Rhineland (Rheinland), German Empire Church Records

First Find the German Empire Region in Modern Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate was cobbled together in 1947 from many regions that came from other states in the German Empire. For records prior to 1945, and for using the Family History Library catalog, you must search for church records defining the location by its state during the German Empire. The 1871 Meyers Gazetteer (available here online) will tell you the historical location of your town, its county, administrative district, and province or state. Use the following chart or map to link to research articles that apply to each former locations. The place names are clickable to location-specific articles dealing with each region.

How to Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records in Rhineland-Palatinate
Most of your genealogical research for Rhineland-Palatinate will be in three main record types: civil registration, church records, and, when available, a compiled town genealogy ("'Ortssippenbuch" or "Ortsfamilienbuch" in German). These articles will teach you how to use these records in digital databases, as microfilms, or by writing for them.
 * Civil Registration
 * Church Records
 * Town Genealogies

Church Records (Parish Registers) Definition
Church records (parish registers) are excellent sources of sufficiently accurate information on names, dates and places of birth / baptism, marriage and death / funeral. They are the most important source of genealogical information for Germany before 1876. Most of the people who lived in Germany, were recorded in a church record. Church records contain records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. In addition, church records can contain financial account books (charges for toll bells, fees for masses for the dead, and so on), lists of confirmation, penance register communion lists, lists of members and the family register. Church records were kept in the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church minister. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many neighboring villages in their boundaries.

Duplicate Church Records
Unfortunately, some of Germany's church records were destroyed in wars or when parsonages burned. Concerns about such destruction led authorities in some areas to require the pastor to create a copy of each year's baptism-, marriage-, and burial entries, mostly beginning in the late 18th century. These copies were either stored separately or sent to a central archive each year. Local governments often found it helpful to have access to the birth-, marriage-, and death records kept by the clergy. Soon local pastors were required to provide the town administration with a yearly copy of these records. These copies are called transcripts or duplicates [Kirchenbuchduplikate], and most are housed in central church archives or state archives. Use duplicates, where available, to supplement parish registers that are missing or illegible. Keep in mind that duplicates often differ slightly from the originals.

Availability
The first surviving German Protestant records are from 1524 at St. Sebald in Nürnberg. Lutheran churches in general began requiring baptism, marriage, and burial records around 1540; Catholics began in 1563. By 1650 most Reformed parishes began keeping records. Many church records were destroyed in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In addition, records for some parishes in the Pfalz and Rheinland were interrupted for several years when the French controlled those areas of Germany from 1792 to 1815 and introduced civil registration.

Generally, the earliest church records are in western Germany. The farther east you go, the later the church records begin. For more information, see Germany Church History and Germany History.

Information Recorded in Church Records
Baptisms (Taufen): Children were usually baptized a few days after birth. Baptism registers usually give the infant's name, parents' names, status of legitimacy, names of witnesses or godparents, and baptism date. You may also find the child's birth date, the father's occupation, and the family's place of residence, the names of godparents, their residences, and occupations. Death information was sometimes added as a note or signified by a cross. Because of social conditions in Germany, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon. Illegitimacy is usually noted in baptism records, sometimes by a note in the margin or an upside-down or sideways entry.

Marriages (Heiraten): Marriage registers give the marriage date and the names of the bride and groom. The registers may also indicate whether they were single or widowed and give the names of witnesses. Other information about the bride and groom is often included, such as their ages, residences, occupations, birthplaces, and parents' names. In cases of second and subsequent marriages, the registers may include the names of previous partners and their death dates. A note was often made if a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage.

Proklamationsbuch/Proclamation Book or Marriage Banns (Aufgebote): For two or three weeks before the marriage, marriage banns (announcements of the intention to marry) were read and/or posted in church. This gave community members a chance to object to the marriage. Most proclamations took place on consecutive Sundays. If the future spouses were from different parishes, the banns were read in each church. Before the marriage ceremony could take place, the non-local party was required to present the officiating pastor with a paper stating that the proclamations had been read and there were no objections. A note stating that this person had been "dismissed" to marry elsewhere may be found in the marriage register.

