Croatia Letter Writing Guide

Back to Croatia Portal Page►

Introduction
In order to get genealogical information from Croatia, it is necessary to determine where the records you need are located. To do this you first write to the archive to inquire where the records are. After receiving a reply you send a letter to the address given to you by the archive. It may be possible for you to get information by writing. However, you can expect to wait several months for a reply and it is also quite possible, that you will not receive an answer.

Following are two sample letters to guide you in writing genealogical inquiries. Type or clearly print your letter using these sample letters as a guide.

Use Sample letter A as a guide to write a letter asking where the records are located. Include two International Reply Coupons in your letter to cover their postage costs in answering you. You can obtain International Reply Coupons at your post office. The answer should include the address of the archive or registry office where the records you need are located.

Upon receiving the needed address, use Sample letter B to write a letter to the place where the records are kept. Again include two International Reply Coupons.

Please note the following when writing your letters:

Dates
Write dates in day-month-year order. For example: ''12. travnja 1844 / oko [about] 1844''. The names of months are not capitalized. The months in the possessive form used in writing dates are:

siječnja, veljače, ožujka, travnja, svibnja, lipnja, srpnja, kolovoza, rujna, listopada, studenog, prosinca.

(You can also use januara, februara, marta, aprila, maja, juna, jula, avgusta, septembra, oktobra, novembra, decembra.)

Sample Letter A
Hrvatski državni arhiv Marulićev trg 21 10000 Zagreb CROATIA

Dragi Gospodine / Gospodjo!

Moj predak je rodjen [rodjena if the ancestor was a female] u Hrvatskoj.

Ime: Datum rodjenja: Rodno mjesto: Vjera:

Želio bih saznati podatke o njegovom (njezinom if the ancestor was a female) datumu rodjenja i vjenčanja. Takodjer bih želio saznati podatke o roditeljima moga predka. Molim Vas možete li mi napisati gdje mogu dobiti spomenute informacije?

Uz pozdrav і štovanje,

Translation of Sample Letter A
Hrvatski državni arhiv Marulićev trg 21 10000 Zagreb CROATIA

Dear Sir/Madame:

My ancestor was born in Croatia.

Name: Birthdate: Birthplace: Religion:

I would like information about his (her) dates of birth and marriage. Also, I would like information about the parents of my ancestor. Please, could you inform me as to where I can obtain the requested information?

Respectfully yours,

Sample Letter B
(NAME AND ADDRESS OF ARCHIVE OR REGISTRY OFFICE)

Dragi Gospodine / Gospodjo!

Dobio sam informaciju od Hrvatskog državnog arhiva da se podaci o mom predku mogu naći u Vašem arhivu/uredu. Molim Vas, možete li mi prepisati sve podatke o rodjenju i vjenčanju.

Ime: Datum rodjenja: Rodno mjesto: Vjera:

Takodjer želim znati informacije o njegovim (njezinim if the ancestor was a female) roditeljima i njihovoj ostaloj djeci. Molim Vas prepišite podatke kakvi su u originalu i navedite izvore sa stranicom i rednim brojem.

Molim Vas pošaljite mi račun o Vašim uslugama. Ako je cijena veća od US $30, molim Vas pišite mi prije Vašeg istraživanja. Unaprijed Vam zahvaljujem.

Uz pozdrav i štovanje,

Translation of Sample Letter B
(NAME AND ADDRESS OF ARCHIVE OR REGISTRY OFFICE)

Dear Sir/Madame:

I was informed by the Croatian State Archives that records of my ancestor can be found at your archive/registry office. Would you please extract for me the records of birth and marriage?

Name: Birthdate: Birthplace: Religion:

Also, I would like to know information about his (her) parents and their other children. Please extract the record exactly as given in the original, noting the record, volume and page number.

Please bill me for your service. If the price is more than $30, please let me know before you start the research. Thank you for your help.

Respectfully yours,