Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate Church Record Extractions and Family Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Deutschland, Rheinland-Palatinate, Kirchenbuchabschriften und Familiennamenkartei

Record Description
This collection will include records from 1600 to 1925.

This collection includes images of a combination of church family register extractions and indexes for the district of Rhine Hesse-Palatinate (Rheinland Hessen-Pfalz) in Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz). Most image sets are arranged chronologically (by year of event) or alphabetically (by surname).

Family registers may go back to the 1500s, when they began during the time of the Reformation. Because of wars, natural disasters, and accidents, many churches were destroyed, along with all or part of their records. Very few church records go back before 1650 because of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). Family registers were created with information from the parish register and should be used as a guide to search the actual church records for the ancestors’ christening, marriage, and burial information. The text in church family registers is written mainly in German. However, earlier text could be handwritten in Latin and after 1945 handwritten in Gothic script. The headings for the extracted information are in English.

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

This collection of records includes information extracted from church family registers for the years 1600-1925.

Beginning in the 1500s, churches began keeping family registers. This collection of extracted data was created to make it easier to research ancestors.

Church records (Kirchenbücher) are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and places of birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial. They are the most significant source of genealogical information for Germany before 1876. Most people who lived in Germany were recorded in a church record. However, the information found in a family register depends on how detailed the minister made his record. The extraction of data depends on how well the records were read.

Record Content
Family registers generally contain the following information:


 * Name of the ancestor, either as a parent or child
 * Names of the ancestor’s siblings, parents, grandparents
 * Date of the ancestor’s birth
 * Place of the ancestor’s birth
 * Occupation of the ancestor’s father
 * Birth dates of the ancestor’s siblings and parents
 * Date of the ancestor’s marriage
 * Date of the ancestor’s death
 * Death dates of the ancestor’s siblings and parents
 * Information concerning emigration in the family

How to Use the Records
To search the collection, ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select “Place” ⇒Select “Record type” ⇒Select “Event type” ⇒Select “Name range” which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image 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.

Family registers were created with data from the parish registers and should be used as a guide to search the actual church records for the ancestor’s christening, marriage, and burial information. Data of an ancestor can be searched by surname and place of residence. Make sure the record found is your ancestor; it is recommended to use the elimination system when more than one family has the same family name. After you have found the information for your ancestor, transfer the information onto your family history record. With this information, the data of siblings or other family members could also be researched.

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


 * German Word List
 * German Language and Languages
 * Latin Genealogical Word List

Related Websites
Germany Genealogy

Related Wiki Articles

 * Germany Genealogy
 * Germany Church Records

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.