How to Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Saarland, Germany Genealogy

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

How to Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records in Saarland
Most of your genealogical research for Saarland will be in three main record types: civil registration, church records, and, when available, a compiled town genealogy ("'Ortssippenbuch" or "Ortsfamilienbuch" in German). These articles will teach you how to use these records in digital databases, as microfilms, or by writing for them.
 * Civil Registration
 * Church Records
 * Town Genealogies

For German Research, You Must Know Your Ancestors' Town

 * To begin using the records of Germany, knowing that your family came from Saarland will not be enough to use the records of Germany. 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 or "Kreis" of that town,
 * where the closest Evangelical Lutheran or Catholic parish church was (depending on their religion),
 * where the civil registration office ("Standesamt") 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.

If You Know the Town, Next Use Meyers Gazetteer
Once you know the town name you need, the other facts you need are contained in Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-lexikon des deutschen Reichs, the gazetteer on which the FamilySearch catalog for Germany is based.
 * Use MeyersGaz, the digital gazetteer, to find the details you need, particularly the Kreis (county) it belonged to, found after "Kr".
 * MeyersGaz Help Guide
 * Abbreviation Table

Here is part of an entry from MeyersGaz.org. (The whole entry can be studied at Heusenstamm, MeyersGaz.)

Historical Geography
"Saarland is a historically very young political entity, it was formed in 1920 from formerly Prussian and Bavarian regions. In the 19th century, the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (the exclave of the Principality of Birkenfeld ) and the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha ( Principality of Lichtenberg ) also had small shares in areas that today belong to the Saarland. In the time before the French Revolution the political map of the region resembled a patchwork carpet, the four most important masters in the territory of today's Saarland were the county of Saarbriicken, the duchy of the Palatinate -Zweibrücken, The Electorate of Trier and the Duchy of Lorraine." Wikipedia, Saarland

The Prussian / Bavarian period (1815-1871) Source: GenWiki
 * Kingdom of Prussia (Rhine province)
 * Kingdom of Bavaria (Rheinpfalz)
 * Great Duchy of Oldenburg (Kreis Birkenfeld)
 * Temporarily Principality of Lichtenberg (parts of the district of St. Wendel, until 1832, then Prussian)
 * Duchy of Saxony-Coburg (parts of the circle St. Wendel, also to Prussen)

Town Compilation of Records (Ortssippenbuch or Ortsfamilienbuch)
See class Online Ortsfamilienbücher at Genealogy.net.
 * An Ortssippenbuch (town lineage book) or Ortsfamilienbuch (town family book) generally includes birth, marriage, and death data for all persons found in the local records during a specified time period, compiled into families. If one is available, it can act as an index or guide to finding the original records. However, they may contain errors, so it is best to verify their information in original records.
 * Sources may include the local parish registers, civil registration records, court and land records, and sometimes published material. In the printed book, this information is then arranged in a standardized format, usually alphabetically by surname and chronologically by marriage date.

Finding an OFB

 * Click here to see OFBs at GenWiki. These are indexed and searchable. OFB Instructions.
 * A bibliography of OFBs held by the Central Office for Person and Family History, and available in their archive in Frankfurt am Main-Höchst, is listed here. You can arrange for copied pages to be sent to you for a fee or donation. Use the "Find" function on your keyboard to search the bibliographies, as they are not alphabetical.

Church Records (Parish Registers)
Church records (parish registers) are excellent sources of sufficiently accurate information on names, dates and places of birth / baptism, marriage and death / funeral. They are the most important source of genealogical information for Germany before 1876. Most of the people who lived in Germany, were recorded in a church record. Church records contain records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. In addition, church records can contain financial account books (charges for toll bells, fees for masses for the dead, and so on), lists of confirmation, penance register communion lists, lists of members and the family register. Church records were kept in the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church minister. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many neighboring villages in their boundaries.

Duplicate Church Records
Unfortunately, some of Germany's church records were destroyed in wars or when parsonages burned. Concerns about such destruction led authorities in some areas to require the pastor to create a copy of each year's baptism-, marriage-, and burial entries, mostly beginning in the late 18th century. These copies were either stored separately or sent to a central archive each year. Local governments often found it helpful to have access to the birth-, marriage-, and death records kept by the clergy. Soon local pastors were required to provide the town administration with a yearly copy of these records. These copies are called transcripts or duplicates [Kirchenbuchduplikate], and most are housed in central church archives or state archives. Use duplicates, where available, to supplement parish registers that are missing or illegible. Keep in mind that duplicates often differ slightly from the originals.

