Croatia-Slavonia, Austro-Hungarian Empire Genealogy

Guide to  Croatia-Slavonia ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Historical Geography
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was created in 1868, when the former kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were joined into one single kingdom. It was associated with the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania. The kingdom was ruled by the Habsburg Emperor-King of Austria-Hungary (Kaiser und König) under his title as "King of Croatia and Slavonia". The kingdom existed until 1918 when it joined the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which together with the Kingdom of Serbia formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. For its first eleven years of existence, the Kingdom was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" was its colloquial name from its origins. The official name of the state was changed to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929. It remained part of Yugoslavia until Croatia gained its independence in 1991. (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia)

Map of Historic Croatia-Slavonia
Counties of Croatia-Slavonia within the Austro-Hungary Empire

For Austria-Hungary Research, You Must Know Your Ancestors' Town

 * To begin using the records of the countries formerly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just knowing that your family came from the country will not be enough. Records are kept on the local level, so you will have to know the town they lived in.
 * Details about the town will also help:
 * the county of that town,
 * where the closest Evangelical Lutheran, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, etc. parish church was (depending on their religion),
 * where the civil registration office was, and
 * if you have only a village name, you will need the name of the larger town it was part of.

Research to Find the Town
If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.
 * Use Gathering Information to Locate Place of Origin as a guide in exhausting every possible record to find what you need. It was written for Germany, but the same methods apply.

Research Help
For help with genealogy in this region, see Croatia Genealogy.

Online Records

 * 1516-1994 - . Index. Incomplete. Records of births and baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials peformed by priests in Croatia. Includes vital records of Jews.

Microfilm Copies of Records at a Family History Center
If the locality and time period you need are not included in the online records, the next step is to check for them in the microfilm collection of the Family History Library. These microfilms may be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers around the world. To find a microfilm:
 * a. Click on "Places within Austria, Kroatien" or "Places within Austria, Slavonien"
 * b. Select your record type: Church records and civil registration are the most important.
 * b. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * c. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor.
 * 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. The microfilm icon indicates it is only available on microfilm and can be viewed at the Family History Library and some family history centers.