Opava Provincial Archives, Czechia Church Records

Online Tutorial

 * Using Online Czech Records: Land Archives in Opava - online class

Step-by-Step Instructions for Opava Regional Archives
1. Click on the website Zemský archiv v Opavě

2. You may choose English, Czech, or German language by clicking on the British, Czech, or German flag in the upper right corner. However, very little of the information in the register list will be translated. Instructional pages in other sections of the website will have English text.

3. The list you now see is a list of all the parishes for which there are registers. In the search field at the top, enter the German or Czech version of the locality name and click "Search".

4. Next, you will see a list of all the registers for that parish or locality. 5. How to read the listing:
 * The title will show the Czech name. Use the above chart to convert the German name to the Czech name, if necessary.
 * The title lines are a little cryptic because they include register call numbers for use in the archives. All you need to decipher are the name of the parish, the events covered, and the year range.
 * The top line tells the events covered:
 * N = Narození or Geborene--baptisms
 * O = Oddaní or Vertrauene--marriages
 * Z = Zemřelí or Gestorbene--deaths
 * N-I for index to births/baptisms
 * N-O for index to marriages
 * N-Z for deaths/burials


 * The box to the right of the events list gives the year range.
 * The bottom line gives the name of the parish.

6. Click on the entry that covers the time period and type of record you need.

7. A detail screen will pop up next with many details about the record and a thumbnail photograph. The religion of the parish is clear here. Click on the photograph of the record, which takes you to the scanned images of the register.

8. To work with the digitizer itself, you can use tools to enlarge the image to full screen size, reduce it again, rotate the image, move the image, or enlarge and reduce it.

9. Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

10. If indexes are available in the images, check these for the name first. Indexes are usually located at the beginning of a group of images or at the end. They can also be found in individual folders. Find your ancestor's name and look for the locator information next to the name (such as page, entry, or certificate number). This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection.

Vocabulary List
This vocabulary list includes some of the most commonly used terms in the website: -

Step-by-Step Instructions for Family Search Historical Records

 * 1552-1981, at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1571-1905 - at FamilySearch Historical Records - free, browsable images.

To search this collection using the index:
 * 1. Click on this link:.


 * 2. Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches.


 * 3. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.


 * 4. Be aware there may be inaccuracies such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

Browsing images:
 * On the page, there is a link to browse the images, found at the bottom of the page: Browse 4,668,489 images. However, this method is very complex.  You have to know the district, sub-district, town and parish, clicking level by level.
 * Similarly Browse 206,549 images link in the collection is not the easiest way to browse those records.
 * To browse the images in these collection more efficiently, locate the parish in the FamilySearch Catalog. Here you can enter the name of the parish or town and go directly to the records listing. '''When you find the type of record and time period you wish to study, click on the small camera icon to link to the images.

Parish Registers and the Information They Contain
'''Parish registers contain baptism (birth), marriage, and burial (death) information and are definitely the best source for identifying one’s relatives in the Czech Republic. '''

Sometimes, baptisms, marriages, and burials are kept for all villages in a parish, for each year. Other times, each village has its own section of baptisms, marriages, and burials, listed chronologically. Some records are in preprinted forms. Most records include indexes. While the books have been kept to the present, they are only available for research through about 1910 because of privacy laws. The parish registers cover a majority of the population. Important details that will help identify your ancestors:

Baptismal entries usually contain the following: names of the child, parents, godparents, and sometimes grandparents; date and place of birth and baptism; residence and religion of the parents; whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate.

Marriage entries usually contain the following: names of the bride, groom, their parents, witnesses, and sometimes grandparents; date and place of marriage; residence and religion of the bride and groom; age, previous marital status, and occupation of bride and groom.

Burial entries usually contain the following: names of the deceased and spouse/parents; date and place of death and burial; residence and religion of the deceased; age and cause of death of the deceased.

Reading the Records
Reading the records will be easier than you might think! Parish registers use only a few basic terms in any language, such as: father, mother, son, daughter, born, baptized, married, died. Personal and place names don't need to be translated, and dates often look very similar to English. More recent records are in columns, and by translating the column title, one can then easily read the pages. The basic vocabulary can be memorized for easy recognition, and other terms, such as occupations and relationships can be quickly translated, by consulting a genealogical word list.


 * Czech Republic Genealogical Word Listt
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * Latin Genealogical Word List

Czech was not recognized as an official language until 1877 in Bohemia and 1905 in Moravia. Except for modern records of the 1900s, records in the Czech Republic were written mostly in Latin and German. These materials for learning to read German, Latin, and old Gothic script will be helpful in preparing you to read Czech church records.
 * German Handwriting (article)
 * Latin Handwriting - 10-part video
 * Online interactive slideshow lessons:
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 1: Kurrent Letters
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 2: Making Words in Kurrent
 * Reading German Handwritten Records Lesson 3: Reading Kurrent Documents. In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
 * German Script Tutorial

This converter will show you how any phrase or name might look in German script:
 * Kurrentschrift Converter (enter German genealogical word, click on "convert", view your word in Kurrentschrift (Gothic handwriting)

Building a Family Record with a Search Strategy
Many articles on strategy are available on the Wiki, but here is a simple set of steps to guide you See also:
 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth/baptism/christening record, then search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents, and even the names of their parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.
 * Czech Republic Getting Started
 * How to Find Birth Information
 * How to Find Marriage Information
 * How to Find Death Information
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Czech Republic Beginning Research
 * Czech Republic Beginners Corner What's the Next Step?