Availability
The first surviving German Protestant records are from 1524 at St. Sebald in Nürnberg. Lutheran churches in general began requiring baptism, marriage, and burial records around 1540; Catholics began in 1563. By 1650 most Reformed parishes began keeping records. Many church records were destroyed in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In addition, records for some parishes in the Pfalz and Rheinland were interrupted for several years when the French controlled those areas of Germany from 1792 to 1815 and introduced civil registration.

Generally, the earliest church records are in western Germany. The farther east you go, the later the church records begin. For more information, see Germany Church History and Germany History.

Information Recorded in Church Records
Baptisms (Taufen): Children were usually baptized a few days after birth. Baptism registers usually give the infant's name, parents' names, status of legitimacy, names of witnesses or godparents, and baptism date. You may also find the child's birth date, the father's occupation, and the family's place of residence, the names of godparents, their residences, and occupations. Death information was sometimes added as a note or signified by a cross. Because of social conditions in Germany, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon. Illegitimacy is usually noted in baptism records, sometimes by a note in the margin or an upside-down or sideways entry.

Marriages (Heiraten): Marriage registers give the marriage date and the names of the bride and groom. The registers may also indicate whether they were single or widowed and give the names of witnesses. Other information about the bride and groom is often included, such as their ages, residences, occupations, birthplaces, and parents' names. In cases of second and subsequent marriages, the registers may include the names of previous partners and their death dates. A note was often made if a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage.

Proklamationsbuch/Proclamation Book or Marriage Banns (Aufgebote): For two or three weeks before the marriage, marriage banns (announcements of the intention to marry) were read and/or posted in church. This gave community members a chance to object to the marriage. Most proclamations took place on consecutive Sundays. If the future spouses were from different parishes, the banns were read in each church. Before the marriage ceremony could take place, the non-local party was required to present the officiating pastor with a paper stating that the proclamations had been read and there were no objections. A note stating that this person had been "dismissed" to marry elsewhere may be found in the marriage register.

The marriage registers of some churches give the dates on which the marriage banns were announced. The marriage banns themselves may exist in a separate record. Some parishes kept the marriage banns and other marriage information instead of marriage registers.

If a couple needed to get married quicky, permission to skip the proclamations could be obtained for a fee. This special permission is called a dispensation. Common reasons for a hasty marriage include pregnancy and imminent emigration.

Formal engagements were often associated with a celebration that required the families to purchase a certain amount of alcoholic beverages from the local pub. This custom was known as the "Weinkauf". Engagement dates may be given in the parish register as " der Weinkauf" or "weinkaeuflich ".

Burials (Begräbnisse): Burials were recorded in the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of death.

Burial registers give the name of the deceased and the date and place of death or burial. Often the deceased's age, place of residence, and cause of death and the names of survivors are also given. Occasionally the deceased's birth date and place and parents' names are given. However, information about parents, birth dates, and birthplaces may be inaccurate, depending on the informant's knowledge. Between the second half of the 1700’s till about 1800, the church death records may help you greatly in organizing families. At this time, death records often were quite lengthy documents giving names and detailed information regarding the survivors of the deceased.

If the burial record mentions a sermon, you may be able to find a printed copy at a local library or archive. Funeral sermons often mentioned several generations of ancestors. See Germany Obituaries for more details.

Confirmations (Konfirmationen): Protestants were usually confirmed around age 14, Catholics about age 12. Some confirmation registers merely list the names of those being confirmed and the confirmation date. Other confirmation registers give additional information about those being confirmed, including their ages or birth dates, birthplaces, and fathers' names.

Family Registers (Familienbücher):

Some parishes kept family registers that give information about each family group in the parish. Family registers are more common in southern Germany, especially in Württemberg and Baden after 1808. It is advisable to look up information first in family registers.These serve as a sort of index where information can be retrieved for three generations at a glance. The registers were established in 1808 and contain information from the 1700s. There are older family books available, usually called Seelenregister. Not only do they link generations but additionally, the local priests often put in remarks where a parishioner may have moved to, either to another town or out of the country, i.e., moved to America, etc. Even though information is provided in the family registers, it is still a good idea to check the individual entries for persons in the actual church records, because people do make mistakes.