The marriage registers of some churches give the dates on which the marriage banns were announced. The marriage banns themselves may exist in a separate record. Some parishes kept the marriage banns and other marriage information instead of marriage registers.

If a couple needed to get married quicky, permission to skip the proclamations could be obtained for a fee. This special permission is called a dispensation. Common reasons for a hasty marriage include pregnancy and imminent emigration.

Formal engagements were often associated with a celebration that required the families to purchase a certain amount of alcoholic beverages from the local pub. This custom was known as the "Weinkauf". Engagement dates may be given in the parish register as " der Weinkauf" or "weinkaeuflich ".

Burials (Begräbnisse): Burials were recorded in the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of death.

Burial registers give the name of the deceased and the date and place of death or burial. Often the deceased's age, place of residence, and cause of death and the names of survivors are also given. Occasionally the deceased's birth date and place and parents' names are given. However, information about parents, birth dates, and birthplaces may be inaccurate, depending on the informant's knowledge. Between the second half of the 1700’s till about 1800, the church death records may help you greatly in organizing families. At this time, death records often were quite lengthy documents giving names and detailed information regarding the survivors of the deceased.

If the burial record mentions a sermon, you may be able to find a printed copy at a local library or archive. Funeral sermons often mentioned several generations of ancestors. See Germany Obituaries for more details.

Confirmations (Konfirmationen): Protestants were usually confirmed around age 14, Catholics about age 12. Some confirmation registers merely list the names of those being confirmed and the confirmation date. Other confirmation registers give additional information about those being confirmed, including their ages or birth dates, birthplaces, and fathers' names.

Family Registers (Familienbücher):

Some parishes kept family registers that give information about each family group in the parish. Family registers are more common in southern Germany, especially in Württemberg and Baden after 1808. It is advisable to look up information first in family registers.These serve as a sort of index where information can be retrieved for three generations at a glance. The registers were established in 1808 and contain information from the 1700s. There are older family books available, usually called Seelenregister. Not only do they link generations but additionally, the local priests often put in remarks where a parishioner may have moved to, either to another town or out of the country, i.e., moved to America, etc. Even though information is provided in the family registers, it is still a good idea to check the individual entries for persons in the actual church records, because people do make mistakes.

Children are usually listed in chronological order. Names, birth dates, confirmation dates, marriage dates, and death dates may be listed. In some registers, when a child married and remained in the same parish, the register gives a “see” reference and a page number where that particular child appears as the head of a household.

Some family registers indicate whether the family moved to another village or emigrated to another country.

Kirchenkonventsprotokolle: Besides church books, the so called Kirchenkonventsprotokolle, (starting in 1644) are a good source for genealogical research. These books deal with illegitimate births and indecent assault cases. Cases were judged by the local priest, the mayor, the deacon and the village judge. The Konvent saw to it that the father of the illegitimate child would honor his marriage vows. Also, the Konvent endeavoured to putty broken marriages due to brutality or drink. In cases of denomination, the Konvent had strict rules. If a Protestant girl was intending to marry a Catholic boy, the parents had to intervene. If young people went dancing at festivities of the opposite religion, the Konvent came down hard on them. They had to pay a fine. The protocolls are stored with the individual parishes.

Parish Genealogy (Ortssippenbuch): Pastors or genealogists sometimes compiled a village lineage book (Ortssippenbuch), which included each family in a parish. For details see Germany Town Genealogies and Parish Register Inventories on the Internet.

