East Prussia (Ostpreußen) Church Records

Finding Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for East Prussia
Most of your genealogical research for East Prussia will be in three main record types: civil registration, church records, and, when available, a compiled town genealogy ("'Ortssippenbuch" or "Ortsfamilienbuch" in German). These articles will teach you how to use these records on digital databases, as microfilms, or by writing for them.
 * Civil registration
 * Church records
 * Town genealogies

Church Records (Parish Registers) Definition
Church records (parish registers) are excellent sources of sufficiently accurate information on names, dates and places of birth / baptism, marriage and death / funeral. They are the most important source of genealogical information for Germany before 1876. Most of the people who lived in Germany, were recorded in a church record. Church records contain records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. In addition, church records can contain financial account books (charges for toll bells, fees for masses for the dead, and so on), lists of confirmation, penance register communion lists, lists of members and the family register.

Duplicate Church Records
Unfortunately, some of Germany's church records were destroyed in wars or when parsonages burned. Concerns about such destruction led authorities in some areas to require the pastor to create a copy of each year's baptism-, marriage-, and burial entries, mostly beginning in the late 18th century. These copies were either stored separately or sent to a central archive each year. Local governments often found it helpful to have access to the birth-, marriage-, and death records kept by the clergy. Soon local pastors were required to provide the town administration with a yearly copy of these records. These copies are called transcripts or duplicates [Kirchenbuchduplikate], and most are housed in central church archives or state archives. Use duplicates, where available, to supplement parish registers that are missing or illegible. Keep in mind that duplicates often differ slightly from the originals.

Time Period Coverage
The first surviving German Protestant records are from 1524 at St. Sebald in Nürnberg. Lutheran churches in general began requiring baptism, marriage, and burial records around 1540; Catholics began in 1563. By 1650 most Reformed parishes began keeping records. Many church records were destroyed in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In addition, records for some parishes in the Pfalz and Rheinland were interrupted for several years when the French controlled those areas of Germany from 1792 to 1815 and introduced civil registration.

Generally, the earliest church records are in western Germany. The farther east you go, the later the church records begin. For more information, see Germany Church History and Germany History.

Baptisms [Taufen]
Children were usually baptized a few days after birth. Baptism registers usually give the infant's name, parents' names, status of legitimacy, names of witnesses or godparents, and baptism date. You may also find the child's birth date, the father's occupation, and the family's place of residence, the names of godparents, their residences, and occupations. Death information was sometimes added as a note or signified by a cross. Because of social conditions in Germany, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon. Illegitimacy is usually noted in baptism records, sometimes by a note in the margin or an upside-down or sideways entry.

Marriages [Heiraten]
Marriage registers give the marriage date and the names of the bride and groom. The registers may also indicate whether they were single or widowed and give the names of witnesses. Other information about the bride and groom is often included, such as their ages, residences, occupations, birthplaces, and parents' names. In cases of second and subsequent marriages, the registers may include the names of previous partners and their death dates. A note was often made if a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage.

Marriage Banns or Proclamations [Aufgebote]
For two or three weeks before the marriage, marriage banns (announcements of the intention to marry) were read and/or posted in church. This gave community members a chance to object to the marriage. Most proclamations took place on consecutive Sundays. If the future spouses were from different parishes, the banns were read in each church. Before the marriage ceremony could take place, the non-local party was required to present the officiating pastor with a paper stating that the proclamations had been read and there were no objections. A note stating that this person had been "dismissed" to marry elsewhere may be found in the marriage register.

The marriage registers of some churches give the dates on which the marriage banns were announced. The marriage banns themselves may exist in a separate record. Some parishes kept the marriage banns and other marriage information instead of marriage registers.

If a couple needed to get married quicky, permission to skip the proclamations could be obtained for a fee. This special permission is called a dispensation. Common reasons for a hasty marriage include pregnancy and imminent emigration.

Formal engagements were often associated with a celebration that required the families to purchase a certain amount of alcoholic beverages from the local pub. This custom was known as the "Weinkauf". Engagement dates may be given in the parish register as " der Weinkauf" or "weinkaeuflich ".

Burials [Begräbnisse]
Burials were recorded in the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of death.

Burial registers give the name of the deceased and the date and place of death or burial. Often the deceased's age, place of residence, and cause of death and the names of survivors are also given. Occasionally the deceased's birth date and place and parents' names are given. However, information about parents, birth dates, and birthplaces may be inaccurate, depending on the informant's knowledge.

If the burial record mentions a sermon, you may be able to find a printed copy at a local library or archive. Funeral sermons often mentioned several generations of ancestors. See Germany Obituaries for more details.

