Czech Republic Land Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Czech Republic

What is in This Collection?
This collection will include records from 1450 to 1889. Czech land books include declarations of land ownership, land transfers, and land inheritances. The Czech name of land records has varied over time; however, the records listed in this collection are named gruntovní knihy. These books initially were kept at the landholder level, then at village level, farm level, and finally by a district administrator and his scribe. Land registers are written mostly in German, with some in Czech. The available records only cover a very few geographical areas and towns. To see a list of the localities included in this collection, and the images, view the list of the images through the "Browse through the images" link in FamilySearch.org. The collection is incomplete and only covers a few towns. Additional images may be added to this collection in the future.

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

The land books (pozemkové knihy) recorded landholders and land lease titles; they date from about 1600. The oldest land books (pozemkové knihy) listed the location of the property along with the financial obligations of the landholder to the estate owner. Buildings on these lands were often listed by type (cottage, blacksmith’s forge, etc.) in land books. Starting in the mid 1600s, some records began differentiating by categories of farmers. Farmers were categorized as follows:
 * Sedlák (Bauer) -- farmer who usually owned 1 or more than 1 "lán" of land
 * Půlláník or Půlník (Halblähner) -- small farmer who owned "půl" = half of 1 "lán" of land
 * Čtvrtláník or Čtvrtník (¼ lähner or Viertler) -- even smaller farmer who owned "čtvrt" = quarter of 1 "lán"
 * Chalupník (Chalupner) -- cottager or small peasant, they owned their house and a small amount of land surrounding it
 * Domkář (Häusler) -- cottager, who owned a house but no land
 * Zahradník (Gärtler) -- gardener, see below
 * Podruh (Inmann) -- farm laborer, they did not own house nor land


 * Lán is an ancient land measurement unit, about 16-20 hectares (it depends, usually counted as 18 hectares). 1 "lán" is approx. 4.5 (American) acres.
 * Zahradník has two different meanings: a) peasant who owned house with garden, and b) gardener. In Czech parish books 99% of the people identified as gardeners are actually peasants, and not gardeners.

Another interesting fact about the land registers is that holders sometimes abandoned farmsteads and moved to another locality. In general, they left to escape high debt, but mostly because of drudgery or oppression. The Thirty Years' War left many people dead. Many tried to get more land, and the gardener and serf classes decreased.

Reading These Records
These records are written in German and Czech. For help reading the records see the following:
 * German Language and Languages
 * German Word List
 * Czech Republic Genealogical Word List
 * Czech Republic Language and Languages

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
 * A list of serfs with land rights, including their ages and type of obligations toward the estate owner
 * Residences and often relationship to previous landholder
 * Lists of all the inhabitants of the estate, testaments, debts, orphan matters, mortgages, marriage contracts, inheritance, and other matters
 * Changes in ownership of properties, succession of farmstead holders, prices and payments of property and goods

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * Approximate date of the event

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and census records
 * Search for the land transactions of a couple and their children. The parents may have sold or given property to a son or daughter. Such transactions confirm relationships that might not be found in other records
 * Search for records of people in the county who shared a surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives. Your ancestor may have been an heir who sold inherited land that had belonged to parents or grandparents
 * To find later generations, search the land records a few years before and after a person’s death. Your ancestor may have sold or given land to his or her heirs before death, or the heirs may have sold the land after the individual died. For daughters, the names of their husbands are often provided. For sons, the given names of their wives may be included. Heirs may have sold their interest in the land to another heir even though the record may not indicate this. Continue this process for identifying each succeeding generation
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
 * One deed does not usually give sufficient information about a couple and their children. A careful study of all deeds for the person or the family will yield a richer return of information
 * For each parcel of land owned, you should obtain two documents:
 * 1) The deed that documents when ownership transferred to the individual or the family and
 * 2) The deed that documents when ownership was transferred to someone else.

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Consult the Czech Republic Record Finder to find other records
 * Look for variant spellings of the surnames
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the Czech Republic.
 * Czechia Guided Research
 * Czech Republic Record Finder
 * Czech Republic Research Tips and Strategies

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

República Checa, registros de tierra (Registros históricos de FamilySearch) República Tcheca, Registros de Terra (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)