Bas-Rhin, France Genealogy

France Alsace  Bas-Rhin

Quick Facts
(Alsatian: Unterelsàss)

Bas-Rhin is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790, during the French Revolution.

In the mid-1790s, following the French occupation of the entire left bank of the Rhine, the northern boundary of the department was extended north beyond the Lauter to the Queich river to include the areas of Annweiler am Trifels, Landau in der Pfalz, Bad Bergzabern, and Worth am Rhein. However, upon Napoleon's second defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna reassigned the areas north of the Lauter to Bayern; and those territories are now presently located in the neighbouring German state of Rheinland-Pfalz.

The department has twice been incorporated into Germany: from 1871 (after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War) until the end of World War I in 1918, and again briefly during World War II (from 1940 to 1945).

Arrondissements, Cantons, Communes
Arrondissements

Cantons 

Civil Registration indexes are at canton level.

Communes

Parish and Civil Registration records are at commune level.

Archives and Libraries

 * English explanation of Archives site
 * French language Archives for Bas-Rhin

Chronology

 * 1) A chronology of those who ruled Lower Alsace from the 1st to the 20th century. (Chronologie de la Basse Alsace 1er - XXe siècle)

Gazetteers

 * FranceGenWeb for Bas-Rhin

Notarial records

 * 1) Numerical index of the notarial archives of the former area of Basse- Alsace, now in the department of Bas-Rhin, France. Includes an index of notaries and clientele. (Répertoire numérique des archives notariales de Basse Alsace)

Schools

 * 1) Directory of the Evangelical Lutheran clergy, parishes, communities, and schools of higher learning, 1525-1694. (Die evangeliche Gemeinden und Hohen Schulen in Elsass und Lothringen von der Reformation bis zur Gegenwart)

Taxation

 * 1) Register of the revenue and list of taxpayers for the bailliage of Uffried. (Registres des revenus du bailliage de l'Uffried, 1561) Includes registers of Stattmatten, Dalhunden, Sessenheim, Rountzenheim, Roeschwoog, and Roppenheim.

Websites

 * Bas-Rhin FranceGenWeb