Children are usually listed in chronological order. Names, birth dates, confirmation dates, marriage dates, and death dates may be listed. In some registers, when a child married and remained in the same parish, the register gives a “see” reference and a page number where that particular child appears as the head of a household.

Some family registers indicate whether the family moved to another village or emigrated to another country.

Kirchenkonventsprotokolle: Besides church books, the so called Kirchenkonventsprotokolle, (starting in 1644) are a good source for genealogical research. These books deal with illegitimate births and indecent assault cases. Cases were judged by the local priest, the mayor, the deacon and the village judge. The Konvent saw to it that the father of the illegitimate child would honor his marriage vows. Also, the Konvent endeavoured to putty broken marriages due to brutality or drink. In cases of denomination, the Konvent had strict rules. If a Protestant girl was intending to marry a Catholic boy, the parents had to intervene. If young people went dancing at festivities of the opposite religion, the Konvent came down hard on them. They had to pay a fine. The protocolls are stored with the individual parishes.

Parish Genealogy (Ortssippenbuch): Pastors or genealogists sometimes compiled a village lineage book (Ortssippenbuch), which included each family in a parish. For details see Germany Town Genealogies and Parish Register Inventories on the Internet.

Church Record Inventories
Church record inventories are essential tools for finding German records. They identify what records should be available for a specified parish and where to write for information on these records. They list the church records, their location, and the years they cover. Sometimes inventories explain which parishes served which towns at different periods of time.
 * For parishes in Rhine Province, see Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preußen:Rhein Provinz
 * The new Kirchenbuchportal (church book portal) has been created by the Association of Church Archives, ecumenical organization, to facilitate access to German-language church records. As of July 2010 several archives have posted detailed inventories of the parish registers in their collections. Details about the participating archives, including links to posted inventories, are found here. A database of all inventoried records, arranged by archive, is found here.

Accessing the Records
Some records may be found online. There is excellent microfilm coverage for this region, and microfilms may be used at Family History Centers around the world. Some research will need to be conducted by correspondence with local parish churches or with centralized archives. In the following list, select the geographical region you need. Then read Writing Letters, Reading the Records, and Search Strategies. -

Rhineland (Use for All of Saarland Except Saar-Pfalz)
Online Records: Microfilms: Parish Addresses:
 * 1600-1925 - at FamilySearch Historical Records, free, browsable images, incomplete.
 * Click here. Open the link. Click on your town or parish. Click on the "Church records" topic.
 * Parish finder search engine for Rhineland District(Lutheran)
 * Clickable map for Trier parishes (Catholic)

The Palatinate (Use These Links for Saar-Pfalz)
Online Records: Microfilms: Parish Addresses: -
 * Central Archives of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate
 * 1600-1925 - at FamilySearch Historical Records, free, browsable images, incomplete.
 * Click here. Click on "Places within Bayern, Germany." Click on your town or parish. Click on the "Church records" topic.
 * Parish finder search engine for Rhineland District(Lutheran)
 * Parish address list for Diocese of Speyer (Catholic, historical area of ​​the Palatinate). Click on deaneries in the left sidebar to find parishes.

Saarland (Use These Additional Archives for All of Saarland)
Landesarchiv Saarbrücken Dudweilerstraße 1 66133 Saarbrücken-Scheidt Saarland, Germany Post office: Postfach 102431 D-66024 Saarbrücken, Germany Phone: (0681) 980 39-0
 * Website
 * Holdings

Archive of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, St. Martin / Boppard  Mainzerstrasse 8 D-56154 Boppard Germany Tel. (06742) 8 61 94
 * List of holdings in the Boppard archives

Northern Edge of Sankt Wendel, Around Nohfelden
This area was part of Birkfelden, Oldenburg. See How to Find Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Oldenburg (now in Lower Saxony), Germany

Writing Letters
Most church registers are still maintained by the parish. You might obtain information by writing to the parish. Parish employees will usually answer correspondence written in German. Your request may be forwarded if the records have been sent to a central repository. Some archives provide research services for a fee. Others will refer you to local professional researchers.

