Palatinate (Pfalz), Rhineland, Prussia, Germany Genealogy

Guide to The Palatine or The Pfalz, a non-political region in Germany, ancestry, family history, and genealogy before 1945: birth records, marriage records, death records, family history, and military records.

A Region Rather Than a Province or State
The Palatinate or The Pfalz area was more geographical than political in its boundaries and spread over more than one political jurisdiction. Also, in American, from 1710 to the 1780's, all Germans were referred to as Palatines.

German Palatine Emigration to America

 * The German Palatines were early 18th-century emigrants from the Middle Rhine region of the Holy Roman Empire, including a minority from the Palatinate which gave its name to the entire group. They were both Protestant and Catholic. Throughout the Nine Years War (1688–97) and the War of Spanish Succession (1701–14), recurrent invasions by the French Army devastated the area of what is today Southwest Germany. The depredations of the French Army and the destruction of numerous cities (especially within the Palatinate) created economic hardship for the inhabitants of the region, exacerbated by a rash of harsh winters and poor harvests that created famine in Germany and much of northwest Europe.


 * The "Poor Palatines" were some 13,000 Germans who migrated to England between May and November 1709. No more than half of the so-called German Palatines originated in the namesake Electoral Palatinate, with others coming from the surrounding imperial states of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and Nassau-Saarbrücken, the Margraviate of Baden, the Hessian Landgraviates of Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Homburg, Hesse-Kassel, the Archbishoprics of Trier and Mainz, and various minor counties of Nassau, Sayn, Solms, Wied, and Isenburg.


 * Throughout the summer, ships unloaded thousands of refugees, and almost immediately their numbers overwhelmed the initial attempts to provide for them. Their arrival in England, and the inability of the British Government to integrate them, caused a highly politicized debate over the merits of immigration. The English tried to settle them in England, Ireland and the Colonies. It resulted in major disruptions, overcrowding, famine, disease and the death of a thousand or more Palatines.


 * The English transported nearly 3,000 German Palatines in ten ships to New York in 1710. Many of them were first assigned to work camps, located in five villages on either side of the Hudson, those upon the east side being designated as East Camp, and those upon the west, as West Camp. Close to 850 families settled in the Hudson River Valley, primarily in what are now Germantown and Saugerties, New York. About 350 Palatines had remained in New York City, and some settled in New Jersey. Others travelled down the Susquehanna, settling in Berks County, Pennsylvania.


 * Because of the concentration of Palatine refugees in New York, the term "Palatine" became associated with German. Until the American War of Independence "Palatine" henceforth was used indiscriminately for all emigrants of German tongue. Wikipedia (German Palatines)

Historical Background

 * The Palatinate (German: die Pfalz), historically also Rhenish Palatinate (German: Rheinpfalz), is a region in southwestern Germany. Today, it occupies roughly the southernmost quarter of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. From the Middle Ages until 1792, the Palatinate was divided into 45 secular and ecclesiastical territories, some of which were very small. The largest and most important of these was the Electorate of the Palatinate (Kurpfalz). Other larger regional entities included the Duchy of Zweibrücken and the Prince-Bishopric of Speyer.
 * French Rule: In 1794, the Left Bank of the Rhine, including the Palatinate, was occupied by French revolutionary troops. In 1797, the First French Republic annexed the region. In 1798 they introduced a new administrative system with the establishment of departments. Basically, the area of the Palatinate became the Département of Mont Tonnerre. Minor parts of today's region belonged to the neighbouring departments of Sarre and Bas-Rhin.
 * Bavarian Rule: Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1813 and the capture of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the Allies in January 1814, the region was ruled jointly by Austria and Bavaria. In 1816, it was granted to Bavaria. The region became one of eight Bavarian districts (Kreise) and was given the name Rheinkreis.
 * Lots of Names: In 1835, the Rheinkreis officially became the Pfalz (Palatinate). The historic Electorate of the Palatinate (Kurpfalz) was on both sides of the Rhine with Heidelberg and Mannheim as its capitals on the eastern side. However,  the new "Palatinate" established in 1815/16 was solely on the left bank of the Rhine. It included the  territories of the former Bishopric of Speyer, the imperial city of Speyer or Kirchheimbolanden, that were never part of the historical Palatinate. To avoid confusion of the new Palatinate and the former one (and with the Upper Palatinate), the name Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz) became common and is still used today, but was never made its official name. Another term, that of Rhenish Bavaria (Rheinbayern), though used occasionally, never gained great currency, but can be found sometimes on older maps. Wikipedia

Finding Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for DUCHY (DUCHYGERMAN)
'''Most of the information you need to identify you ancestors and their families will be found in two major record groups: civil registration and church records. To locate these records, follow the instructions in these Wiki articles.'''

