Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate Church Record Extractions and Family Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Germany Rhineland

	This article describes a collection of historical records available at FamilySearch.org.
Access the records: Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate Church Record Extractions and Family Registers, 1600-1925 . CID1475962 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}

Title in the Language of the Records

Deutschland, Rheinland-Palatinate, Kirchenbuchabschriften und Familiennamenkartei

Record Description

This collection will include records from 1600 to 1925.

This collection includes images of a combination of church family register extractions and indexes for the district of Rhine Hesse-Palatinate (Rheinland Hessen-Pfalz) in Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz). Most image sets are arranged chronologically (by year of event) or alphabetically (by surname).

Family registers may go back to the 1500s, when they began during the time of the Reformation. Because of wars, natural disasters, and accidents, many churches were destroyed, along with all or part of their records. Very few church records go back before 1650 because of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). Family registers were created with information from the parish register and should be used as a guide to search the actual church records for the ancestors’ christening, marriage, and burial information. The text in church family registers is written mainly in German. However, earlier text could be handwritten in Latin and after 1945 handwritten in Gothic script. The headings for the extracted information are in English.

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

This collection of records includes information extracted from church family registers for the years 1600-1925.

Beginning in the 1500s, churches began keeping family registers. This collection of extracted data was created to make it easier to research ancestors.

Church records (Kirchenbücher) are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and places of birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial. They are the most significant source of genealogical information for Germany before 1876. Most people who lived in Germany were recorded in a church record. However, the information found in a family register depends on how detailed the minister made his record. The extraction of data depends on how well the records were read.

These records are written in German.

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate Church Record Extractions and Family Registers, 1600-1925.

Record Content

Church Record
Church Record
Explanation of format and symbols

Family registers generally contain the following information:

Name of the ancestor, either as a parent or child
Names of the ancestor’s siblings, parents, grandparents
Date of the ancestor’s birth
Place of the ancestor’s birth
Occupation of the ancestor’s father
Birth dates of the ancestor’s siblings and parents
Date of the ancestor’s marriage
Date of the ancestor’s death
Death dates of the ancestor’s siblings and parents
Information concerning emigration in the family

How to Use the Records

Family registers were created with data from the parish registers and should be used as a guide to search the actual church records for the ancestor’s christening, marriage, and burial information. Data of an ancestor can be searched by surname and place of residence. Make sure the record found is your ancestor; it is recommended to use the elimination system when more than one family has the same family name. After you have found the information for your ancestor, transfer the information onto your family history record. With this information, the data of siblings or other family members could also be researched.

Search the Collection

To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links:
⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page
⇒Select “Place”
⇒Select “Record type”
⇒Select “Event type”
⇒Select “Name range” which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

For Help Reading These Records

These records are in German or Latin. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:

Don't overlook FS Library Place Germany, Hessen, Rheinhessen (Provinz) items or FS Library Keyword Germany, Hessen, Rheinhessen (Provinz) items in the FamilySearch Library Catalog. For other libraries (local and national) or to gain access to items of interest, see Germany Archives and Libraries.

Don't overlook FS Library Place Germany, Bayern, Pfalz items or FS Library Keyword Germany, Bayern, Pfalz items in the FamilySearch Library Catalog. For other libraries (local and national) or to gain access to items of interest, see Germany Archives and Libraries.

Related Websites

Germany Genealogy

How You Can Contribute

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Citations for This Collection

Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Collection Citation:
The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Image Citation:
This template has been deprecated and is no longer used.

When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen. You can browse through images in this collection by visiting the browse page for Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate Church Record Extractions and Family Registers, 1600-1925.

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