Writing the Letter
Write a brief request in German to the proper church using this address as a guide, replacing the information in parentheses: For a Protestant Parish:


 * An das evangelische Pfarramt
 * (Insert street address, if known.)
 * (Postal Code) (Name of Locality)
 * GERMANY

For a Catholic Parish:


 * An das katholische Pfarramt
 * (Insert street address, if known.)
 * (Postal Code) (Name of Locality)
 * GERMANY

For Archives: Use the detailed address listed above.


 * Click herefor postal code help for Germany.

How to write a letter: Detailed instruction for what to include in the letter, plus German translations of the questions and sentences most frequently used are in the Germany Letter Writing Guide.'''

Civil Registration (Standesamtsregister, Zivilstandsregister, or Personenstandsregister)
Civil registration records are records of births, marriages, and deaths kept by the government. German terms for these records include Standesamtsregister, Zivilstandsregister, or Personenstandsregister. They are an excellent source for information on names and dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths. These records are kept by the civil registrar [German: Standesbeamte] at the civil registry office (Standesamt). Because they cover about 98% of the population and often provide more information than church records, civil registration records are important sources for German genealogical research.

Time Period
Civil registration became mandatory in all German states on 1 January 1876.

Privacy Laws
Until recently, stringent rights-to-privacy requirements in Germany limited access to all civil registration records created in 1876 or later to the subject of the document and their parents, siblings, and direct-line descendants.

A law passed in February 2007, the Personenstandsrechtsreformgesetz, makes civil registration records more accessible for family history research. Since 1 January 2009 the records are accessible to any researcher after these time periods have passed:


 * births: 110 years
 * marriages: 80 years
 * deaths: 30 years

A direct relationship to the subject of the record sought will only be required in cases where the required time period has not yet elapsed. Even then, the records may be accessible if it can be shown that all "participating parties" have died at least 30 years ago. Participating parties are both parents and the child in birth records, and both spouses in a marriage.

Births (Geburtsregister)
Birth records usually give the child's name; sex; and birth date, time, and place. The father's name, age, occupation, and residence are also usually listed. The mother's maiden name, age, and marital status are usually given, although her age is sometimes omitted. The names, ages, and residences of witnesses are usually provided. The parents' religion is also listed in some states.

Marriages (Heiraten, Ehen, or Trauungen)
Marriages were usually recorded where the bride lived. After 1792 a civil marriage ceremony was required in areas of Germany under French control. In 1876 this law was applied to all of Germany. Most couples also had a church wedding, so records may exist for both the civil and church ceremonies. The civil marriage records may include more information than the comparable church records. When possible search both the civil registration and church records.

You may find the following records documenting civil marriages:


 * Marriage Registers [Heiratsregister]. Marriage registers give the date and time of the marriage. They list the bride's and groom's names, ages, birth dates, birthplaces, residences, occupations, and whether they were single or widowed. The registers also give the parents' names, residence, occupations, marital status, and whether they were living at the time of the marriage. Witnesses' names, ages, and relationships to the bride or groom are supplied. Often a note is made as to whether a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage. The couple's religion is often mentioned, especially after 1874.
 * Certificates [Heiratsscheine]. Some couples were given a marriage certificate or a book [Stammbuch] with the marriage entry and space for entering children's births. The certificate or book may be in the possession of the family or the civil registrar.

Intention to Marry
Various records may have been created to show a couple's intent to marry:


 * Proclamations [Aufgebote or Eheverkündigungen] were made a few weeks before a couple planned to marry.
 * Marriage Supplements [Heiratsbeilagen] were often filed by the bride or groom to support their marriage application. Information included may document their births, their parents' deaths, and the groom's release from military service. Sometimes the records contain information about earlier generations.
 * Contracts [Ehekontrakte] are documents created to protect legal rights and property of spouses. These may give the same information as the marriage supplements noted above. They also list property and are usually found in court records rather than in civil registration records.
 * Marriage Permission Papers [Verehelichungsakten] are documents created in the process of obtaining permission to get married. Some states required prospective spouses to get permission fom the local city council or mayor before they could be married.

