Czechia Church Records

From FamilySearch Wiki
Revision as of 15:59, 2 December 2021 by Danielles ReplaceText (talk | contribs) (Text replacement - "Brno Moravian Land Archives, Czechia Church Records" to "Brno Moravian Provincial Archives, Czechia Church Records")
Czechia Topics
Czech Republic Flag.png
Beginning Research
Record Types
Czechia Background
Local Research Resources
Moderator
The FamilySearch moderator for Czech Republic is Pysnaks

For information about records for non-Christian religions in the Czech Republic, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Records[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]

Once you find the names of the town, look it up in the GenTeam Gazetteer to find out where the parish church was for that town and which archive region that town belongs to. Click on the archival region covering the location of your parish from this list.

FamilySearch[edit | edit source]

Writing for Records[edit | edit source]

Use the Czech Republic Letter Writing Guide for help with writing for records.

Finding the Town of Origin[edit | edit source]

Records are created and organized on the local level. If you do not know the name of the village or parish your ancestors lived in, see

Church Records [církevní matriky][edit | edit source]

Church Records refer to the records of births/christenings, marriages, and deaths/burials recorded by clergy. These records are the prime source for information about the vital events in an individual's life. This information can be used to compile pedigrees and family groups. They identify children, spouses, parents, and often grandparents as well as dates and places of vital events. They establish individual identity and are excellent sources for linking generations and identifying relationships.

Time Period[edit | edit source]

There are fragments of church records fragments from the Czech Republic dating from 1441, but the earliest intact registers date from the 1590s. Catholic parishes in Europe were first required to record baptisms and marriages in 1563 by order of the Council of Trent. The requirement to record deaths was introduced in 1614. It took several years before the practice was established in the Czech lands where most preserved registers start after 1620. A new format for the records was introduced in 1771. Because of religious intolerance within the Austrian Empire, the only legally recognized church registers were Catholic registers until 1781 when the Toleration Patent was issued. After 1784 the keeping of church registers was required by law for all religions, but under Catholic supervision. Duplicates of church registers [druhopisy] were made for civil purposes starting in the 1790s. Protestant church registers were recognized as legal records without Catholic supervision in 1840.

Contents[edit | edit source]

Christening registers[edit | edit source]

  • infant's name,
  • name and surname of father and mother,
  • christening date (most also give the birth date);
  • sometimes names of grandparents; names of godparents.

Marriage registers[edit | edit source]

  • names of groom and bride,
  • date of marriage,
  • often include ages, residences, occupations, previous marital status, names of parents, sometimes the birthplace;
  • names of witnesses.

Burial registers[edit | edit source]

  • name of the deceased,
  • date and place of death and burial,
  • residence;
  • sometimes cause of death, names of survivors,
  • occasionally the date and place of birth.

References[edit | edit source]

Retrieved from "https://integration-ru.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=Czechia_Church_Records&oldid=4625751"