1. Find the name of your ancestor's town in family history records.
Records were kept on the local level. You must know the town where your ancestor lived. If your ancestor was a United States Immigrant, use the information in the Wiki article Germany Finding Town of Origin to find evidence of the name of the town where your ancestors lived in Germany. Also, see:
 * Bavaria &amp; Pfalz Emigrants
 * Auswanderkartei, 1840-1930: Cards of emingrants from Bavaria most of whom are born during the time frame 1870 to 1900; however, there are some emigrant dates from the late 1600's and from the 1840's. The cards contain surnames, maiden names, given names, places of birth, and addresses in the country to which the people are moving.
 * List of Pfalz Immigrants to America, 1724-1749.
 * The Birkenhördt Project
 * Bavaria and Pfalz Emigration Database

2. Use gazetteers and/or parish inventories to learn more important details.
Your ancestor's town might have been too small to have its own parish church or civil registration office. Find the location of the Catholic or Lutheran (Evangelical) parish that served your ancestor's locality. Find the name of the civil registration office (standesamt) that serves your ancestor's locality. Use the Wiki article Finding Aids For German Records for step-by-step instructions.

Germany was first unified as a nation in 1871. An important gazetteer, Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-lexikon des deutschen Reichs, "Meyer's Gazetter" for short, details the place names of villages, towns, counties (kreise), and higher jurisdictions used at that time. In the Research Wiki, FamilySearch Catalog, and FamilySearch Historical Records, the records of Germany are organized using those place names.

At the end of both World Wars, the boundaries of the states were changed dramatically, as areas of Germany were distributed among the Allied nations. Eventually, after re-unification in 1990, the states of Germany settled into what they are today. It is also necessary to understand Germany by this system, as it affects the locations of civil registration offices, archives, and mailing addresses used in correspondence searches.

4. For baptism, marriage, and death records, use church records or parish registers.
Remember that immigrants in the first wave of Palatine immigrants were from several different areas, and not just the Palatinate. The link to church records is given for each region: Remember that in the later part of the 1700's all German immigrants could be referred to as Palatines. You need to try to find evidence of a more specific town, then find out the German Empire state of that town using Meyer's Gazetteer. Then use the church records Wiki article for that state.
 * the original Electoral Palatinate--
 * Palatinate-Zweibrücken--
 * Nassau-Saarbrücken--
 * Margraviate of Baden--
 * Hesse-Darmstadt--
 * Hesse-Homburg--
 * Hesse-Kassel--
 * the Archbishoprics of Trier--
 * the Archbishopric of Mainz--
 * minor counties of:
 * Nassau--
 * Sayn--
 * Solms--
 * Wied--
 * Isenburg--

More Research Strategies and Tools

 * Germany Online Classes and Tutorials
 * Reading German Handwritten Records  Practice exercises to build your skills and confidence.
 * Old German Script Transcriber (alte deutsche Handschriften): See your family names in the script of the era. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. Click on the 8 different fonts. Save the image to your computer and use it as you work with old Germanic records.
 * Finding Aids for German Records
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Print these handouts for ready reference when reading German Handwriting:
 * Kurrent Letters Handout
 * Numbers Handout
 * Birth Records Handout
 * Marriage Records Handout
 * Death Records Handout
 * Days and Months Handout
 * Common Symbols Handout
 * Common Abbreviations Handout
 * List of Names in Old German Script A comprehensive list of German given names,  written in old script, with possible variations.
 * Fraktur Font--Many forms and books are printed in this font.
 * German Research, BYU Independent Study, no cost.