Deaths (Sterberegister or Totenregister)
Death records are especially helpful because they may provide important information on a person's birth, spouse, and parents. Civil death records often exist for individuals for whom there were no birth or marriage records. Deaths were usually registered within a few days of death in the town or city where the person died. Early death records usually give the name of the deceased and the date, time, and place of death. The age, birthplace, residence, occupation, and marital status of the deceased may also be given, along with the name of the parents or spouse and their residences. The informant's name, age, occupation, residence, and relationship may also be listed. Post¬1874 death registers also include the person's religion. Information about parents, the birth date, the birthplace, and other information about the deceased may be inaccurate, depending on the informant's knowledge.

Accessing Records
Civil registration records were kept at the local civil registration office (Standesamt). To find the records, you need to first determine the town where your ancestor lived, then determine the location of the civil registration office for that town. The civil registration office may have been located in the same town or, for smaller towns and villages, the civil records may have been kept in a larger nearby town. Use gazetteers to help identify the place where your ancestor lived and the civil registration office that served it (see Germany Gazetteers). Large cities often have many civil registration districts. City directories can sometimes help identify which civil registration district a person lived in.

Most civil registers are still located at the local civil registration offices, but some are collected in city or state archives. Civil registration records from many towns and states are available on microfilm or online.

1. Microfilm Copies of Church Records Searched at a Family History Center
Try to find civil registration records 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. For Rhineland, including all of Saarland except Saar-Pfalz: Click here. Open the link Places within Germany, Preussen, Rheinland.
 * For Saar-Pfalz: Click here. Open the link Places within Germany, Bayern (Bavaria).
 * b. Click on your town or parish.
 * c. Click on the "Civil Registration" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * d. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor. "Geburten" are births. Heiraten are marriages.  "Verstorbene" are deaths.
 * e. 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.

2. Writing for Civil Registration Certificates
Many civil registration records, especially those created in 1876 or later, are still only available in the local civil registration office or archive in Germany that has the originals.

Determining the Current Standesamt

 * If the records are not online or on microfilm, civil registration records for Germany can be obtained by writing to the local civil registry (Standesamt). Research your town name in MeyersGaz.org to find the location of the Standesamt. It is indicated by the abbreviation "StdA". However, some of the offices were merged in 1970's, so the record location might be different than that listed in MeyersGaz.


 * For a municipality:
 * To find the current Standesamt, go to the German Wikipedia, and enter the name of the town in the search box. An article about the town will start with a first line such as: "Besse with about 3200 inhabitants is the largest district of the municipality Edermünde in Hessian Schwalm-Eder-Kreis ." It is probable that the Standesamt is now located in the municipality (in this example Edermünde).
 * Email the municipality to verify that the civil registry for your town is there. From the town article, click on the name of the municipality that links to that article. There will usually be an infobox on the page that lists the address and the website of the municipality. From the website, look for Kontakt (Contact) information with an email address.


 * For a town:
 * Follow the same instructions as for a municipality. However, in this case, the first line will read, for example: "Borken is a town in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis with about 13,000 residents.'''
 * The infobox with the website will appear directly on a town page.

Writing to a Standesamt

 * Standesamt Addresses for Saarland

Write a brief request in German to the proper office using this address as guide, replacing the information in parentheses:


 * An das Standesamt
 * (Insert street address, if known.)
 * (Postal Code) (Name of Locality)
 * GERMANY


 * Click herefor postal code help for Germany.

How to write a letter: Detailed instruction for what to include in the letter, plus German translations of the questions and sentences most frequently used are in the Germany Letter Writing Guide.'''

Reading the Records

 * It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in French and German to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately.  Here are some resources for learning to read German records.
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * German Handwriting


 * These video webinars will teach you to read German handwriting:
 * Old German Script Part 1
 * Old German Script Part 2
 * Old German Script (German Church and Civil Records) Part 3


 * Also online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents. In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
 * German Script Tutorial

This converter will show you how any phrase or name might look in German script:
 * Kurrentschrift Converter (enter German genealogical word, click on "convert", view your word in Kurrentschrift (Gothic handwriting)

Latin Records
Records of the Catholic church will usually be written in Latin:
 * Latin Genealogical Word List

Search Strategy

 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.


 * '''German Research Troubleshooting Strategies""