Austria Seigniorial Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying a translation of the title in German here.

Collection Time Period
This collection of seigniorial records includes records such as birth, marriage, death, testaments, and real property covering the years between 1550 and 1850.

Record Description
The records are handwritten in German. Most records have been preserved well.

Record Content
The key genealogical facts found in most marriage contract records include the following:


 * Date of marriage contract
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Place of event
 * Fiscal considerations

The key genealogical facts found in most wills or estate inventory records include the following:


 * Date of death
 * Place of residence
 * Name of the deceased person
 * Names of the surviving spouse, children, and in-laws
 * Ages of all involved
 * Settlement of the fiscal account

The key genealogical facts found in most real property records include the following:


 * Date of the business transaction
 * Names of the grantors and grantees
 * Place of the property
 * Settlement of the fiscal account

The key genealogical facts found in most land registers include the following:


 * Names of the sequential property owners
 * Place of the property
 * Dates
 * Tax payments and fiscal data

How to Use the Records
Seigniorial records supplement existing church and civil records and provide information in those time periods where church and civil records do not exist. These records are very helpful in establishing family relationships that are difficult to identify; differentiating between individuals and families with similar given and surnames; and documenting family locations, arrival and departure dates; and so forth.

Some records have indexes at the end of the volume. Frequently, these indexes are arranged by the given name of the individual and sometimes use the Latin form of the name. Those volumes without indexes need to be searched chronologically for the individuals sought.

Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about other people listed in the record. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.


 * Use the baptism date and place to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate civil and land records.
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records.
 * The parent’s places of origin can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * A couple’s marriage date and place may help you find records of their children
 * The burial place may also help you identify their migration pattern

It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile baptism entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families, based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the baptism records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born, married, and died in the same place or nearby.

Keep in mind the following:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is some variation in the information given from record to record.

Record History
Local jurisdictional authority in Austria was held by Seigneurs prior to 1848. Seigniorial authority was granted by the Emperor to individuals who reigned as lord over their manor (Herrschaft) within a given village or community. Civil records created within a manor are referred to as Herrschaft or Seigniorial records. The older Herrschaft records of the four Lower Austrian Kreisgerichte (KG) are stored at the Landesarchiv in St. Pölten. In 1848, a modern court system was implemented in Austria, and the Seigneurs were instructed to transfer all records needed to continue administration of justice to the recently established district courts (Bezirksgerichte). This generally included all Herrschaft records back to about 1750-1800. The earlier records, those that had been closed prior to 1750, were transferred to Kreisgerichte. However, a significant quantity of these records remain in private hands or have become a part of the archival collections of other institutions.

Why This Collection Was Created
Seigneurs created these records to record the events in the life of the people in their communities and to help in the administration of their manors.

Record Reliability
The information in these records is usually reliable but depends upon the reliability of the informant and the recorder of the record.

Related Web Sites
Austrian Feudal Records

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Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71
 * Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023

Sources of information for This Collection
“Austria, Lower Austria Seigniorial Records, 1550-1850”, database, FamilySearch (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch), 2010; from Niederösterreich Landesarchiv, Austria. “Austria, Lower Austria seigniorial records”. Niederösterreich Landesarchiv, Austria. FHL digital images. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

We welcome your assistance in adding source citation information for individual archives when collection data was collected from various sources or archives. The format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections