Before researching in Europe, you need to know where records are kept. For Germany, religious institutions recorded births, marriages, and deaths and kept this information in parish register books or local church archives. You need to identify your ancestor's parish before you can search for these vital records.
Hansen's guide provides maps showing Catholic and Lutheran parish jurisdictions for towns in a specific region. Find your ancestor's town of origin on the map to discover their local parish.
FamilySearch has microfilmed most German parish registers and Hansen helpfully gives the FamilySearch microfilm number for each parish. Search for that number in FamilySearch's catalog to locate digital or physical copies of the microfilm.
Map Guides to German Parish Registers includes parish maps for Catholic and Lutheran Churches but also provides information on locating Reformed Church and Jewish records for the region--and includes the FamilySearch microfilm number for these records too.
The Genealogy & Local History Room has guides to parishes in the following locations:
Grandduchy of Hessen
Grandduchy of Baden
Mecklenberg, Granduchies of Schwerin and Strelitz
Province of Schleswig-Holstein - Kingdom of Prussia and Grandduchy of Oldenburg
Kingdom of Bavaria - Schwaben
No comments:
Post a Comment