Schönsee, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History and Geography


Schönsee is a town in the district of Schwandorf, located in eastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the border of the Czech Republic, 38 km northeast of Schwandorf, and 34 km southeast of Weiden in der Oberpfalz.


 * In 1912, the town had 1331 inhabitants and its own Catholic parish. See Meyers Gazetteer for more details. There are several small town and villages associated with the parrish of Schonsee. They can be found listed with Schonsee in the Meyers Gazetteer.
 * Today, Schönsee is a town in the municipality of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. See Wikipedia
 * See the German GenWiki for a list of boundary and jurisdiction changes

Online Records

 * Heiratsbelege: Schönsee, 1862-1915 This link takes you to the FamilySearch Catalog list of microfilmed documents for civil records of marriage proclamations, marriage supplements, and permissions to change residence for Schönsee residents (BA. Oberviechtach), Bayern, Germany. They are arranged in alphabetical order according to the last name of the husband. Digitized films (camera icon) can be viewed at a family history center or affiliate library. Requests to digitize can be submitted for films not yet available online (microfilm icon). Eventually it will be possible to view all of these online. For more information about this record type see Bavaria Marriage Proclamation and Residency Records.
 * There is some Schönsee information at Find A Grave
 * Bavaria, Germany, WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 includes information on some soldiers from Schönsee on Ancestry.com This source is most useful when you are able to enter the ancestors full name and place of birth. However if you don't know all those details enter what you can and you may be pleasantly surprised.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-search tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy. You just need to enter Schonsee as the place name then click "start search" and it will provide an alphabetical (by last name) list of all the information on this data base from that city.

Civil Registration
The records they have are great and it is a good place to start. However, the person over vital records is not always there or always available to assist with research. It is important to contact them ahead of time to make an appointment. Schönsee Standesamt Hauptstraße 25 92539 Schönsee Germany Phone: 09674 / 9212-0 Fax: 09674 / 9212-29 Email: info@vg-schoensee.de
 * Website

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church
Some of the Catholic parish records are kept at the Catholic parsonage in Schönsee. They have records back to 1883.

It is possible to contact the parish secretary by phone or email with questions. Tue, Wed and Fri 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday from   3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
 * The Office is open

Katholisches Pfarramt St. Wenceslaus Pfarrgasse 4 92539 Schönsee Germany Tel: 09674/230 email: schoensee@bistum-regensburg.de Website

Regensburg Catholic Archive
Many more records are available at the Archive in Regensburg.

Regensburg Bischöfliches Zentralarchiv - for most of Oberpfalz St.Petersweg 11-13 D-93047 Regensburg Germany Email - archiv@bistum-regensburg.de/archiv
 * List of parish registers This link takes you to a listing of the records available on microfiche at the Regensburg Catholic Archive. It is organized in alphabetical order of the towns and villages in the diocese. It also tells you what kind of documents are available in which years. It is good to know that Taufen means baptisms, Trauungen means marriages, and Beerdigungen means burials.

The records in the Regensburg Catholic Archive are on microfiche which takes time and patience to read. It is necessary to make an appointment to use a film reader. There is a 7 Euro fee per day per person to do research and a charge per document you have copied. This can add up to an expensive way to gather information, however, you can just take a pencil (not an ink pen) and paper and write down what you find. The people that work there don't usually have much time to assist you, so go planning on spending the first half of the day just figuring out how to use their system. If you complete your research at the end of the day they may not be able to have the documents you need copied until the next day. You can return the next day to pick them up or you can pay them to mail them to your home.
 * The archive will do genealogical research for you. Requests can be made by mail or email. The fee for genealogical research is Euros 35.00 per half an hour plus postage.

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Schönsee, there is a chance they affiliated with the Catholic church because of the prohibitive distance to a Lutheran church. (There is not a Lutheran Church in Schnösee.) However, if you do not find them in Catholic records, you should search the Lutheran records.


 * According to Meyer's Gazetteer, the only close Lutheran church in 1871 was in Neunburg vorm Wald, about a 28 km journey.
 * PARISH OFFICE NEUNBURG VORM WALD
 * Bahnhofstrasse 3
 * 92431 Neunburg Vorm Wald
 * Tel: 0967291350
 * Fax: 0967291352
 * E-Mail: pfarramt@neunburg-evangelisch.de
 * Website
 * FamilySearch Catalog lists church records, which are currently on microfilm and should be digitized by 2020.


 * Today, Schönsee is served by the parish of Oberveichtach, about a 12 km journey.
 * PARISH OFFICE OBERVIECHTACH
 * Road: Martin Luther Street 4
 * City: 92526 Oberviechtach
 * Tel: 096711533
 * Fax: 09671918408
 * Church website
 * FamilySearch Catalog, digitized marriage records 1860-1862, can be viewed at a Family History Center.
 * FamilySearch Catalog, digitized marriage records 1897-1912, can be viewed at a Family History Center.

These records have slight restrictions and must be viewed at a History Center’'' near you rather in your own home at this time. Eventually it will be possible to view them online.
 * Many records for the Lutheran (Evangelical) church are digitized and available online through Archion ($). Others will be added, so check back occasionally.
 * Archive of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (Nuremberg), ($). Detailed Instructions

Cemeteries
There is a beautifully kept cemetery in Schönsee just down the street from the Catholic Church. If you want to find information on your ancestors in a cemetery, keep in mind that in most Bavarian cemeteries the grave plots are re-used as often as every 25 years. (sometimes 50 -100 years). However, there are a few tombstones back into the 1700's there. If you have family from one of the small villages near this town and you cannot find a cemetery there, check out Schönsee. Dietersdorf and Schwand are among those places that use the Schönsee parish church and cemetery. The four cemeteries of Schönsee, Gaisthal, Stadlern and Weiding are within the jurisdiction of the administrative community of Schönsee.