Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

Slovakia

What Is in This Collection?
This collection contains images of christenings, marriages, and burials for the years 1587-1910, and includes records from Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Reformed Church parishes, as well Jewish congregations in Slovakia.

While church books are kept to the present, this collection only goes through 1910. The earliest Slovak church book was created in 1587 (a book of christenings from Košice). A few Catholic registers date from the early and mid 1600s, but most date from the early 1700s. Protestant churches usually did not begin to maintain parish registers until the late 1600s. Many church books from earlier time periods were lost during the Turkish invasions and Slovak rebellions around 1600-1700.

In the mid-twentieth century, many of the church books of Slovakia were nationalized, and the state began to transfer books to one of seven state regional archives (Štátné oblastné arhívy): Prešov, Košice, Bratislava, Levoča, Nitra, Banská Bystrica, and Bytča. It is from these national archives that this collection comes. Many records are still located in local city halls or other institutions; these will be added to the collection as they become available.

Coverage Table
The Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books (FamilySearch Historical Records) Coverage Table shows the places and time periods covered in the indexed records for this collection. Most of the records in the collection are from the time periods listed in the table; however, the collection may have a few records from before or after the time period.

Consult the Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books, Place Names Table for more information about places in Slovakia.

Reading These Records
A law in 1868 allowed different religious groups to use the language they favored. For this reason, several languages are often found in the books of a single place. Most Catholic records are in Latin and Hungarian. Reformed and Lutheran Evangelical records are in Latin and Slovak, but may also be found in Hungarian. Greek Catholic records are in Latin, Russian, Ukrainian, and Hungarian. Orthodox records are written in Ukrainian (Ruthenian) or Russian. Jewish records may be in a combination of one or more of the following: German, Hebrew, Latin, and Hungarian.

The following links can help you read these records:
 * German Language and Languages
 * Jewish Language and Languages
 * Latin Genealogical Word List and
 * Hungary Genealogical Word List
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * [[Media:Old_Church_Slavonic_Numbers,_Dates,_and_Months_by_Matthew_Bialawa.pdf|Old Church Slavonic reading guide]]
 * [[Media:German Gothic Handwriting Guide.pdf|German Gothic Handwriting Guide]]

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching, it is best to know the following information: As you search, look for a record which matches this information.
 * Name of the person
 * Year of the record

Search the Index

 * 1) Go to the 
 * 2) Fill in the search boxes with the information you have
 * 3) Click 'Search to bring up a list of possible matches

View the Images

 * 1) Go to the 
 * 2) Click on the correct Religion link
 * 3) Click on the correct County link
 * 4) Click on the correct Place link
 * 5) Click on the correct Event, Volume, Year Range link to open the image viewer
 * 6) Use the onscreen controls to move between images as you look for a match

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy down all the information from the record.
 * Cite the record; see below for help citing this records in this collection.
 * Use the information to find the person in census or church records.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * When looking for an individual with a common name, look at all the search results before deciding which is the correct person. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to help with this decision.
 * Try variations of given names and surnames. A person might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, expand the date range or search by either the given name or surname to return a broader list search results.
 * Search the records of nearby locations.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Image Problems
The collection is formed from microfilm conversion to digital image before the publication process online. Where the original record is assembled other than in a systematic or chronological order, problems are replicated in the online collection of images.

One example of this is found in the Jewish records in the Inv. 1187 Births 1890-1901, Sztropko, Slovakia Jewish Records, in which there are several images (1, 3, 4) where the right-hand page does not go with the left-hand page. This can be seen by examining the third and fourth columns of the right-hand page, which represent the dates of circumcision for males (column 3) and naming in the synagogue for girls (column 4). Circumcision usually takes place 8 days after birth, and the naming of girls any time within a week of birth. The left half of image 1 goes with the right half of image 3; the left half of image 3 goes with the right half of image 4; and the left half of image 4 goes with the right half of image 1.

Unfortunately, where an original record is out of order as in this example, we have no means of correcting this in the digital image collection.

None of the images for the Jewish records for Bardejov/Bartfa, Slovakia are available. The problem seems to be that they are part of a microfilm that contains deaths till 1928, hence the 90 year rule restriction, even though this collection goes just till 1895. The images can be viewed on microfilm #1792046, 1792047 and 1792048.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.


 * Collection Citation:


 * Record (or Index) Citation:


 * Image Citation: