Dachau, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History And Geography


Dachau is a city in Bavaria (southern) Germany. It lies on the Amper River, just northwest of Munich. Dachau is situated on a hilly, picturesque setting that has long attracted landscape painters. Industries include the production of paper, cardboard, electrical equipment, textiles, and ceramics. Population in 2003 was estimated to be 39,474.


 * First mentioned in 805, it remained a small market town until the 20th century, attaining civic status in 1934. a parish church (1625). The city’s picturesque natural setting has long attracted landscape painters.
 * In 1933 the first concentration camp set up by the Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel) was opened on the site of a former ammunition factory on the outskirts of Dachau. A museum and memorial chapels were opened in the 1960s..

Online Records

 * There is some Dachau information at Find A Grave
 * Bavaria, Germany, WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 includes information on some soldiers from Dachau on Ancestry.com This source is most useful when you are able to enter the ancestors full name and place of birth. However if you don't know all those details enter what you can and you may be pleasantly surprised.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-search tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy. You just need to enter Dachau, as the place name, click  "start search"  and it will provide an alphabetical (by last name) list of all the information on this data base for that city.


 * Family Search Catalog This link takes you to the FamilySearch Catalog list of microfilmed documents for civil records of marriage proclamations, marriage supplements, and permissions to change residence for Dachau residents. All of them can be viewed at Family History Centers and some of them have been digitized and are available online. Eventually they will all be digitized but for now it is necessary to check one at a time. The ones with a picture of a camera by it have been digitized. Then  when you click on the camera either the actual documents can be viewed online or it will instruct you to go to a Family History Center. Digitized films (camera icon) can be viewed at a family history center or affiliate library.  The FamilySearch catalog contains a list of records on microfilm from 1622 to 1940 for the city of Dachau.

Civil Registration
Stadt Dachau, Rathaus II (Local Government Office)

Augsburger Str. 1 85221 Dachau Germany

Website +49 8131 750

The Standesamts (Civil Registration Offices) at the Rathaus (Town Hall) in Bavaria typically only have information as far back as the late 1800's. It is possible to contact them by email to determine what is available for Dachau. If you are seeking information concerning your family prior to that time it is usually necessary to go to church records.

Catholic Church Records
There are several Catholic Parishes in the city of Dachau and surrounding area. It is possible to see the location of all of them and find some information about each on Google Maps


 * You can visit the archives yourself to research the records. Privacy rules apply to birth records more recent than 120 years, marriage records 80 years, and death records 30 years. A day fee of about EU 7.00 is charged to use the records.  Call in advance to make reservations.

Archiv des Erzbistums München und Freising - for most of Oberbayern Karmeliterstrasse 1 D-80333 München Germany Phone:	089 - 2137 1346 Fax:	089 - 2137 1702 E-mail:	Archiv@ordinariat-muenchen.de
 * Contact information for available researchers
 * List of parishes with registers in the archives

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Dachau, there is a chance they affiliated with the Catholic Church. However, if you do not find them in Catholic records, you should search the Lutheran records.
 * According the Meyer's Gazetteer, in 1871, the closest Lutheran Church was in Pasing, which is 8 miles from Dachau. Today, two Lutheran Parishes serve Dachau.

Dachau - Friedenskirche Uhdestr. 2 Dachau Germany Tel: 0813187958 Fax: 0813154374 E-Mail: pfarramt@friedenskirche-dachau.de Website

Dachau - Gnadenkirche Anton-Günther-Str. 1 Dachau Germany Tel: 0813131420 Fax: 08131314215 E-Mail: pfarramt.dachau-gnadenkirche@elkb.de


 * Many records for the Lutheran (Evangelical) church are digitized and available online through Archion. Others will be added, so check back occasionally.
 * Archive of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (Nuremberg), ($). Detailed Instructions

Cemeteries
There are several cemeteries in Dachau and surrounding areas. Click on this link to Google Maps to see all of them. Select one and click on it in the column on the left. This will bring up the address and phone number and/or website of that particular cemetery.


 * However in a city this size walking through cemeteries would be very time consuming, unless you know which cemetery to go to and use the cemetery map to find the grave of your relative.
 * If you want to find information on your ancestors in a cemetery, keep in mind that in most German cemeteries the grave plots are re-used as often as every 25 years. (sometimes 50 -100 years). For this reason church and civil records are a better genealogy source, unless you find a cemetery that has kept a record of all those buried there in the past.