Baden Court Records

Pfandbuch (mortgage books)

People who had property in their villages as owners or tenants were also able to purchase land elsewhere. If they needed a loan, such properties were mortgaged. Lenders also, may not necessarily have been from the village itself but from a neighboring place. The consequent entries into mortgage books do not just identify the participating parties but also give the names of adjacent neighbors as the properties were described.

Bürgerliche Rechtspflege (administration of justice)

covers different legal actions in which ancestors may or may not have been involved, such as guardianships (Vormundschaften), foreclosures (Zwangsversteigerung), copies from land registers (Grundbuchabschriften), mortgage deeds (Pfandbücher), dispositions (Grundbuchwesen), certificates of assets (Vermögenszeugnisse), leases (Güterverpachtungen) and auctions (Güterversteigerungen).

Heiratskonsens (permission to get married)

Before 1805 the magistrate executed both the civil and judicial administration. People who wanted to get married, needed to write a petition to the magistrate in order to get married. They would present their intentions indicating that the parents were in agreement with their marriage partner. Usually the groom would ask for permission. The petition was then signed by both marriage partners with additional signatures by the parents or guardians, if the parents were deceased. The magistrate would then reply, granting permission for banns to be read and admonishing the couple to get in contact with the local priest.