Westerburg, Germany

56457 Westerburgis now in Westerwaldkreis in the German state of Rheinland=Pfalz. During the time of the German Empire it was in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau and Family Search has indexed its records under that jurisdiction. Until 1803 it was an independent sovereign territory: the Herrschaft of Westerburg, Grafschaft of Leiningen-Westerburg. It was a dynastic state, whose boundaries shifted as parcels were sold, bought, divided and inherited, see PUBLICATIONS below.

The rulers of Westerburg had various titles. Two examples are "Graf of Leiningen-Westerburg of the Holy Roman Empire Semperfrei" and "Graf of Leiningen and Herr of Westerburg of the Holy Roman Empire Semperfrei".

Historical Chronology of Westerburg.

ARCHIVES
The records of the Grafschaft of Leiningen-Westerburg may be found in record group "Abt. 339" at the

Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Mosbacher Straße 55 65187 Wiesbaden

The index to record group "Abt. 339" is found in four bound volumes.

PUBLICATIONS
A full length history of Westerburg in German was published in 1999. While helpful, it does not provide much coverage of the 17th and 18th centuries, probably because of the destruction of records that occurred in World War II.


 * Grieff, Karl. Westerburg Stadt seit 1292. Koblenz: Stadt Westerburg, 1999.

Another helpful pamphlet-length history, also in German, with an engraving of Westerburg dated about 1700 is:


 * Mehr, Willy. Kleine Stadtgeschichte. Westerburger Hefte 21. Westerburg: Westerwaldverein, 1985.

Westerburg was a dynastic state, whose boundaries shifted as parcels were sold, bought, divided and inherited. To understand the jurisdictional boundaries of the Grafschaft of Leiningen-Westerburg the following two books should be consulted.


 * Brinkmeier, Ed. Genealogische Geschichte des uradeligen, reichsgräflichen und reichsfürstlichen, standesherrlichen, erlauchten Hauses Leiningen und Leiningen-Westerburg. Zweiter Band. Fascimile edition (1891). Elibron Classics, 2006.
 * Gensicke, Hellmuth. Landesgeschichte des Westerwaldes. Third Edition. Wiesbaden: Historische Kommission für Nassau, 1999.

For a list of helpful publications about Westerburg, see Geschichtswerkstatt-Westerburg: Literatur

See also the pamphlets in the very helpful series Westerburger Hefte

CHURCH RECORDS
Indices

The baptisms and marriages found in the early Lutheran church records have been indexed by Family Search volunteers. The burial records have not been indexed.


 * The location search term for the church is "Evangelisch, Westerburg, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia"
 * While the location search term for the town is "Westerburg, Hessen-Nassau, Preußen, Germany"

See, Germany, Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898


 * Germany, Marriages, 1558-1929

Microfilm Copies of the Original Registers

For the microfilm copies of the original church record books, see Kirchenbuch, 1641-1876. The early records are written in the old German script and the entries are in a mixture of German and a little Latin.

Transcripts

The following three transcripts can be found at the Ev. Kirchengemeinde Westerburg office (Gemeindebüro) in Westerburg along with some of the other church record books.

Gemeindebüro Danziger Str. 7 56457 Westerburg, Germany Tel.: 02663/919662 [current as of 2009]

“Kirchenbuch der ev. Gemeinde Westerburg 1641-1699.” Transcript. 9 August 2000. Ev. Kirchengemeinde Westerburg office, Westerburg, Germany

“Kirchenbuch der ev. Gemeinde Westerburg 1700-1752.” Transcript. 9 August 2001. Ev. Kirchengemeinde Westerburg office, Westerburg, Germany

“Kirchenbuch der ev. Gemeinde Westerburg 1753-1809.” Transcript. May 2002. Ev. Kirchengemeinde Westerburg office, Westerburg, Germany

The transcripts above are just that typed transcripts of the original church books and are much easier to read than the originals