Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg, Cottbus, Miscellaneous City Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Deutschland, Brandenburg, Cottbus Archivgut

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1672 to 1919.

This is a collection of mixed records from the city archives of Cottbus. Most of the records are handwritten in narrative style and, in later years, in formatted forms. The record text is in German. Includes military records, land &amp; property records, citizen rolls, Jewish records, city directories, and some items from Sandow.

This collection may include records such as:


 * Wills and estates
 * Land and tenancy records
 * Court records
 * Tax records
 * Funeral sermons and sexton records
 * Voting registers
 * Council meeting protocols
 * Hospital books

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Records collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content
Records generally contain the following information:


 * Names of parents, children, witnesses
 * Dates and places of events, ages
 * Residence and religion of principals
 * Occupation of principal person and maybe of other people listed depending on the record
 * Legitimacy

How to Use the Record
To search the collection, ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select “City or Town” ⇒Select “Category” ⇒Select “Record type, Year range, and Volume” which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

In order to find data in this collection, it will be necessary to know at least the name of the ancestor, the place of the event, and an approximate date.

Some records have indexes at the end of the volume. Frequently, these indexes are arranged by the given name of the individual and sometimes use the Latin form of the name. Those volumes without indexes need to be searched chronologically for the individuals sought.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about other people listed in the record. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the birth or baptism date and place to find the family in other civil records or church records.
 * The parents' places of origin can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile baptism entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the baptism records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born, married, and died in or near to the same place.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in German. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:


 * German Word List
 * German Language and Languages

Related Websites
Kirchenbuchportal

Related Wiki Articles

 * Germany Archives and Libraries
 * Germany Church Records
 * Germany locating civil registration records not at the Family History Library

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box:Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg, Cottbus, Miscellaneous City Records, 1672-1919

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.