province (voivodship), post office, railway station, and vital records office for the locality are listed in the successive columns to the right.
• Bystrzycki, Tadeusz. Skorowidz miejscowości rzeczypospolitej polskiej [Listing of Localities of the Polish Republic]. Przemyśl: Wydawnictwa ksia̧znicy naukowej, 1934. (FHL call no. 943.8 E5sm) - mostly digitized.

This is a gazetteer of the early republic of Poland as it existed from 1918 to 1939. This is the most accurate gazetteer available for that territory. It is arranged alphabetically with information in columns. Localities are listed alphabetically down the page in the first column. Township, district, province (voivodship), post office, railway station, bus station, local and regional courts, and Christian parish for the locality are listed in successive columns to the right. The nearest synagogue is not listed.

• Heimatbuch der Ostumsiedler Kalender, 1955. Stuttgart: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Ostumsiedler. Published as "German Settlers in the Volga Region" - p. 147-161 of Armand Bauer's "Place Names of German Colonies in Russia and the Romanian Dobrudja" in German-Russian Settlements in the United States by Richard Sallet. Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974. (FHL call no. [httpsww.familysearch.org/search/catalog/15095 973 F2rs]).
• Übersicht über deutsche Siedlungen (Kolonien) und Einsiedlungen in ukrainische und polnische Dörfer : sowie Orte mit einer nicht bedeutenden deutschen Minderheit in Galizien von 1782 bis 1939 Typescript by Ernst Hexel. Bonn-Bad Godenberg: np., 1980. (FHL call no. 943.86 E5he).
• Kneifel, Eduard. Die evangelisch-augsburgischen Gemeinden in Polen 1555-1939. Vierkirchen uber München: Selbstverlag, [1972?]. (FHL fiche 6000812).

Societies

American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
631 D Street
Lincoln, Nebraska 68502-1199
Phone: 402-474-3363

Germans from Russia Heritage Society
1125 W Turnpike Ave
Bismarck, ND 58501
Phone: 701-223-6167

Historical Society of Germans from Poland & Wolhynia
Trinity Lutheran Church, Room 11
10014-81 Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta
T6E 1W8

Websites

• East European Genealogical Society
• Foundation for East European Family History Studies
• German Genealogy Internet Portal

Germans in Russia

• American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
• Catholic Germans from Russia & Romania
• Germans from the Volga and Bessarabia Self-help
• Germans From Russia Genealogy Links
• Germans from Russia Heritage Society
• Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe
• Odessa: A German-Russian Genealogical Library
• Map of South Russia–Bessarabia
• Volga Germans
• American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
• Family history in Volhynia
• Volhynia family history
• Catholic Germans from Russia & Romania
• Mennonite Genealogical Resources
• Manifesto of Catherine the Great and a chronological list of settlements in Russia
• Germans from Russia Settlement Locations

Germans in Poland

• Mapa.szukacz.pl
• Lutheran Church in Poland
• Index of German-Polish and Polish-German names of the localities in Poland & Russia
• Polish Genealogical Association
• PolishRoots
• Polish Genealogical Society of America

Germans in Galicia

• Galizien German Descendants

Gotschee Germans

• Gottschee.de

Bukovinian Germans

• Bukovina Society of the Americas

Danube Swabians

• AKdFF
• Donauschwaben Villages Helping Hands

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)