Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) Gazetteers

Brunswick

 * Online Gazetteer of Braunschweig
 * Allgemeine Dorf-Geographie von Deutschland by Georg Adam Keyser, describing every village, hamlet, castle, manor etc. of Germany between 1789 and 1795 and to what Amt, district, county or court they belonged.

Oldenburg Gazetteer
As there are no central record retrieval systems for German records, it is imperative to know the record jurisdictions to which your ancestor's place of origin belonged. The object of this project was to list the place names within the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, along with:

1) Physical description, i.e. farm, city, etc.

2) Community to which it belonged, (similar to a district).

3) The name of the County Seat

4) The Lutheran parish jurisdiction.

5) Where the Lutheran records are housed.

6) The Catholic parish jurisdiction.

7) Where the Catholic records are housed.

This is currently an ongoing project.

Introduction-Abbreviations

A B C D E F G (Ha-He) (Hi-Hu) (I-J) K L M N O (P-Q) R (Sa-Se) (Si-Sy) T U-V W Z

Historical Geography

 * Das Grossherzogtum Oldenburg

The territory of the former state of Oldenburg is currently divided among five federal states:

Lower Saxony: Schleswig-Holstein, Germany: Bremen Rhineland-Palatinate: Saarland:
 * County Oldenburg
 * County Ammerland
 * County Cloppenburg
 * County of Vechta
 * County Friesland
 * District of Wesermarsch
 * District Cuxhaven ( Municipality Landwürden )
 * Landkreis Diepholz ( municipality Stuhr )
 * Landkreis Leer (district Idafehn of the municipality Ostrhauderfehn )
 * Free city of Oldenburg
 * Free city of Delmenhorst
 * Kreisfreie Stadt Wilhelmshaven
 * County Ostholstein (Eutin)
 * Bremerhaven since the reorganization of the Luneplate at the end of 2009
 * County Birkenfeld
 * District of St. Wendel

Some useful gazetteers for Hanover are:
Uetrecht, E., Meyers Orts und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs (Meyer’s gazetteer and directory of the German Empire). Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, 1912–. (FHL book 943.E5mo; film 496640–41; fiche 6000001– 29.) This gazetteer lists places alphabetically, gives their former German province, and states whether a place has its own parish or synagogue. It also indicates the location of the vital records office.

Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preussen (Gazetteer for the Kingdom of Prussia). 13 vols. Berlin: Verlag des Königlichen Statistischen Landesamts, 1907–09. (FHL book 943.E5kp; film 1186701, 0806633–35.) [This gazetteer is also available online at the Family History Library on the Ancestry.com subscription website]. Volumes for each Prussian province are arranged by district with an index at the end. The gazetteer is in German Gothic print. Information is given in columns and includes population figures as well as civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions.

To use the Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preussen which is now also available online at Ancestry.com, you can find it by clicking on the Search Tab and choosing the Card Catalog option. Type in the title/or part of the title, and it will appear on the right sidebar. Choose the volume for the area of interest.

Here is a diagram showing the column headings in German and their English translations:



To help you located parishes, both Lutheran and Catholic as well as civil registration offices for Hanover, please use the Gemeindelexikon Hanover, FHL number 943 E5kp v. 9. It is also on film 806634 Item 2.