Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire Genealogy

Guide to Bohemia ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Historical Geography
The area known as Bohemia from the 10th century until today, now forms part of the territory of the Czech Republic along with with Moravia and Moravia- Silesia. In 1740, it became part of Austria, and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1918, in became part of Czechoslavakia, then part of the Czech Republic created inn 1993. Wikipedia, History of Bohemia Empire, or the Dual Monarchy, after 1867. The Empire lasted until the end of World War I in 1918.

1893 Detailed Map
For a larger, more detailed map of Administrative divisions of Bohemia in 1893, click here.

Research Help
For help with genealogy in this region, see Czech Republic Genealogy.

Online Records

 * Specifically, the section Archival Regions of Czech Republic Genealogy will lead you to the archives which provide digitized records for this country.
 * This FamilySearch Historical Records link will lead you to several digital collections for the Czech Republic.
 * For many other links, go to Czech Republic Online Genealogy Records.

For Austria-Hungary Research, You Must Know Your Ancestors' Town

 * To begin using the records of the countries formerly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just knowing that your family came from the country will not be enough. Records are kept on the local level, so you will have to know the town they lived in.
 * Details about the town will also help:
 * the county of that town,
 * where the closest Evangelical Lutheran, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, etc. parish church was (depending on their religion),
 * where the civil registration office was, and
 * if you have only a village name, you will need the name of the larger town it was part of.

Research to Find the Town
If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.
 * Use Gathering Information to Locate Place of Origin as a guide in exhausting every possible record to find what you need. It was written for Germany, but the same methods apply.

If You Know the Town, Next Use the GenTeam Gazetteer
GenTeam is an online gazetteer that covers the current countries of Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovenia (most of the area belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire). It gives former (German) and current names of locations, the name of the parish, the beginning year of the records, and the archive that holds the records. It will also give details on earlier parishes the locality belonged to. It then links to the website of that archive.
 * Tutorial: GenTeam Gazetteer Online - [[Media:1-Genteam_Gazetteer-Instruction.pdf|Instruction]], [[Media:2-Genteam_Gazetteer-Activity.pdf|Activity]], [[Media:3-Genteam_Gazetteer-Answer_Key.pdf|Answer Key]]

This is an example of a typical parish record entry that you will see:'''

Microfilm Copies of Records at a Family History Center
If the locality and time period you need are not included in the online records, the next step is to check for them in the microfilm collection of the Family History Library. These microfilms may be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers around the world. To find a microfilm:
 * a. Click on "Places within Austria, Böhmen".
 * Records are also listed under the Czech Republic regions:
 * "Places within Czech Republic, České Budějovice" (most of Jihočeský kraj)
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Karlovy Vary" (Karlovarský kraj)
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Hradec Králové" (Královéhradecky kraj)
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Liberec" (Liberecky kraj)
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Pardubice" (Pardubický kraj)]
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Plzeň" (Plzeňský kraj)
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Praha"
 * '''Středočeský kraj--see individual towns under "Places within Czech Republic"
 * "Places within Czech Republic, Ústí nad Labem" (Ústecky kraj)
 * Vysočina
 * b. Select your record type: Church records and civil registration are the most important.
 * b. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * c. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor. For records in German: "Geburten" are births. "Getaufen" are baptisms. "Heiraten" are marriages. "Verstorbene" or "Toten" are deaths.
 * d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm. Clicking on the microfilm reel will lead to information on how to rent the film. Family History Center staff will assist you in ordering the film.
 * d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm. Clicking on the microfilm reel will lead to information on how to rent the film. Family History Center staff will assist you in ordering the film.