Schleswig-Holstein, German Empire Church Records

The Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche - Nordelbisches Kirchenarchiv writes:

"Practical Information for Genealogists:

We are sorry to inform you that there are no church records or family genealogical registers at the Nordelbisches Kirchenarchiv. So we are not able to help you with genealogical data about families in general.

There is no central index of families or names for the territory of our church. All data of persons can only be traced directly from the church records of the local parishes. It is therefore indispensible for efficient genealogical research to know the exact German name of the place of origin of the person concerned.

Written requests should be addressed to the respecting local parish, in most cases the so called "Kirchenbuchämter" (church record offices).

We need your postal address before we can handle your request. It would make it easier to forward your request to other archives and Kirchenbuchämter which can more sucessfully deal with it."

The Kirchenbuchämter for Schleswig-Holstein are:

Kirchenkreis Alt-Hamburg Kirchenkreis Altona Kirchenkreis Angeln

Kirchenkreis Blankenese Kirchenkreis Eckernförde Kirchenkreis Eiderstedt Kirchenkreis Eutin Kirchenkreis Flensburg Kirchenkreis Harburg Kirchenkreis Herzogtum Lauenburg Kirchenkreis Husum-Bredstedt Kirchenkreis Kiel Kirchenkreis Lübeck Kirchenkreis Münsterdorf Kirchenkreis Neumünster Kirchenkreis Niendorf Kirchenkreis Norderdithmarschen Nordschleswigsche Gemeinde Kirchenkreis Oldenburg Kirchenkreis Pinneberg Kirchenkreis Plön Kirchenkreis Rantzau Kirchenkreis Rendsburg Kirchenkreis Schleswig Kirchenkreis Segeberg Kirchenkreis Stormarn Kirchenkreis Süderdithmarschen Kirchenkreis Südtondern

The addresses of Kirchenbuchämter, changes, their holdings and conditions of research as well as whom to contact can be accessed through

http://www.nordelbisches-kirchenarchiv.de/index.php?id=55,141,0,0,1,0

The individual Kirchenbuchämter and their jurisdictions can also be found via Google search, i.e, Kirchenbuchamt Alt-Hamburg, Kirchenbuchamt/Kirchenkreis Kiel etc. for latest developments. There will be either a list of parishes given or a map will illustrate jurisdictions. This will enable the researcher to determine whether the correct Kirchenkreis is being accessed.

Here is how it works:

A researcher is looking for church records of Bissee, Holstein. A look on a map places the town right between Kiel and Neumünster. The question is, which Kirchenbuchamt is the repository for Bissee, Kiel or Neumünster? Kirchenkreis Neumünster'sjurisdiction map does not show Bissee, therefore, the Kirchenkreis Kiel'sjurisdictions were checked. The town did not show up in the listings either. Further research revealed that Bissee was part of the parish of Brügge according to the gazetteer Kingdom of Prussia, Schleswig-Holstein Province. Going back to Kirchenkreis Neumünster's listings, Brügge is listed.

The request for an ancestor's record would be addressed to the Kirchenkreis Neumünster. For addresses of all Schleswig-Holstein Kirchenkreise, click here

To read about church history in Schleswig-Holstein see: http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Schleswig-Holsteinische_Kirchengeschichte

If you desire to conduct research in Schleswig-Holstein using church records, you should be aware of the following information issued by the Evangelische Landeskirche:

Before 1876 the entries in church registers had the status of legal documents. This changed when civil registration came into existence throughout Germany. Today church administrations are urged to allow research into church registers as well as provide information. Since 1876 church books do no longer have equal legal standing with civil registration registers since the Church only documents ecclesiastical concerns.

Church books become "historical" if they are no longer used for administrative purposes and attain this status at the latest thirty years after the last entry was done. Then records become archival and are subject to archival laws.

These regulations only apply to historical church books. Current church books are subject to information entitlement, i.e., persons or their legal guardians have access to the information pertaining to them, others if they have a credible legal interest.