Czechia Archives and Libraries

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Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations, such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm. This section describes the major repositories of genealogical and historical records and sources for the Czech Republic. When one of these institutions is referred to elsewhere in this outline, return to this section to obtain the address.

If you plan to visit one of these repositories, contact the organization and ask for information about their hours, services, and fees. When writing to an archive in the Czech Republic, you may write in English.

In the Czech Republic there are several types of genealogical repositories:


 * National archives and libraries
 * Regional archives
 * Military archives
 * Church parish offices
 * University and public libraries
 * Historical and genealogical
 * Societies

Most of the Czech Republic records are now available online. Click here for the archive map showing their jurisdiction boundaries and the links to the online databases.

Church records from the Litoměřice Regional Archive are now available for indexing on the FamilySearch website. Click here to start indexing.

Regional Archives


Czech vital records are kept at the regional archives and most are available online. There are seven regional archives. Former Bohemian Region is served by five regional archives in Litoměřice, Plzeň, Praha, Třeboň, and Zámrsk. Former Moravian Region is served by two regional archives in Opava and Brno. The seven regional archives are the repositories for most pre-1900 parish books and, therefore, are the archives of primary importance to Czech genealogical researchers. In addition to early parish books, the regional archives house an enormous amount of important material including early cadastral records, maps, architectural plans, historical documents, court records, administrative papers, etc. The archives maintain extensive catalogs of their holdings but, so far, these catalogs are not available online. The regional archives of the Czech Republic are open to the public.

You must know the village, city or parish to determine which archive holds the records of your ancestors. Use the GenTeam Free Gazetteer to find out which archive holds the records that you need. GenTeam Instructions


 * Brno Moravian Land Archives
 * Litoměřice Regional Archives
 * Opava (Olomouc) Land Archives
 * Plzeň Regional Archives
 * Prague (Praha) City Archives
 * Prague (Praha) Regional Archives
 * Třeboň Regional Archives
 * Zámrsk Regional Archives

If you do not know the name of the village or parish your ancestors lived in, see Tracing Immigrant Origins and Czech Republic Emigration and Immigration.

District Archives
Since most ancestry research is done at the regional archives rather than the district archives, the inventories of the district archives are far from well known. For example, censuses before 1930 (1869, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1921) are housed at the district archives.

City Archives
Some of the Ostrava City Archive holdings are now available online. Click here to access the database.

Personal Visit to the Archives


The archives are accessible to the general public. It is necessary to reserve a place in the study (or research) room in advance. You can call or write a letter/e-mail. You are asked to fill out a questionnaire and to show your ID or passport when you arrive. Foreigners require no special permit. Archival materials can be used free of charge. There are special request forms on which to write the call numbers of the items requested. Material for research is retrieved only at certain times. The number of registers one can borrow a day is limited (does not apply to number of microfilms). There are lockers outside of the research room for the storage of large bags and coats. Laptops and digital cameras are allowed (you cannot use flash). Some restrictions may be imposed on picture taking depending on the content and physical condition of particular documents. Archivists are available to answer questions about archival material. They will, however, not help with the research, read the text of the records or translate.

Please note that you may work with documents deposited for fewer than 30 years only exceptionally and only with the permission of the archive director.

Published Archival Directories


Inventories of vital records in the Czech Regional Archives have been published and are available through the Family History Library:


 * Dictionary of Bohemian parishes in the Czech Republic, FHL INTL Book 943.71 E22g
 * Register of vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Bohemia, FHL INTL Book 943.71 K23gg vol. 1-5
 * Register of Jewish vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Bohemia, FHL INTL Book 943.71 K33g
 * Dictionary of Moravian parishes in the Czech Republic, FHL INTL Book 943.72 E22g
 * Register of vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Moravia, FHL INTL Book 943.72 K23g vol. 1-2
 * Register of Jewish vital statistics in the Czech State Archives pertaining to Moravia, FHL INTL Book 943.72 K33g vol. 1-2

The above listed directories my be search on the Internet at [http://www.ihff.at/indexstarte.htm. http://www.ihff.at/indexstarte.htm.] Click the gazetter and picture cards link on the left and then click continue link at the bottom of the page.

Websites

 * Bavarian-Czech network of digital historical sources

Wiki articles describing these collections are found at:

 * Czech Opava Provincial Archives Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Czech, Northern Moravia, Opava Provincial Archives Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Czech Republic Censuses (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Archives Portal Europe provides access to information on archival material from Czech Republic as well as information on archival institutions throughout the European continent.