Luxembourg Church Records

Luxembourg

Church records (registres paroissiaux) and transcripts
Research use: The most important source prior to civil registration. Records identify vital information for families, but linking generations is often difficult.

Record type: Births and baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials.

Time period: 1593-present.

Contents: Births and Christenings--names of child, father, and usually mother; date of christening; name and sometimes place of residence of godparents. Marriages--names of groom and bride, sometimes names of parents, date of marriage, places of origin or residence. Deaths and Burials--name of deceased, date of death and/or burial, sometimes names of parents or spouse, and occasionally place of origin.

Location: Local parishes, communes, and clerks of courts; some church registers are at the court house of Diekirch, others are at the diocesan church archives. Copies of some church records are at the Genealogical Association of Luxembourg.

Percentage in Family History Library: 86%. In the 19th century, there were about 170 parishes. Of these 141 have been filmed completely. 5 have only a few missing years. The remaining 24 parishes have not been filmed at all or have significant missing years.

Population coverage: prior to 1779 50-70%, after 1779 60-80%.

Reliability: Very good.

Quirks
Some parish registers in Luxembourg go back to the early 1600s, but most do not start until 1779. A number of registers have been destroyed or lost; other registers are in the hands of individuals and church officials who guard them jealously.

In 1797 when the official état civil (civil registration) was introduced, a French order required that the priests turn their parish registers over to the communities (civil jurisdiction). But the clergy, mistreated by the French regime, obeyed this order only partially. Thus beginning with that date part of the registers were deposited with the local civil government (communes) and part of them remained in the hands of the clergy.