Anhalt, German Empire Genealogy

Guide to Anhalt, German Empire ancestry, family history, and genealogy before 1945: birth records, marriage records, death records, family history, and military records.

Historical Background

 * The Duchy of Anhalt was a historical German dychy. The territory is now part of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.


 * Anhalt’s origins lie in the Principality of Anhalt, a state of the Holy Roman Empire.


 * The prince, Joachim Ernest, united the whole of Anhalt under his rule in 1570. The first united principality of Anhalt was short-lived, and in 1603, it was split up into the mini-states of Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Zerbst and Anhalt-Plötzkau. In 1665, the princes of Anhalt decided that, if any branch of the family became extinct, its lands should be equally divided between the remaining branches.
 * Once or twice, Calvinism was favoured by a prince, but in general the house was loyal to the doctrines of Martin Luther.


 * In 1806, Napoleon elevated the remaining states of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau and Anhalt-Köthen to duchies (Anhalt-Plötzkau and Anhalt-Zerbst had ceased to exist in the meantime). These duchies were united in 1863 to form a united Anhalt again, due to the extinction of the Köthen and Bernburg lines.


 * The new duchy consisted of two large portions – Eastern and Western Anhalt (separated by part of Sachsen), and of five small enclaves, each surrounded by Prussian territory:
 * Alsleben
 * Muhlingen,
 * Dornburg,
 * Gödnitz, and
 * Tilkerode-Abberode.


 * In 1918, Anhalt became a state within the Weimar Republic. After World War II. It was united with the Prussian parts of Saxony in order to form the new area of Saxony-Anhalt. Wikipedia

Finding Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Anhalt, German Empire
'''Most of the information you need to identify you ancestors and their families will be found in two major record groups: civil registration and church records. To locate these records, follow the instructions in these Wiki articles.'''

1. Find the name of your ancestor's town in family history records.
Records were kept on the local level. You must know the town where your ancestor lived. If your ancestor was a United States Immigrant, use the information in the Wiki article Germany Finding Town of Origin to find evidence of the name of the town where your ancestors lived in Germany.

2. Use gazetteers and/or parish inventories to learn more important details.
Your ancestor's town might have been too small to have its own parish church or civil registration office. Find the location of the Catholic or Lutheran (Evangelical) parish that served your ancestor's locality. Find the name of the civil registration office (standesamt) that serves your ancestor's locality. Use the Wiki article Studying Your German Locality for step-by-step instructions.

Germany was first unified as a nation in 1871. An important gazetteer, Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-lexikon des deutschen Reichs, "Meyer's Gazetter" for short, details the place names of villages, towns, counties (kreise), and higher jurisdictions used at that time. In the Research Wiki, FamilySearch Catalog, and FamilySearch Historical Records, the records of Germany are organized using those place names.

At the end of both World Wars, the boundaries of the states were changed dramatically, as areas of Germany were distributed among the Allied nations. Eventually, after re-unification in 1990, the states of Germany settled into what they are today. It is also necessary to understand Germany by this system, as it affects the locations of civil registration offices, archives, and mailing addresses used in correspondence searches.

3. For birth, marriage, and death records after 1850, use civil registration.
Follow the instructions in Anhalt, German Empire Civil Registration.

4. For baptism, marriage, and death records, use church records or parish registers.
Follow the instructions in  Anhalt, German Empire Church Records.

More Research Strategies and Tools

 * Germany Online Classes and Tutorials
 * Reading German Handwritten Records  Practice exercises to build your skills and confidence.
 * Old German Script Transcriber (alte deutsche Handschriften): See your family names in the script of the era. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. Click on the 8 different fonts. Save the image to your computer and use it as you work with old Germanic records.
 * Finding Aids for German Records
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Print these handouts for ready reference when reading German Handwriting:
 * Kurrent Letters Handout
 * Numbers Handout
 * Birth Records Handout
 * Marriage Records Handout
 * Death Records Handout
 * Days and Months Handout
 * Common Symbols Handout
 * Common Abbreviations Handout
 * List of Names in Old German Script A comprehensive list of German given names,  written in old script, with possible variations.
 * Fraktur Font--Many forms and books are printed in this font.
 * German Research, BYU Independent Study, no cost.