Austria, Vienna Population Cards - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection that is scheduled to be posted for free online at FamilySearch Record Search – Pilot Site.

Foreign Language Title
This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying this title in German.

Collection Time Period
These cards represent residence registrations from 1890 until 1928 with most cards dating between 1910 and 1925. Although the registrations took place during this range, the birth dates recorded in the registrations can date back several previous decades.

Collection History (Heading 2)
The registration of Vienna residents began in the middle of the 15th century. The city was divided into 8 districts around 1850. Between 1850 and 1904 these 8 were subdivided and supplemented bringing the number of districts to 21. The Zentralmeldeamt (central registration office) was created in 1889 and associated with the Vienna police department.

Population Coverage
The cards cover most of the population of Vienna.

Why This Collection Was Created
This type of registration informed the government of who was in the city of Vienna and where they resided within the city.

Collection Reliability
These are generally very reliable records, being information directly reported by residents about themselves and their families.

Collection Description
The cards include name, birth date and place, marital status, old and new places of residence, dates of arrival and departure. Occasionally the name of spouse and children are listed. Most records range from 1890 to 1925. Many people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Eastern Europe passed through Vienna and are included on these cards. All the forms are in German and the majority of the names are in German, however, because Vienna was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire some names are written in the languages of the Empire. The records were in a generally good state of preservation at the time that they were microfilmed from 1981-1995. This collection contains 3.8 million hand written entries recorded on pre-printed cards.

Collection Content
Vienna Population Cards contain the following genealogical facts:

• District and street address • Name of the individual registering • Occupation • Place and country of birth • Home town and home country • Birth date, religion, and marital status • Name(s) and age(s) of spouse and children • Previous residence • Date of the registration • Date of departure • Departure destination

How to Use the Collection
Use the date and place of birth or marriage to locate christening or marriage records in church records.

Related Websites
This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying links to related websites here.

Bibliographic Information
Wien (Niederösterreich). Meldeamt. Meldezettel (männliche und weibliche Personen), 1850-1928. Stadt- und Landesarchiv Wien, Vienna, Austria.

Related Articles
Austria Vienna Population Registers