Rhineland (Rheinland) Land and Property

Preussisches Urkataster

Old maps of surveying land were often not very reliable. Cadastral maps were created in order to levy taxes. To be just with the revenue from taxation the Prussian administration ordered new guidelines. Each parcel of land in its territory had to be measured exactly. Revenues, land values and property owners all had to be known and recorded. Thus, the Preussische Urkataster became the most exact book of maps and therefore is most meaningful in the historical aspect of city building and land settlement as it is for genealogical research.

The Preussische Urkataster was established in the 1820s. There were cadastres in other German regions, for instance, in the territories left of the Rhine, which belonged to France since 1801. There, land surveys originated in 1810.

Cadastral maps are available through Kataster- und Vermessungsämter (surveying offices) of cities or they can be found in archives. Few Urkataster have been evaluated and are available for further analysis. Such a record is the Preussisches Urkataster 1828/30 in Leverkusen by Helmut Lehmler. The book was published in Köln in 1998 through the Westdeutsche Gesellschaft für Familienkunde e.V., Band 96. The book is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its call number is 943.42/B17 R2h