Confirmations [Konfirmationen]
Protestants were usually confirmed around age 14, Catholics about age 12. Some confirmation registers merely list the names of those being confirmed and the confirmation date. Other confirmation registers give additional information about those being confirmed, including their ages or birth dates, birthplaces, and fathers' names.

Family Registers [Familienbücher]
Some parishes kept family registers that give information about each family group in the parish. Family registers are more common in southern Germany, especially in Württemberg and Baden after 1808. These registers list the names of the husband and wife and their birth dates and places, marriage date and place, parents' names, occupations, and residence. If a second marriage is listed, details about the parents of the new marriage partner are often included.

Children are usually listed in chronological order. Names, birth dates, confirmation dates, marriage dates, and death dates may be listed. In some registers, when a child married and remained in the same parish, the register gives a “see” reference and a page number where that particular child appears as the head of a household.

Some family registers indicate whether the family moved to another village or emigrated to another country.

Parish Genealogy (Ortssippenbuch)
Pastors or genealogists sometimes compiled a village lineage book (Ortssippenbuch), which included each family in a parish. For details see Germany Town Genealogies and Parish Register Inventories on the Internet.

Accessing Church Records
Church records were kept in the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church minister. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many neighboring villages in their boundaries. To use church records, you must know both your ancestor's religion and the town where he or she lived. You must also determine in which parish the town was located. Some gazetteers indicate parish jurisdictions. For more information, see Germany Gazetteers and the section below that discusses church record inventories.

Church Record Inventories
Church record inventories are essential tools for finding German records. They identify what records should be available for a specified parish and where to write for information on these records. They list the church records, their location, and the years they cover. Sometimes inventories explain which parishes served which towns at different periods of time.
 * Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preußen: East Prussia
 * Tutorial
 * The new Kirchenbuchportal (church book portal) has been created by the Association of Church Archives, ecumenical organization, to facilitate access to German-language church records. As of July 2010 several archives have posted detailed inventories of the parish registers in their collections. Details about the participating archives, including links to posted inventories, are found here. A database of all inventoried records, arranged by archive, is found here.

Online Class on Locating East Prussia Parish Registers

 * German Research: Strategies and Sources for Eastern Provinces. Be sure to download the class syllabus.
 * 1) Watch the General Resources portion, beginning at 13:47 minutes, to learn how to check for parish registers using:
 * 2) The PRADZIAD Database
 * 3) Szukaj w ArchiwachTutorial
 * 4) Archion, Cooperative of protestant archives ($)
 * 5) Archives Portal Europe
 * 6) Watch the East Prussia portion, which begins at 47:58 minutes.
 * 7) Gazetteer: Ostpreussen Places/Info
 * 8) On the Trail of Your Ancestors Left of page > ”Landkreise und Kirchspiele” > Hover over a number to see Kreis name > Click number to see parish map of Kreis > Hover over parish to see alternate names and year of founding.
 * 9) East Prussia Genealogy Sources
 * 10) Select a Kreis from alphabetical list left of map. Click on the Kreis name.
 * 11) For that Kreis, click on “Kirchenbuchbestände” (Parish register inventory).
 * 12) Select parish from alphabetical list left of map.
 * 13) Click on parish name.

Church Records on the Internet
Online records for East Prussia are found in Archion in the Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin. Among its collections there are about 6,000 church records of Protestant church communities in the former Eastern Church provinces of Prussia. They come from the provinces of East and West Prussia, Pomerania, Posen, Silesia, Brandenburg (east of the Oder and Neisse). Some of the provinces are represented by numerous, others because of the loss of war, with only a few church books.
 * Archion: Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin ($)
 * Szukaj w ArchiwachTutorial
 * Geneteka Instructions
 * GENBAZA Instructions

Records at the Family History Library
The Family History Library has many German church records on microfilm.


 * a. Click on the Places within Germany, Preussen, Ostpreussen (East Prussia) drop-down menu] and select your town.
 * b. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * c. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor. "Taufen" are baptisms/christenings. Heiraten are marriages.  "Toten" are deaths.
 * d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm. Clicking on the microfilm reel will lead to information on how to rent the film. Family History Center staff will assist you in ordering the film.


 * See the listing of Catholic parishes in East Prussia with records available from the Family History Library.
 * See the listing of Evangelical Church parishes in East Prussia with records available from the Family History Library.
 * See the listing of Lutheran Church parishes in East Prussia with records available from the Family History Library.
 * See the listing of Reformed Church parishes in East Prussia with records available from the Family History Library.
 * See the listing of Military Unit and Parish Records in East Prussia with records available from the Family History Library.
 * See the listing of Mennonite Church Records in East Prussia with records available from the Family History Library.

