Germany Feast Day Calendars
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Germany Feast Day Calendars[edit | edit source]
Many times in the German Church Records, a minister recorded the date of an event by the name of the Fixed or Moveable Feast Date which is based on the liturgical year (the church year) rather than the Julian or Gregorian date that we would recognize. To convert a Moveable Feast Day that you see in a record to the appropriate Julian or Gregorian date:
- Determine whether you need the Julian or Gregorian calendar using the chart of locations and starting years below (or use the Steve Morse date conversion tool here);
- Then go down to the table of years and choose the one you need.
Gregorian Calendar Start Dates for Germany[edit | edit source]
Distinguishing between Julian and Gregorian dates is the major difficulty for those researching in Europe starting around 1400. There were other solar calendars in use in some European areas during this time period, such as the Roman Calendar and the French Republican Calendar, but they have more obvious differences while the Julian and Gregorian Calendars look exactly alike.
Before the unification of Germany in 1871, different areas under different rulers, began adopting the new Gregorian Calendar at different times, which can make it difficult to know which calendar system is being used. This chart will help you keep track of which calendar was being used in your research area and time period.
| Country | Adoption of
Gregorian Calendar |
|---|---|
| Germany, Catholic States | 1583 or 1584 |
| Germany, Aachen | 1583 |
| Germany, Alsace (Elsaß) | 1648, 1682 |
| Germany, Augsburg | 1583, 1583 |
| Germany, Baden | 1583 |
| Germany, Baden-Durlach | 1700 |
| Germany, Bavaria (Bayern) | 1582, 1583 |
| Germany, Brandenburg | 1699 |
| Germany, Cleve | 1583 |
| Germany, Cologne (Köln) | 1583 |
| Germany, Eichstadt | 1583 |
| Germany, Freiburg | 1584 |
| Germany, Freising | 1583 |
| Germany, Hannover (kingdom) | 1700 |
| Germany, Hennegau | 1583 |
| Germany, Hesse (Hessen) | 1699 |
| Germany, Hildesheim | 1631 |
| Germany, Julich | 1583 |
| Germany, Kurland | 1617 |
| Germany, Lausitz | 1584 |
| Germany, Lorraine (Lothringen) | 1682, 1760 |
| Germany, Mainz | 1583 |
| Germany, Minden | 1630, 1668 |
| Germany, Munster (Münster) | 1583 |
| Germany, Neuburg Palatinate (Pfalz) | 1615 |
| Germany, Nuremburg (Nürnberg) | 1699 |
| Germany, Osnabruck (Osnabrück) | 1624 |
| Germany, Paderborn | 1585 |
| Germany, Passau | 1583 |
| Germany, Prussia (Preußen) | 1610, 1612, 1700 |
| Germany, Regensburg | 1583 |
| Germany, Rhenish Palatinate (Pfalz) | 1699 |
| Germany, Saxony (Sachsen) | 1699 |
| Germany, Silesia (Schlesien) | 1584 |
| Germany, Strasbourg bisopric | 1583 |
| Germany, Strasbourg city | 1682 |
| Germany, Trier | 1583 |
| Germany, Ulm | 1699 |
| Germany, Westphalia (Westfalen) | 1584 |
| Germany, Wurzburg (Würzburg) | 1583 |
Gregorian Calendar Start Dates for Switzerland[edit | edit source]
This calendar was created primarily for Germany, but it can also be used for Switzerland. The following dates will assist you in determining when the Julian Calendar system stopped being used in your research area. Although Germany had changed over to the Gregorian Calendar by 1700, parts of Switzerland were still using the old Julian Calendar until 1812 when Napoleon modernized these areas under (temporary) French rule and brought them into the Gregorian Calendar system.
| Switzerland, Appenzell | 1724 |
| Switzerland, Basel Land | 1700 |
| Switzerland, Basel Stadt | 1700 |
| Switzerland, Bern | 1700 |
| Switzerland, Fribourg (Freiburg) | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Geneva (Genf) | 1700 |
| Switzerland, Glarus | 1724 |
| Switzerland, Grisons (Graubünden) | 1812 |
| Switzerland, Lucerne (Luzern) | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Neuchâtel | 1700 |
| Switzerland, St. Gallen (Sankt Gallen) | 1724 |
| Switzerland, Schaffhausen | 1700 |
| Switzerland, Schwyz | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Solothurn | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Thurgau | 1700 |
| Switzerland, Unterwalden (see Nidwalden and Obwalden) | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Uri | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Valais (Wallis) | 1622, 1655, 1656 |
| Switzerland, Zug | 1584 |
| Switzerland, Zürich | 1700 |
Movable Feast Days[edit | edit source]
To include both the German and the Swiss changeover dates, the calendars found below will include:
- Julian dates for the years 1501-1812, and
- Gregorian dates for 1583-1900.
Year Selection[edit | edit source]
Calendar Notes
- Because some feast days are always on a specific day of the week (e.g., Easter is always on a Sunday) this can be used as a point of reference to help you determine which calendar is being used in the records.
- See Julian and Gregorian Calendars for more information about calendar conversions.
Other Tools[edit | edit source]
There are a couple of other great tools for calculating a moveable feast day, including:
- The book Genealogical Dates: A User-Friendly Guide by Kenneth L. Smith (FS Library call number 529.3 Sm61g);
- The book The Comprehensive Genealogical Feast Day Calendar by Inger M. Bukke, Peer K. Kristensen, and Finn A. Thomsen. (FS Library call number 529.44 C738); and,
- This (British) Feast Day Calculator, but keep in mind that England began using the Gregorian Calendar much later, in 1752; so use this calculator with caution and only for dates after 1752.
Fixed Feast Days[edit | edit source]
Alphabetical by the First Letter[edit | edit source]
"Changeover days" can also be useful - like the Latin terms for days, months and the like.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
| J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R |
| S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Feast Days in Chronological Order[edit | edit source]
| January | February | March | April | May | June |
| July | August | September | October | November | December |