Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

Geography and History


Dinkelsbühl is a historic town in Central Franconia, a region of Germany that is now part of the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany. In local government terms, Dinkelsbühl lies near the western edge of the Landkreis (or local government district) of district of Ansbach, north of Aalen. Dinkelsbühl lies on the northern part of the Romantic Road, and is one of three particularly striking historic towns on the northern part of the route, the others being Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nördlingen. The town lies on the southern edge of the Franconian Heights and on the River Wörnitz, which rises in the town of Schillingsfürst. The population in 2013 was 11,315.

See Wikipedia for more information on Dinkelsbuhl.
 * Dinkelsbühl is a former Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.
 * Fortified by Emperor Henry V, in 1305 Dinkelsbühl received the same municipal rights as Ulm.
 * In 1351 was raised to the position of a Free Imperial City. Its municipal code, the Dinkelsbühler Recht, published in 1536, and revised in 1738, contained a very extensive collection of public and private laws.

Online Records

 * There is quite a bit of information from the city of Dinkelsbuhl that has been preserved on microfilm. You can see a list of that in the  FamilySearch Catolog Check your local family history library to see if they are available there to research. Eventually these will be digitized and will be available online.
 * The search Records of FamilySearch option also has information about residents of this area. You can refine your search by adding more information in the box on the left and then clicking on update.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-Genealogy.net tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy. Just enter the last name and the town name and it will produce a list of people from that area that are in the data base.

Civil Registration
Stadtverwaltung Dinkelsbühl Segringer Str. 30 91550 Dinkelsbühl Germany phone: +49 9851 9020 email: info(@)dinkelsbuehl.de Website

Civil records in most of Bavaria only go back to the late 1800's. To find family records before that time it is necessary to use church records. However, this is a good place to start.

Catholic Church Records
There are a couple churches in Dinkelsbuhl and several in the surrounding area. They can all be seen on Google Maps Most of the Catholic Churches in Bavaria only keep current records on site. So, it is necessary to go to an archive. The older parish records of Dinkensbuhl are at the Augsburg Archive.

Archiv des Bistums Augsburg
Pfarrhausstrasse 4 86154 Augsburg Germany Telefon: 0821 - 3166 8561 Fax: 0821 - 3166 8569 E-Mail: archiv@bistum-augsburg.de Website
 * It is best to contact the archive in advance and make an appointment. You can do this using the email address above or by telephone.
 * The archive of the Diocese of Augsburg does not accept private inquiries about family research. This archive welcomes patrons to view the records on micro-films. Since only a limited number of readers are available, pre-registration is required.
 * The list of filmed registers can be found at Pfarrmatrikeln [Http://www.bistum-augsburg.de/Generalvikariat-Zentrale-Dienste/Archiv-des-Bistums/Pfarrmatrikeln Parish Records] in the left column. They can't be viewed online, this is just a list of what is at the archive.
 * The fee rules are available at [Https://bistum-augsburg.de/Generalvikariat-Zentrale-Dienste/Archiv-des-Bistums/Archivrecht Fees]
 * For the purpose of family research, private individuals have the possibility of commissioning external companies or private individuals with corresponding research tasks in the archives of the Diocese of Augsburg. Below you will find an overview of service providers who, as a rule for remuneration, take over the processing of inquiries for family research.

Agnes Blasczyk, man Berger Weg 10, 86316 Friedberg, e-mail: ablasczyk@gmx.de Edgar Hubrich, Merowingerstr. 10 B, 91301 Forchheim, e-mail: info@genealogie-hubrich.de Monika Lutzenberger, Kilianstr. 4, 86153 Augsburg, e-mail: monika.lutzenberger@t-online.de Andreas Sauer, Schellingstraße 153 A, 80797 Munich, e-mail: info@andy-sauer.de More providers can be found at Researchers Researchers

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Augsburg, there is a chance they affiliated with the Catholic church. However, if you do not find them in Catholic records, you should search the Lutheran records.
 * According to Meyer's Gazetteer, there were two Lutheran churches in 1871 in Dinkelsbuhl. Today there is one Lutheran parish serving this town.

Evangelical Church
Dr.-Martin-Luther-Str. 4 Dinkelsbühl Germany Tel: 098512319 Fax: 098516914 E-Mail: Pfarramt.dinkelsbuehl@elkb.de Website


 * Many records for the Lutheran (Evangelical) churches in Bavaria are digitized and available online through Archion ($). This is not a free site, but requires registration and a membership fee. This link gives instructions on How to Use Archion
 * Legacy Tree provides a detailed description of Archion that you may find valuable in deciding if this is a resource you want to use.

You can email to inquire about information for you ancestors.
 * The Lutheran Archive for Bavaria is in Nurnberg. It is always a good idea to contact in advance and make an appointment to use any archive.

Veilhofstraße 8 90489 Nurnberg Germany E-Mail: archiv@elkb.de Website

Cemeteries
There are several cemeteries in Dinkellbuhl. They can all be seen on Google Maps If you are lucky enough to go to Dinkelsbuhl and want to find a cemetery Find A Grave and Billion Graves both have great phone apps to help you locate cemeteries. In a city this large walking through cemeteries could be very time consuming, unless you know which cemetery to go to and use the cemetery map to find the grave of your relative. If you are hoping 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).