Prague (Praha) City Archives, Czechia Church Records

Back to Czech Republic Page►

Overview
Praha (Prague) City Archive is in the process of digitizing parish (church) registers and making them available through the digital archive. To use these archives you need these skills:
 * 1. An understanding of the important information in parish registers.
 * 2. Knowledge of the steps to navigate the archives to find the records of the parish you want.
 * 3. The ability to read a few Czech, German, or Latin words that are found in the records.  You do not have to be fluent in any of these languages!
 * 4. A planned strategy for finding all the members of a family.

Parish Records and the Information They Contain
'''Church books contain baptism (birth), marriage, and burial (death) information and are definitely the best source for identifying one’s relatives in the Czech Republic. '''

Entries are usually arranged in chronological order and, after 1784, in a columnar format. Sometimes, baptisms, marriages, and burials are kept for all villages in a parish, for each year. Other times, each village has its own section of baptisms, marriages, and burials, listed chronologically. Some records are in preprinted forms. Most records include indexes. While the books have been kept to the present, they are only available for research through about 1910 because of privacy laws. The church books cover a majority of the population. Important details that will help identify your ancestors:

Baptismal entries usually contain the following:


 * names of the child, parents, godparents, and sometimes grandparents
 * date and place of birth and baptism
 * residence and religion of the parents
 * whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate

Marriage entries usually contain the following:


 * names of the bride, groom, their parents, witnesses, and sometimes grandparents
 * date and place of marriage
 * residence and religion of the bride and groom
 * age, previous marital status, and occupation of bride and groom

Burial entries usually contain the following:


 * names of the deceased and spouse/parents
 * date and place of death and burial
 * residence and religion of the deceased
 * age and cause of death of the deceased

See also, Czech Republic Church Records and Using Online Czech Records: Introduction].

Tutorial
Using Online Czech Records: Prague City Archives

Step-by-Step Instructions

 * 1. The list of parish and civil registers is available in .pdf format. Click here. A typical entry will look like this:


 * 2. A blue link in the first column and a "D" in the Typ column indicates that digital records are available. Click on the blue link for the record range you want.
 * narození = births
 * oddaní = marriages
 * zemřelí = deaths
 * 3. A more detailed description of the record will now appear. Click on the image labeled "obrázků Zobrazeno" - a picture of a book cover.
 * 4. You might come to a screen that is a "captcha" security step. Type in the indicated word and click "otevrit" for "enter".


 * 5. Your images will now appear for browsing.

Vocabulary:
 * +Matriky = registers
 * +katolické = Roman Catholic
 * +nekatolické = Evangelical, Orthodox and Czechoslovak
 * +civilní = civil

Roman Catholic registers are further divided:


 * +'katolické' = Roman Catholic
 * +vnitřní obvody = inner districts
 * +vnější obvody = outer districts

Inner districts include Praha I - Staré Město, Praha II - Nové Město, Praha III - Malá Strana, Praha IV - Hradčany, and Praha VI - Vyšehrad. Outer districts include Bohnice, Břevnov, Bubeneč, Čakovice, Dejvice, Dolní Počernice, Hloubětín, Holešovice, Hostivař, Chvaly, Jinonice, Karlín, Koloděje, Košíře, Kunratice, Kyje, Libeň, Liboc, Michle, Modřany, Nebušice, Nusle, Pankrác, Podolí, Prosek, Slivenec, Smíchov, Stodůlky, Střešovice (Andělka), Třeboradice, Uhříněves, Vinohrady, Vinoř, Vršovice, Zbraslav, Zlíchov, and Žižkov.

Reading the Records
Reading the records will be easier than you might think! Church records use only a few basic terms in any language, such as: father, mother, son, daughter, born, baptized, married, died. Personal and place names don't need to be translated, and dates often look very similar to English. More recent records are in columns, and by translating the column title, one can then easily read the pages. The basic vocabulary can be memorized for easy recognition, and other terms, such as occupations and relationships can be quickly translated, by consulting a genealogical word list.


 * Czech Republic Genealogical Word Listt
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * Latin Genealogical Word List

Czech was not recognized as an official language until 1877 in Bohemia and 1905 in Moravia. Except for modern records of the 1900s, records in the Czech Republic were written mostly in Latin and German. These materials for learning to read German, Latin, and old Gothic script will be helpful in preparing you to read Czech church records.
 * German Handwriting (article)
 * Online interactive slideshow lessons:
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents. In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
 * German Script Tutorial
 * Key Words and Phrases in Latin Records

Building a Family Record with a Search Strategy
Many articles on strategy are available on the Wiki, but here is a simple set of steps to guide you See also:
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth/baptism/christening record, then search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents, and even the names of their parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.
 * Czech Republic Getting Started
 * How to Find Birth Information
 * How to Find Marriage Information
 * How to Find Death Information
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Czech Republic Beginning Research
 * Czech Republic Beginners Corner What's the Next Step?