Finland Letter Writing Guide

This guide is for researchers who do not speak Finnish but must write to Finland for genealogical records. It includes a form letter you could use in requesting genealogical records from a Finnish parish.

Introduction
This guide is for researchers who do not speak Finnish but must write to Finland for genealogical records. It includes a form letter you could use in requesting genealogical records from a Finnish parish.

The best sources of genealogical information in Finland are the church records kept by the local parishes. The FamilySearch Library has microfilm or microfiche copies of these records prior to 1860 for all of Finland and to 1900 for much of Finland. Use the FamilySearch Catalog to determine what records are available through the library and the FamilySearch Centers. If records are available from the library, it is usually faster and more productive to search these first.

The church records available through the FamilySearch Library generally correspond to the holdings of church records in the Finnish state and provincial archives. The form letter included with this guide is primarily intended for writing to parish offices for records not available at the FamilySearch Library or the Finnish archives. If you write to a parish office that has already forwarded the needed records to an archive, the parish generally sends your letter to the appropriate archives or advises you to do so.

Should you need to write to a Finnish archive for information not available at the FamilySearch Library or at a parish office, you may write in English or obtain the services of a private researcher to help you write a letter in Finnish.

Things to Know Before You Write
Church records which have not been turned over to the archives are still in use at the parish. Before you write a letter to Finland to obtain family history information, you should do two things:
 * 1) Determine exactly where your ancestor was born, was married, died, or resided. Because most genealogical sources were recorded locally, you will need to know the specific locality where your ancestor was born, was married, died, or resided for a given time. See the library's publication Tracing Immigrant Origins (34111) for help in finding home towns.
 * 2) Determine where records from your ancestor's home parish are stored today. When you have a locality name, use a gazetteer to determine whether the name is a farm, village, parish, district, or county and to determine which parish serves your ancestor’s locality. Parish record books for which the last date is older than 90 years are generally sent to provincial archives.

Be brief and simple. Do not ask for too much at one time. Write dates the European way (day-month-year as numerals). For example, for December 10, 1989, you would write 10/12/89.

Research By Mail
It is possible to write to Finland in English; however, the response might be more favorable if written in Finnish or Swedish. This guide explains the procedure for writing to:
 * A Finnish-speaking parish
 * A Swedish-speaking parish
 * Parishes in areas ceded to Russia

You should make a copy of your letter for your own records prior to sending it. Make sure to mark your envelope airmail.

How to Find Church Addresses
For a list of the Lutheran and Orthodox parishes in Finland and their addresses, see: Kunta- ja rekisterinpitäjäluettelo/Förteckning över kommuner och registerförare (Register of the Parishes and Record Keepers). Helsinki: Väestörekisterikeskus, 1998.

Addresses for the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches in Finland can also be found online at Suomen Evankelis-Luterilainen Kirkko, Seurakunnat. A list of archives in Finland and their addresses can be found at Finland Archives and Libraries.

How to Send Payments
Do not send money with the initial request. After receiving a response, send a check in Finnish currency for the amount requested by the parish. Checks in foreign currencies can generally be obtained from a local branch of a large international bank. Have the check made payable to the parish as listed on the return correspondence.

What to Expect
It may take six months or longer for you to receive a reply to your request for information. Airmail improves the response time. The results of writing to parish offices can vary greatly. You may get a great deal of information, or you may get no answer at all. Some pastors are willing to do considerable research while others may be unable to provide information.

When you receive a reply, send the requested payment and a note of thanks or acknowledgment. If you need to request further information, refer to your earlier letters and their return letters by date. If they have assigned you a reference number, include that number as well.

Use the Finnish Genealogical Word List and Swedish Genealogical Word List and Finnish-English or Swedish-English dictionaries to help you understand the reply. You may also be able to get help from the Nordic Countries Genealogy Research community.

If you do not receive an answer, write again and include a copy of your first letter.

Other Options
Because some information is not easily obtained by writing directly to a pastor, you may need to hire a private researcher. The Genealogical Society of Finland maintains lists of genealogy societies, family societies, and professional researchers.

Swedish-Speaking Parishes
If you correspond with any of the parishes listed below, you should use the Swedish form letter rather than the Finnish form letter (see attached sample form letters). The Finnish names of the parishes are also listed so you can find them in the FamilySearch Catalog. In addition to these parishes, all the parishes in Ahvenanmaa (Åland) County use Swedish. For information from larger cities like Helsinki, Turku, and Vaasa, you can write letters in either language.

Parishes in Areas Ceded to Russia
After World War II, Finland ceded some of its land to the Soviet Union. The areas ceded were the largest and easternmost part of Viipuri County and Petsamo and Salla in the northeast. The parishes located in these areas were discontinued. Their records are now kept in the provincial archive of Mikkeli. The holdings for these parishes in this archive extend until 1949, except for a few parishes’ records, which were destroyed or left behind during the war. More information on these parishes can be found on the National Archives of Finland's page on surrendered territory.

Evangelical Lutheran congregations of Karelia
Antrea, Harlu, Heinjoki, Hiitola, Ihantala, Ilmee, Impilahti, Jaakkima, Johannes, Jääski, Kanneljärvi, Kaukola, Kirvu, Kivennapa, Koivisto, Korpiselkä, Kuolemajärvi, Kurkijoki, Käkisalmi City Parish, Käkisalmi Country Parish, Lavansaari, Lumivaara, Metsäpirtti, Muolaa, Pyhäjärvi*, Pälkjärvi, Rautu, Ruskeala, Räisälä, Sakkola, Salmi, Seiskari, Soanlahti, Sortavala City Parish, Sortavala Country Parish, Suojärvi, Suursaari, Säkkijärvi, Terijoki, Tytärsaari, Uusikirkko*, Vahviala, Valkjärvi, Vyborg Country Parish, Vyborg Swedish Parish, Vyborg Cathedral Parish, Vuoksela, Vuoksenranta and Äyräpää and the Inker refugee congregation.


 * There are other parishes elsewhere in Finland with the same name.

Orthodox parishes of Karelia
Annantehdas, Kellomäki, Kitelä, Korpiselkä, Kuokkala, Kyyrölä, Käkisalmi, Mantsinsaari, Palkeala, Pitkäranta, Raivola, Salmi, Sortavala, Suistamo, Suojärvi, Terijoki, Tiurula, Uusikirkko, Viipuri and the Finnish Orthodox parish of Viipuri.

Finnish
You can download a form letter for writing to [[Media:Finland_Form_Letter.pdf|Finnish speaking parishes]] and [[Media:Sweden_Form_Letter_.pdf|Swedish speaking parishes]]. You should copy the letter and fill in the appropriate blanks. A separate request form should be used when requesting detailed information on a spouse or child. Make sure you type or neatly print your letter and, when necessary, add any diacritical marks and special characters (such as å, ä, ö) with a pen.

English
If the form letter does not meet your needs, you may write in English. Your letter should include:
 * The name and address of the parish
 * Biographical information about your relative
 * A comment about payment
 * Your signature and the date
 * Your return address (including your country)