East Prussia Genealogy Sources
This finding aid will tell you the existing parish registers, the microfilmed records, and the archives where the records are stored. It will describe other records such as military parishes and Jewish records. Notes at the bottom with tell the former parish that served that area before this parish was created. Here is an illustration of a typical parish entry:
 * East Prussia Genealogy Sources
 * 1) Select a Kreis from alphabetical list left of map. Click on the Kreis name.
 * 2) For that Kreis, click on “Kirchenbuchbestände” (Parish register inventory).
 * 3) Select parish from alphabetical list left of map.
 * 4) Click on parish name.

EZA Berlin (Lutheran)
Evangelical Central Archives Berlin ( EZA ) Bethaniendamm 29 10997 Berlin Germany Family Research: Ruf. 030 / 22504-536 E-mail:kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de Space reservation: Fax. 030 / 22504-540 or Email to reservierung@ezab.de
 * List of holdings

BZ Regensburg (Catholic)
Bishops' Central Archives Regensburg St. Petersweg 11-13 93047 Regensburg Ruf. Germany Telephone: 0941 / 597-2520 Fax. 0941 / 597-2521 E-Mail: archiv@bistum-regensburg.de
 * Website
 * List of holdings

DZfG Leipzig
German Central Office for Genealogy Saxon State Archives State Archives Leipzig Schongauerstraße 1 04328 Leipzig Germany Email: poststelle-l@sta.smi.sachsen.de Telephone: 0341 / 255-5500
 * Website
 * List of holdings

GStA Berlin
Secret State Archives Prussian  Cultural Heritage Archivstraße 12-14 14195 Berlin Germany Email: gsta.pk@gsta.spk-berlin.de Phone: 030/266 44 75 00 Fax. 030/266 44 31 26
 * Website
 * List of holdings

Lithuanian Historical State Archives in Vilnius
Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas Gerosios Vilties g. 10 LT-03134 Vilnius Ruf. Lithuania Phone: +370 /85/213 7482 Fax: 00370/5 278 43 69
 * 

Poland
State Archives of Olsztyn (formerly Allenstein Archiwum Panstwowe w Olsztynie ul.Partyzantow 18 PL-10-521 Olsztyn Poland In the state archive Olsztyn (Olsztyn), the records are available digitized over the Internet. The Diocesan Archives of the City of Olsztyn, Poland Archiwum Diecezji Warminskiy w Olsztynie Copernika 47 PL-10-512 Olsztyn Poland
 * Website
 * Search engine for digitized records
 * The third field, "Nazwa oryginalna" or "Original Name", has a drop-down list of all the localities for which there are records.
 * Archives Website
 * Archives Facebook

State Archives Lyck Archiwum Państwowe w Suwalkach Oddzial w Elku ul. Kapielowa PL-19-300 Elk Poland Birth, marriages and death certificates of the Milken militia from 1874 to 1902.
 * Website
 * List of holdings

Catholic

 * Parish list for Archdiocese of Warmia
 * Map of the Archdiocese of Warmia

Protestant
In Poland approximately 134 protestant parishes exist. Some records formerly found in such parishes may now be archived in local Catholic parishes. For a list of the Protestant parishes in Poland, and their addresses, you can visit the Lutheran Church in Poland for a listing of Lutheran parishes which are in existence today.

Addressing the Letter
Using these addresses as guides, replacing the information in parentheses. If you do not know the street address of a church, you can omit it. For State Archive Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For a Roman Catholic Parish Parafia Rzymsko-Katolicka (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For a Protestant Parish Parafia Ewangelicka (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For an Orthodox Parish  Parafia Prawoslawna (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

Letter Writing Guides
How to write a letter: Detailed instruction for what to include in the letter, plus Polish translations of the questions and sentences most frequently used are in the Poland Letter Writing Guide.''' In some cases, the records are held in archives in Germany. For letters in German, including addressing the letter, plus German translations of the questions and sentences most frequently needed, use the the Germany Letter Writing Guide.''' Because part of East Prussia is now in Russia, this article may help: Russian Letter Writing Guide

Reading the Records

 * It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in French and German to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately.  Here are some resources for learning to read German records.
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * German Handwriting


 * These video webinars will teach you to read German handwriting:
 * Old German Script Part 1
 * Old German Script Part 2
 * Old German Script (German Church and Civil Records) Part 3


 * Also online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents. In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
 * German Script Tutorial

This converter will show you how any phrase or name might look in German script:
 * Kurrentschrift Converter (enter German genealogical word, click on "convert", view your word in Kurrentschrift (Gothic handwriting)

Polish
Because part of East Prussia is now in Poland, these articles will help:
 * Poland Letter Writing Guide
 * Polish Word List
 * Poland Language and Languages

Russian
Because part of East Prussia is now in Russia, these articles will help:
 * Russian Letter Writing Guide
 * Russian Genealogical Word List

Search Strategy

 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.