Poland Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Poland, go to the Religious Records page.

Definition
Church records (Księgi metrykalne), called parish records or church books, are vital records made by church officials, pastors, or priests. They include records of births and christenings, marriages, and deaths and burials. In addition, church records may include account books, confirmations, and lists of members. Virtually all Christian people who lived in Poland were recorded in a church record.

Time Coverage

 * In general, church records in Poland have been kept since the mid-1600s, although a few parishes have records dating from about 1548. Most parishes have records dating from at least the early 1700s.
 * Catholics were the first to maintain church vital records, but Protestants followed soon after.

Civil Transcripts
In 1704, because of concerns about destruction, some parishes began making copies of their church books. Civil transcripts were made of most church records in Poland after the 1790s. These records were a form of civil registration and included non-Catholics entries. You can use these duplicates where available to supplement parish registers that are missing or illegible.

Civil Transcripts of Church Records in the Austrian Partition (Odpisy Księg Metrykalnych w Zaborze Austriackim, 1784-1918)
Austria took possession of the southern part of Poland in 1772. Austria introduced laws in 1782 establishing Catholic priests as civil registrars. Then, in 1784, an edict by the emperor Joseph II required the Catholic clergy to make civil transcripts of church records. Catholic parish registers were designated as state records and a standardized Latin columnar form was issued. The parish register thus became the official register of births, marriages, and deaths. A transcript (duplicate) was made for state purposes. Separate registers were required for each village in the parish. Greek-Catholic and Roman-Catholic clergy were responsible for the registration of all vital records for all religions; Protestants were permitted to keep their own registers under the direction of the Catholic priest. Jews were allowed the same privilege in 1789. In the mid 1800s non-Catholics, including Jews and Protestants, were made responsible for their own vital records transcripts.

Civil Transcripts of Church Records in the Russian Partition (Odpisy Cywilne Księg Metrykalnych w Zaborze Rosyjskim, 1808-1918
Napoleon established the Duchy of Warsaw in 1806. The French Empire introduced a system of civil transcripts under the control of the Catholic clergy. Most of the Duchy of Warsaw came under Russian administration after 1815. The Napoleonic practice of civil transcripts continued in areas governed by Russia until the creation of the new Polish Republic in 1918. Catholic clergy were responsible for recording all births, marriages, and deaths until 1826, when the non-Catholic community was allowed to keep its own separate official registers. After 1826, clergy of other religions (Evangelical, Orthodox, Jewish) were required to maintain civil transcripts of their church record. These records, then, are essentially civil transcripts of the various denominational registers, except in the case of Jews where these civil records were usually the only record kept. The early records were kept in Polish, but usually in Russian from 1868.

Civil Transcripts of Church Records in Prussian Poland (Kirchenbuchduplikate, 1794-1874)
Prussia gained a sizable portion of Poland until the settlement of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 reduced Prussia’s share of Poland. Church registration of births, marriages, and deaths was mandatory by Prussian law from the 1794-1874. Clergy were required to make exact records of births, marriages, and deaths. For civil purposes the Prussian government required transcripts (duplicates) of the church record which were to be sent to local courts. In 1808 the practice was reinforced and expanded. In accordance with this law, Mennonites, Jews, and others who did not keep christening registers had their births, deaths, and marriages recorded by the Lutheran minister. The practice of civil transcripts was replaced by actual civil registration in 1874.

Information Recorded in Church Registers
The most important church records for genealogical research are christening, marriage, and burial registers. Some church books include confirmation records. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. Catholic records were generally kept in Latin, Protestant records in German, Orthodox records in Russian. Greek Catholic (Uniate) records were kept in Latin, Ukrainian, or sometimes Polish. Birth, marriage, and death records of minority groups such as Mennonites, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Orthodox Schismatics, Independents, and others would be with those of recognized churches, such as the Catholic or Lutheran Church, until they had to prepare their own transcripts of vital records.

Records of Birth and Baptism (akta urodzeń i chrztów)
Children were generally christened within a few days of birth. Christening registers usually give: You may also find: Death information has sometimes been added as a note. Until the 1790s the pastors of many communities failed to give the name of the mother in the birth records or may have written only her given name.
 * the infant’s and parents’ names,
 * legitimacy,
 * names of witnesses or godparents,
 * and the christening date.
 * the child’s birth date,
 * father’s occupation, and
 * the family’s place of residence.

Marriage Intentions (zapowiedź )
Marriage intentions (banns) were announced a few weeks before a couple planned to marry. The couple were required to announce their intentions two or three times so other community members could raise any objections to the marriage. Marriage registers sometimes give the two or three dates on which the marriage intentions were announced in addition to the marriage date.

Marriage Records (akta małżeństwo)
Marriage registers give: They often include other information about the bride and groom such as: In cases of second and later marriages, they may include: Early marriage records give little information about the couples’ parents. In most cases before the beginning of the 19th century, marriage registers recorded only the names of the bride’s parents. Some later marriage registers give the birthplaces of the groom and bride. Couples were often married in the home parish of the bride.
 * the date of the marriage
 * the names of the bride and groom.
 * whether they were single or widowed
 * the names of witnesses.
 * their ages,
 * residences,
 * occupations,
 * names of parents, and
 * sometimes birthplaces.
 * the names of previous partners and
 * their death dates.

