Hungary Funeral Notices - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
There are notices from about 1840 to 1995.

Record History
Notices were printed and distributed to family members and friends. Over time they were either collected by someone and donated to the National Szechenyi Library in Budapest or were collected by the Library itself.

Notices represent only a fraction of Hungarians who died during the inclusive years, primarily those from well-to-do middle-class families and lesser nobility. Some of these notices are from Budapest (certainly less than half, possibly about 30%) others are from other parts of Hungary and from areas no longer in Hungary (Slovakia, Croatia, Romania). There are approximately 459,000 people represented in these cards.

Why This Record Was Created
Notices were used to notify family and friends of a death and served also as an invitation to attend the funeral sermon.

Record Reliability
Generally these were composed from information provided by close family members and the information is fairly reliable.

Record Description
Includes approximately 459,000 individual cards printed in a variety of styles sometimes on colored paper and generally with a black border. A small percentage are handwritten on printed forms. The cards are arranged alphabetically by family name and then by given name.

Record Content

 * Key genealogical facts found in Hungarian memorial cards:
 * Name of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Age
 * Religion of the deceased
 * Major accomplishments, occupation, and the like
 * Names of family members announcing the death (this might be parents, spouse, siblings, or surviving children or some combination of these).
 * Names of mourners (living family members)

Place and date of the funeral

How to Use the Record
Notices vary somewhat in the information provided. At a minimum use notices to obtain the name of the deceased, the date and time of death. Sometimes you will learn the age of the deceased, permitting you to approximate the date of birth. Most notices include the names of several surviving family members such as spouses, siblings, and children. Use these details to extend research in those directions. If major accomplishments of the deceased are included, you can use this information to find occupational or school records. Most are written in Hungarian; some are in German; a few are in French.

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Related Wiki Articles
Hungary Portal

How to Cite Your Sources
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