Church Record Inventories
Church record inventories are essential tools for finding German records. They identify what records should be available for a specified parish and where to write for information on these records. They list the church records, their location, and the years they cover. Sometimes inventories explain which parishes served which towns at different periods of time.
 * For parishes in Rhine Province, see Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preußen:Rhein Provinz
 * The new Kirchenbuchportal (church book portal) has been created by the Association of Church Archives, ecumenical organization, to facilitate access to German-language church records. As of July 2010 several archives have posted detailed inventories of the parish registers in their collections. Details about the participating archives, including links to posted inventories, are found here. A database of all inventoried records, arranged by archive, is found here.

Accessing the Records
Some records may be found online. There is excellent microfilm coverage for this region, and microfilms may be used at Family History Centers around the world. Some research will need to be conducted by correspondence with local parish churches or with centralized archives. In the following list, select the geographical region you need. Then read Writing Letters, Reading the Records, and Search Strategies. -

Rhineland
Online Records: Microfilms: Parish Addresses:
 * 1600-1925 - at FamilySearch Historical Records, free, browsable images, incomplete.
 * Click here. Open the link. Click on your town or parish. Click on the "Church records" topic.
 * Parish finder search engine for Rhineland District(Lutheran)
 * Clickable map for Trier parishes (Catholic)

The Palatinate
Online Records: Microfilms: Parish Addresses: -
 * Central Archives of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate
 * 1600-1925 - at FamilySearch Historical Records, free, browsable images, incomplete.
 * Click here. Click on "Places within Bayern, Germany." Click on your town or parish. Click on the "Church records" topic.
 * Parish finder search engine for Rhineland District(Lutheran)
 * Parish address list for Diocese of Speyer (Catholic, historical area of ​​the Palatinate). Click on deaneries in the left sidebar to find parishes.

Alzey-Worms (formerly Hessen-Darmstadt, now Rhineland-Palatinate)

 * See Alzey-Worms Kreis (formerly Hessen), Rheinland-Palatinate Genealogy

Mainz-Bingen (formerly Hessen-Darmstadt, now Rhineland-Palatinate)

 * See Mainz-Bingen Kreis (formerly Hessen), Rheinland-Palatinate Genealogy

Westerwaldkreis (formerly Hessen-Nassau), now Rheinland-Palatinate)

 * See Westerwaldkreis (formerly Hessen-Nassau), Rheinland-Palatinate Genealogy

Unterlahnkreis (formerly Limburg-Wilburg Kreis, Hessen-Nassau, now Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, Rheinland-Palatinate)

 * Limburg-Weilburg Kreis, Hessen Genealogy

Birkenfeld (formerly Oldenburg, now Rhineland-Palatinate)

 * How to Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Oldenburg (now in Lower Saxony), Germany

Writing Letters
Most church registers are still maintained by the parish. You might obtain information by writing to the parish. Parish employees will usually answer correspondence written in German. Your request may be forwarded if the records have been sent to a central repository. Some archives provide research services for a fee. Others will refer you to local professional researchers.

Writing the Letter
Write a brief request in German to the proper church using this address as a guide, replacing the information in parentheses: For a Protestant Parish:


 * An das evangelische Pfarramt
 * (Insert street address, if known.)
 * (Postal Code) (Name of Locality)
 * GERMANY

For a Catholic Parish:


 * An das katholische Pfarramt
 * (Insert street address, if known.)
 * (Postal Code) (Name of Locality)
 * GERMANY


 * Click herefor postal code help for Germany.

How to write a letter: Detailed instruction for what to include in the letter, plus German translations of the questions and sentences most frequently used are in the Germany Letter Writing Guide.'''

Reading the Records

 * It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in French and German to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately.  Here are some resources for learning to read German records.
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * German Handwriting


 * These video webinars will teach you to read German handwriting:
 * Old German Script Part 1
 * Old German Script Part 2
 * Old German Script (German Church and Civil Records) Part 3


 * Also online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:
 * 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

This converter will show you how any phrase or name might look in German script:
 * Kurrentschrift Converter (enter German genealogical word, click on "convert", view your word in Kurrentschrift (Gothic handwriting)

Search Strategy

 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, 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.
 * 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.