Records of Deaths and Burials (akta zgonów i pogrzebów)
Burials were recorded in the church record of the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of the death. Burial registers give: Occasionally included are: Early death registers usually do not indicate the date and place of birth. The birth date and place of the deceased person and information about parents in a burial record may not be accurate. Burial records may exist for individuals who were born before birth and marriage records were kept. Burial records often start later than christening and marriage records of the same parish.
 * the name of the deceased person and
 * the date and place of death or burial
 * the age,
 * place of residence,
 * cause of death, and
 * names of survivors are given.
 * the date and place of birth and
 * the parents’ names

Locating Church Records

 * Original Catholic records are usually found in individual parish or diocesan archives.
 * Protestant records are often in state archives; some are in the possession of Evangelical Church archives or officials.
 * Civil transcripts are generally kept in the local civil registration offices (Urząd Stanu Ciwilnego) for 100 years; then they are transferred to state archives.

Determining the Parish
To use church records, you must know the town and religion of your ancestor. You must also determine the parish that your ancestor’s town belonged to so that you will know which parish registers to search. Your ancestor may have lived in village that was part of a parish located in a nearby larger town. Over time, some villages may have belonged to more than one parish as jurisdictions changed.
 * Use Kartenmeister to find the Polish and German province, county, Catholic parish, Lutheran parish, and Standesamt (civil registration office), if the town was in the area of Poland once controlled by Prussia.
 * Use Meyer's 1871 Gazetteer Online to find information on towns in the area of Poland once controlled by Prussia. Click on the "Map" option to see the 1871 map of the town inits region with parishes indicated, and the current Google map.
 * If the town was in the area of Poland once controlled by Russia or Austria, look it up in Skorowidz Gazetteer Online to find the parishes of various religions. Here are the instructions. Use the second option, "Viewing anywhere via the Digital Library of Wielkopolska".

Online Church Record Inventories

 * Lutheran Records in Russian Poland
 * Family Research in West Prussia, Inventory of Church Records, these are listed by county (kreis), find the kreis for your town in Meyers 1871 Gazetteer.
 * Family Research in West Prussia, Inventory of Civil Registration Records. organized by county (kreis). Find the kreis in Meyer's 1871 Gazetteer.
 * Silesia Findbuch, comprehensive list of Silesian church records by parish and how to access them.
 * Baptist church records Inventory.
 * Geneteka

Online Databases

 * Archion: Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin ($)
 * National Archives in Stettin Tutorial
 * Pommerscher Greif e. V., Association for Pomeranian Family and Local History.
 * Go to Forschung > Famillienforschung > Standesamt online or Kirchenbuch online > Find your Kreis >Parish


 * Pomerania Genealogical Association Indexing project.
 * Go to "PomGenBase". > Search "PomGenBase". > Select "Christenings", "Marriages", or "Deaths”" > Use drop-down menu to see list of locations. > Select a locality or search in all localities. > Restrict your search using "Years". > Enter at least a "Surname". > Change "Search Method" to "similar". > Click "Search".


 * Szukaj w ArchiwachTutorial The Polish Archives
 * Geneteka Instructions
 * The PRADZIAD Database
 * The Lost Shoe Box, with links to:
 * Geneteka
 * Metryki GenBaza
 * Poznań Marriage Indexing Project. Marriage records from the entire Duchy of Poznań (Posen). For more information click here.
 * Russian Poland and the city of Cracow

Records at the Family History Library
The Family History Library has church records on microfilm from many parishes throughout Poland, some to 1875, some to the 1880s, and some as late as the 1960s. Look in the catalog under the name of the town where the parish was, not necessarily the town where your ancestor lived: POLAND, (COUNTY), (TOWN) - CHURCH RECORDS New records are continually added to the library’s collection from several sources. Do not give up if records are not available yet. Check the FamilySearch Catalog every two or three years for the records you need.

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * 1226 - 1950 - at FamilySearch - images
 * 1784 - 1964 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1587 - 1966 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Parishes
Most Catholic church records are still maintained by the parish, which will generally answer correspondence in Polish. You can write directly to the parish with a nonspecific address (Catholic parish, Town name with postal code, Poland), but using the specific parish address is better. If the records you need have been moved to a diocese or state archive, your request may be forwarded to that archive.

Parish Addresses

 * The Catholic Directory, Poland
 * Luteranie.pl: Polish Evangelical website with all current diocese addresses and individual parishes and email addresses. Many Lutheran parishes that existed before the 1918/1945 boundary changes no longer exist. Some of their records are in the diocese archives, and some were sent to Archion: Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin.

How to Write the Letter
Write your request in Polish whenever possible. Information about how to write to local parishes in Poland is given in Poland Letter Writing Guide.

Diocese Archives
Some parish registers are collected in diocesan archives. Generally the very old records (before 1800) are in diocesan archives. Some dioceses have parishes archive their records after 100 years. Protestants also maintain church archives, although their records are likely to be in a state archive. Church archives are often unable to handle genealogical requests, but they can tell you if specific records are available.

State Archives
Many parish records and transcripts are in state archives.


 * PRADZIAD This website can be searched by location (town or parish).  It will then tell you which archives hold what records for the location. On the entry for the records you want, click on "More" at the far right, and it will give you the contact information for the archive.

Civil Registration Offices
Transcripts (copies) and sometimes originals of church records or Jewish records may be deposited in local civil registration offices. These are generally sent to state archives after 100 years. See Poland Civil Registration- Vital Records.

Search Strategies
Effective use of church records includes the following strategies:


 * Search for the relative or ancestor you have selected. When you find the ancestor’s birth record, search for the birth records of brothers and sisters.
 * Search for the marriage of the ancestor’s parents. The marriage record will often give clues for locating their birth records.
 * Estimate the ages of the parents and search for their birth records, repeating the process for both the father and mother.
 * If earlier generations are not in the parish records, search the records of neighboring parishes.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Many genealogical societies have the resources to help you find parish information when all the usual sources fail. A good society is worth the membership fee for the support it can offer you.