German Civil Registration Time Periods

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. The French style of civil registration was introduced in those conquered territories in 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 (Elsaß–Lothringen) area. Not all these areas continued civil registration after the French troops left. Some places did not continue the practice and restarted civil registration recordkeeping on 1 January 1876, when the government of the then-recently unified 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:

Prussian Provinces

• Ostpreussen (East Prussia): October 1874
• Westpreussen (West Prussia): October 1874
• Posen: October 1874
• Schlesien (Silesia): October 1874
• Pommern (Pomerania): October 1874
• Brandenburg: October 1874
• Provinz Sachsen (Province of Saxony): October 1874
• Schleswig-Holstein: October 1874
• Hannover (Hanover): parts of Hannover 1809-1812; October 1874
• Westfalen (Westphalia): parts of Westfalen 1808-1812; October 1874
• Hessen-Nassau (Hesse-Nassau): parts of Hessen-Nassau 1803-1812; October 1874
• Rheinland (Rhineland): west of the Rhine River 1798; east of the Rhine River October 1874
• Hohenzollern: October 1874

Other Areas of Germany

• Sachsen (Kingdom of Saxony): January 1876
• Thüringen (Thuringia): January 1876
  • Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach)
  • Sachsen-Altenburg (Saxe-Altenburg)
  • Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)
  • Sachsen-Meiningen (Saxe-Meiningen)
  • Reuss Ältere Linie (Reuss Elder Line)
  • Reuss Jüngere Linie (Reuss Younger Line)
  • Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
  • Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin: January 1876
• Mecklenburg-Strelitz: January 1876
• Hessen (Hesse): west of the Rhine River 1798; east of the Rhine River January 1876
• Bayern (Bavaria): January 1876
  • Pfalz (Palatinate): September 1798
• Württemberg: January 1876
• Baden: January 1876
• Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine): 1792
• Lippe: January 1876
• Braunschweig (Brunswick): January 1876
• Anhalt: 1850
• Oldenburg: 1811–1814; January 1876
• Hamburg (free city): 1799–1815, then from October 1876
• Lübeck (free city): 1811