Hungary Civil Registration

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Civil Registration [Állami anyakönyvek]
Civil registration refers to records of births, marriages, and deaths maintained by civil authorities. One of the main reasons for the introduction of Hungarian civil registration in 1895 was the conflict in the late 1800s over the baptism of children of mixed marriages.

Time period: 1895 to present.

Contents: Births - name of child, date of entry, place and date of birth; names, ages and residence of parents; until 1948, also the religion of parents, names of witnesses. Marriages - date and place of marriage; names, occupations, dates and places of birth and residences of groom and bride; names and residences of parents and witnesses; until 1948, also the religion. Deaths - name, occupation, residence and age of the deceased; dates of death and burial; names of surviving spouse and parents; place and cause of death; until 1948, also the religion.

Location: The originals of these registers are kept at Civil Registrars’ offices [anyakönyvi hivatal] in town halls [Állami Nyilvan tartási Hivatal]. The registrars’ offices send transcripts of these volumes to the county archives, or, in the case of Budapest, to the municipal archives

Research use: Establish individual identity. Excellent for family and relationship linkage. They identify names of parents, prove other relationships, and are very useful for linking generations.

Accessibility: Some information can be obtained by correspondence or by visit if proof of relationship is given. Hungary’s so-called “personality law” prohibits archives from providing access to birth registers for 90 years, marriage registers for 60 years, and death registers for 30 years.