Switzerland, Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Schweiz, Basel-Stadt Kirchenbücher

Collection Time Period
Records in this collection begin in 1380 and go through 1917. Most of the church records contained in this collection, however, begin in the mid 1500s and end by 1910.

Record History
In Switzerland, a parish was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction consisting of many villages and hamlets, with one of the villages designated as the main parish town. Swiss church records are typically in German or Latin. Regional dialect may affect the spelling of some German words and the use of vocabulary words.

Evangelical Church records began as early as the mid to late 1500s in Switzerland; most church records, however, began in the late 1600s. Church records continue to be kept in the present day.

These church books cover a majority of the population for the Canton of Basel, which includes parishes in the city of Basel and its environs. The city of Basel today is the third most populous city in Switzerland.

Event types were often compiled in separate volumes, for instance, baptisms in one volume and marriages in another. In some parishes, however, event types were intermixed and grouped into a volume according to year range. When this is the case, the baptisms, marriages, and burials for one year (e.g. 1785) were grouped together before the baptisms, marriages, and burials for the next year (e.g. 1786), and so on.

Why This Collection Was Created?
Church records were created to record church sacraments associated with life events (e.g. baptism after birth, burial after death) and those who had received these ordinances.

Record Reliability
Church books are one of the most reliable and accurate family history sources. Accuracy in the records is, however, dependent upon the accuracy of the informant’s knowledge coupled with the priest recording the information correctly. Ages, birth dates, and birth places recorded in marriage and death entries have a higher probability of being inaccurate.

Record Description
The event types you will find in this collection include the following: Taufen (baptisms); Taufenregister (baptism index); Ehen (marriages); Ehenregister (marriage index); Eheverkündigungen (marriage announcements); Eheverkündigungenregister (marriage announcement index); Familienbuch (family book); Familienbuchregister (family book index); Konfirmanden (confirmations); Konfirmandenregister (confirmation index); Toten (deaths/burials); and Totenregister (death index).

Record Content
The genealogical facts found in most of the baptism records are: • Names of the child, parents, and witnesses or godparents • Date and place of birth • Date of baptism (sometimes even the time of birth and baptism) • Residence and religion of the parents • Occupation of the father and the other males listed • Whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate

The genealogical facts found in most of the marriage records are: • Names of the bride, groom, their parents (usually the fathers) and witnesses • Date and place of marriage and marriage proclamations or banns • Residence of the bride, groom, and their parents • Occupation of groom and other males listed

The genealogical facts found in most of the burial records are: • Names of the deceased (sometimes names of deceased’s spouse and/or deceased’s parents were included) • Date and place of death and burial • Age and residence • Cause of death

How to Use the Record
Records in this online collection can be browsed by locality (Ort) first, then by religion, and are next arranged by the German-equivalent of the event type—for example, baptisms are Taufen—and then chronologically. Name indexes (Namenverzeichnis) and event indexes (e.g. Ehenregister) are included when available. A mixture of record formats may be contained within these records. Use these Basel records to identify ancestors (individuals, their parents, and their spouses) and make family connections.

Related Wiki Articles
Switzerland Church Records

Related Websites (Heading 2)
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Sources of This Collection
This is a collection of digital copies of original records housed at Staatsarchiv Basel-Stadt, Martinsgasse 2, 4051 Basel, Switzerland.

How to Cite Your Sources
Instructions for citing this source can be found at: Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)