Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

Geopgraphy and History


Bayreuth is a medium-sized town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the early 21st century, it is the capital of Upper Franconia and has a population of 72,148. It is world-famous for its annual Bayreuth Festival, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented.

See Wikipedia for more information on Bayrouth.
 * The town is believed to have been founded by the counts of Andechs probably around the mid-12th century.
 * In 1398 Bayreuth was partitioned from Nuremburg, becoming the Principality of Bayreuth (German: Fürstentum Bayreuth).
 * Until 1604, however, the princely residence and the center of the territory was the castle of Plassenburg in Kulmbach and as such the territory was officially known as the Principality of Kulmbach. The town of Bayreuth developed slowly and was affected time and again by disasters.
 * Bayreuth was first published on a map in 1421.

Online Records

 * This link takes you to FamilySearch catalog where there is information about the records on microfilm from Bayrouth. Check your local Family History Center to see if they can be viewed there. Eventually these records will all be digitized and they will be available online. Check those that have a camera icon to see if that is possible yet. If not recheck periodically.
 * There are only a few names from this area on Find A Grave at this time.However, it would be a good idea to recheck it occasionally for new data.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-Genealogy.net tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy. Enter the town name and it will produce an alphbetical list of people from that area that are in the data base. You can refine your search by also entering a surname.
 * Bavaria, Germany, WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 include information on soldiers from Augsburg on Ancestry.com If what you are looking for doesn't show up on the military search try the general search by entering the name and place of birth.

Standesamt Bayreuth
Office of Vital Records Luitpoldpl. 13 95444 Bayreuth Germany phone : +49 921 250 email : Standesamt@stadt.bayreuth.de Website

Civil records in most of Bavaria only go back to the late 1800's. To find family records before that time it is necessary to use church records. This is a good place to start. If you plan to go there but sure to contact ahead of time to make an appointment.

Catholic Church Records
There are four Catholic Parishes in Bayreuth and a couple other in nearby towns. They can all be seen on Google Maps Most of the Catholic Churches in Bavaria only keep current records on site. To find information on your ancestors it is necessary to go to the archive of the associated diocese.

Bayreuth belongs to the Bamberg Diocese.

Archiv des Erzbistums Bamberg
Domplatz 3 D-96049 Bamberg Germany Tel. 0951/502411 Telefax 0951/502425 E-Mail generalvikariat@erzbistum-bamberg.de

Website
 * The archive will accept research requests and arrange for professional researchers to answer them.
 * List of parish registers

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Bayreuth, there is a chance they affiliated with the Catholic church because of the prohibitive distance to a Lutheran church. However, if you do not find them in Catholic records, you should search the Lutheran records.

seen on Google Maps click on the one you are interested in and the details will appear in the box on the left. Below is information on one of them that can be used to contact the local church with questions about your ancestors.
 * According to Meyer's Gazetteer, there were a few Lutheran churches in 1871 in Bayreuth. There are still a few that serve this area now and they can all be

Evang.-Luth. Pfarramt Bayreuth-Stadtkirche Kanzleistraße 11 95444 Bayreuth Germany Telefon 0921 - 596 800 Telefax 0921 - 596 899 E-Mail: pfarramt.bayreuth-stadtkirche(at)elkb.de Website


 * Many records for the Lutheran (Evangelical) churches in Bavaria are digitized and available online through Archion ($). This is not a free site, but requires registration and a membership fee. This link gives instructions on How to Use Archion
 * Legacy Tree provides a detailed description of Archion that you may find valuable in deciding if this is a resource you want to use.

You can email to inquire about information for you ancestors.
 * The Lutheran Archive for Bavaria is in Nurnberg. It is always a good idea to contact in advance and make an appointment to use any archive.

Veilhofstraße 8 90489 Nurnberg Germany E-Mail: archiv@elkb.de Website

Cemeteries
There are several cemeteries in Bayreuth and the surrounding area. They can all be seen on Google Maps In a city this large walking through cemeteries could be very time consuming, unless you know which cemetery to go to and use the cemetery map to find the grave of your relative. If you are hoping to find information on your ancestors in a cemetery, keep in mind that in most Bavarian cemeteries the grave plots are re-used as often as every 25 years. (sometimes 50 -100 years).
 * If you are lucky enough to go to Bayreuth and want to find a cemetery Find A Grave and Billion Graves both have great phone apps to help you locate cemeteries.

Additional Help
We hope that the above information will be useful to those seeking genealogy for their family from Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany. If you are still struggling be sure to use the "Bavaria Wiki Topics" guide on the upper right side of this page. Another wonderful resource available on Wiki is the Wiki Wizard German vidoes.