Germany, Baden, Church Book Duplicates - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in this Collection?
This collection is an index to the civil transcripts of church books from Baden, Germany for the years from 1800 to 1870. The records are of baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Currently the index records from over 50 localities in Baden and additional records are being added as they become available. For a complete list of localities included, see the coverage table in the Wiki article. The Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg hold the original records, which are located in the Staatsarchiv Freiburg and the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe. The images for the entire collection have been made available on the websites of the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg.

These church records are handwritten both in columnar format and in narrative style. Most records are in good condition to extract genealogical information. However, most of the earlier records are written in Gothic German script. These records were kept in bound volumes.

Inspired by the institution of civil registration in France in 1792, German states began creating church book duplicates. The German states required the clergy to create a transcript of their church books and turn them in annually to the state. The clergy recorded the vital events of births, marriages, and deaths of people living within their jurisdiction regardless of their religion. For example, Catholic or Jewish people living in an area that did not have a Catholic church or Jewish synagogue were often recorded in the Lutheran records. The reverse was also true in Catholic areas, where Lutherans and Jews were recorded in Catholic records. The duplicate books cover the majority of the population for those years in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Records may include entries from Kreis Neustadt, Amt Bonndorf, Gemeinde Bonndorf, and Ebnet. Church book duplicates were created for the use of civil authorities.

German church book duplicates, like the originals, are the most reliable and accurate family history source until 1876 when civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths began in all of Germany. Church book duplicates may differ slightly from the originals because of transcription variations; however, these records are often more legible than the originals.

The coverage table to this collection can be found by following the link in the sidebar.

Sample Images
Click on images for a larger view.

How Do I Search The Collection?
It is helpful to know:
 * Your ancestor's name
 * Residence
 * Age or birth date
 * Names of family members

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by name by visiting the Collection Page.

What do I do next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I found who I was looking for, What now

 * Use the information to find your ancestors in Censuses. These can help you find additional family members.
 * Use the age in the record to find an approximate birth year, which will help you find a birth or death record.  Sometimes a person is buried in a city or town in which they did not die so it is not always accurate to assume that a burial place is the same as a death place.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found to find more generations of the family.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Switch to a different record collection. Depending on the time period, either German Civil Registration records or German Church records may be more useful.
 * While searching, it is helpful to know such information as the ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as an ancestor and that the ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.
 * Keep in mind that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images. Pay special attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try variations on the pronunciation.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of local genealogical societies.

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 Citation (or citation for the index entry):

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