Munich, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History And Geography


Munich (München) Germany Bavaria is the capital and the most populated city in the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is also the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, and the 12th largest city in the European Union, with a population of around 1.5 million. The Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 6 million people


 * Munich lies on the elevated plains of Upper Bavaria, about 50 km (31.07 mi) north of the northern edge of the Alps, at an altitude of about 520 m (1,706.04 ft)
 * The local rivers are the Isar and the Würm
 * Munich is situated in the Northern Alpine Foreland. The northern part of this sandy plateau includes a highly fertile flint area which is no longer affected by the folding processes found in the Alps, while the southern part is covered with morainic hills. Between these are fields of fluvio-glacial out-wash, such as around Munich. Wherever these deposits get thinner, the ground water can permeate the gravel surface and flood the area, leading to marshes as in the north of Munich.


 * Munich's city climate lies between the humid continental climate and the oceanic climate. Showers and thunderstorms bring the highest average monthly precipitation in late spring and throughout the summer. The most precipitation occurs in June, on average. Winter tends to have less precipitation, the least in February. The higher elevation and proximity to the Alps cause the city to have more rain and snow than many other parts of Germany.

Boroughs of Munich

Since the administrative reform in 1992, Munich is divided into 25 boroughs or Stadtbezirke, which themselves consist smaller distinct quarters.

Allach-Untermenzing, Altstadt-Lehel, Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied, Au-Haidhausen, Berg am Laim, Bogenhausen, Feldmoching-Hasenbergl, Hadern, Laim, Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Maxvorstadt, Milbertshofen-Am Hart, Moosach, Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, Obergiesing, Pasing-Obermenzing, Ramersdorf-Perlach, Schwabing-Freimann, Schwabing-West, Schwanthalerhöhe, Sendling, Sendling-Westpark, Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln, Trudering-Riem and Untergiesing-Harlaching.

Civil Registration
Civil archives and private archives are terrific sources of record documents for the family researcher once he/she has obtained the most genealogically important (baptism, marriage and death) church records for his/her ancestor.

Below is a list of the types of records found in civil and private archives Address Books (Adressbucher) Apprentice Lists (lehrlingsbucher) Census Returns (Volkszahlungen) City Chronicles (Stadtchroniken) City Directories (Adressbucher) Citizenship )Burgerbucher) Court Records (Gerichtsprotokolle) Emigration Lists (Auswanderung register) Family Books (Ortssippenbucher) Funeral Sermons (Leichenpredigton) Grave Registers (Grabregister) Guild Books (Gilderbucher) Land Records (Grundbucher) Lineage Books (Geschlechterbucher) Newspapers (Zeitungen) Parish Registers (Kirchenbucher)(br) Police Registers (Polizeiregister) Probate Records (Testamente) Tax Records (Steuercbucher) Wills (Testamente) Staatsarchiv München - gives information on the specific holdings of this archive which serves all of Oberbayern Staatsarchiv München Schönfeldstr. 3 80539 München Germany

For mail: Staatsarchiv München Postfach 221152 80501 München Germany Tel. 089/28638-2525 Fax 089/28638-2526 E-mail: poststelle@stam.bayern.de

The Standesumter (civil registration offices) only began taking vital records (birth, death, marriage) after 1 Jan 1876. The Munich Standesamt is on-line and records may now be ordered through a web site, but this only applies to those whose ancestors were from the area of Munich itself, and the records are only accessible to direct descendants:
 * Website

You can also contact the Munich Standesamt at the following address:

Landeshauptstadt Munchen Kreisverwaltungsreferat Standesamt Ruppertstr. 11 München Germany Tel.: 089/233-44344 Fax: 089/233-44320

For people with ancestors from other areas of Oberbayern who may have records after 1 Jan. 1876, contact the appropriate Standesamt (usually located at the same place as the city hall) for wherever they lived. Again, records after 1 Jan. 1876 may only be given to direct descendants. For example, you would be able to obtain records for your parents or grandparents but not for aunts, uncles or cousins or great aunts or uncles, etc.

Lutheran Church Records
LUTHERAN records for ALL of Oberbayern can be requested here:

Landeskirchliches Archiv, Kirchenbucharchiv Am Ölberg 2 93047 Regensburg Germany Tel. and Fax: +49 941/52061 Website: http://www.lkan-elkb.de/kirchenbuecher.htm

NOTE: As of January, 2003. For the Lutheran archive to answer genealogical inquiries they need (as exact as possible) information about name, place of birth or residence and the approximate year of birth, marriage or death of the persons concerned. In general, they only have parish registers ("Kirchenbuecher") until ca. 1876 for persons belonging to the Lutheran church once having lived within the borders of modern Bavaria. Their main office in Nuernberg only keeps records of Nuernberg and its suburbs. Inquiries concerning other places should be sent to the address above. The registers of many parishes however are still kept at the local pastorate. A list of those parishes whose church books are kept in their branch office is available on their website. They may give you, free of charge, information about existing registers and the place where they are kept. They are not allowed to sell or to lend out microfilms or fiches of the originals.

Costs: For genealogical investigations, regardless of their success, they charge Euro 25 or Euro 30 (depending on the degree of difficulty) per half an hour of research (maximum charge: Euro 90), plus postage and other fees. You should confirm this at the time of your request. Extra services such as issuing documents or making copies or photos are to be paid in addition according to their statement of charges. Customers from abroad are requested to send a cheque in advance (currency: Euro). Any information liable to charge may only be delivered by postal letter. Therefore they ask you to give them your postal address when you make your request or inquiry.