User:Amberannelarsen/sandbox/285

Guide to Hesse (Hessen), German Empire ancestry, family history, and genealogy before 1945: birth records, marriage records, death records, both church and civil registration, compiled family history, and finding aids.

Historical Background

 * 1806: The "Grand Duchy of Hesse" was originally formed on the basis of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt.
 * 1816: Changed its name in 1816 (after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815) to distinguish itself from the Electorate of Hesse, which had formed from neighboring Hesse-Kassel. Colloquially, the grand duchy continued to be known by its former name of Hesse-Darmstadt.
 * 1867: Northern half of the Grand Duchy (Upper Hesse) became a part of the North German Confederation, while the half of the Grand Duchy south of the Main (Starkenburg and Rhenish Hesse) remained Independent.
 * 1871: Joined the German Empire.
 * 1918: Became a republic after German defeat in World War I.
 * 1945: After World War II, the majority of the state combined to form the new state of Hessen, composed of:
 * most of Hessen-Darmstadt
 * Frankfurt am Main
 * the Waldeck area (from Rheinland)
 * the former Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.
 * Excluded were:
 * the Montabaur district from Hessen-Nassau, and
 * that part of Hessen-Darmstadt on the left bank of the Rhine (Rheinhessen), which became part of the Rhineland-Palatinate state, and
 * (Bad) Wimpfen, an exclave of Hessen-Darmstadt, became part of Baden-Württemberg.
 * The term "Rhenish Hesse" (German: Rheinhessen) refers to the part of the former Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt located west of the Rhine. It has not been part of the State of Hesse (Hessen) since 1946. This province is now part of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

How to Find the Records
Because records were kept at the local level, you must know the town where your ancestor lived. To find your ancestor's town, see the article Germany Finding Town of Origin.

Civil Registration

 * 1811-1814, 1833-1928 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1848-1990 Germany, Hesse, Deaths at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
 * 1849-1930 Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1849-1930 Germany, Hesse Marriage Index, 1849-1931 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
 * 1851-1901 Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1851-1958 Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1874-1911 Germany, Hesse Birth Index, 1874-1911 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)
 * 1874-1927 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1928-1978 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * State, Church, Civil Archives, etc. at Auswanderer-Nachweise Hessen State Archives - images

Church Records

 * 1518-1921 Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1518-1921 at Ancestry - index & images ($); includes Worms
 * 1540-1952 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index; Collection inventory
 * 1600-1925 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images; includes Alzey, Oppenheim, and Osthhofen.
 * 1661-1957 Hesse, Hesse-Kassel, Hess Darmstadt, Hess-Marburg, Hess-Reinfels, Rhineland, and Waldeck, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1661-1957 at Ancestry - index, ($)
 * 1730-1875 Hesse, Hesse-Kassel, Hess Darmstadt, Hess-Marburg, Hess-Reinfels, Rhineland, and Waldeck, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1730-1875 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * Archion: Hessen and Nassau, ($).
 * Archion: Kurhessen and Waldeck, ($). A few parishes are in this collection.
 * State, Church, Civil Archives, etc. at Auswanderer-Nachweise Hessen State Archives - images

Evangelical Lutheran (Protestant) Archives
National Church Archive of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck Landeskirchliches Archiv Kassel Lessingstraße 15 A 34119 Kassel Germany Telephone: 0561-788 76-0 E-mail: archiv@ekkw.de Website

Central Archive of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau Ahastraße 5a 64285 Darmstadt Telephone: 06151-405-663 Email: zentralarchiv@ekhn-kv.de Website

Catholic Archives
Mainz Cathedral and Diocesan Archives Heringsbrunnengasse 4B 55116 Mainz Germany Telephone: 06131 253-157 Fax: 06131 253-807 E-mail: archiv@bistum-mainz.de Website

State Archives
The Hessian State Archives consists of three departments: the Hessian State Archive Darmstadt, the Hessian State Archive Marburg (Land Registry Archive, civil status archive), the Hessian Main State Archives Wiesbaden and the Department of Central Services, which also includes the Hessen Digital Archive. Hessian State Archives Darmstadt Karolinenplatz 3 64289 Darmstadt Germany Telephone: +49 (0) 6151/16 262 57 E-mail: darmstadt@hla.hessen.de User Instructions for Genealogy

Hessian State Archives Marburg Friedrichsplatz 15 35037 Marburg Germany E-mail: marburg@hla.hessen.de Website

Hessisches Main Archives and the Digital Archive Mosbacher Str. 55 65187 Wiesbaden Germany Telephone: 0611 / 881-0 / Fax: 0611 / 881-145 E-mail Digital Archives: DigitalesArchiv@hla.hessen.de E-mail Main Archive: wiesbaden@hla.hessen.de Website