Czech Republic Censuses and Inhabitant Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of The Records
Tschechische Republik, Volkzählungen, 1843-1921

Collection Time Period
This collection of censuses includes the years 1843-1921.

Record Description
This collection will cover censuses between 1843 and 1921 for the Czech Republic. The first records published will include only those for Northwestern Bohemia housed in the State Regional Archives of Litoměřice. Censuses for Northwestern Bohemia includes the regions of Liberec and Ústí nad Labem, which cover the okres of Česká Lípa, Jablonec nad Nisou, Liberec, Semily, Chomutov, Děčín, Litoměřice, Louny, Most, Teplice, and Ústí nad Labem. More records will be added as they become available.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in population records may include:


 * House number
 * Head of household
 * Names of members of the household (including servants)
 * Ages, occupations, religions
 * Relationships to head of household
 * Some also give date and place of birth.

How to Use the Records
The census records link families together into family groups and greatly supplement the research process. They are extremely valuable in locating birthplaces, and determining ages, and relationships and lead to primary vital records sources, making them very valuable for pedigree links. Each census is important by itself, but each should also be used with church records and other censuses. A census can provide you with names and ages of family members, which can then be used to calculate birth or marriage dates. It can provide the county and town where your ancestor lived, people living with (or gone from) the family, and relatives that may have lived nearby. The census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the census index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page number or family number) to locate your ancestors in the census. Some on-line indexes, such as indexes to FamilySearch Historical Records, will take you directly to an image. Compare the information in the census to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor in the census, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

For example:


 * Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date. This date along with the place of birth can help you find a birth record. Birth records often list biographical and marital details about the parents and close relatives outside of the immediate family.
 * Birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Use the race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of the Freedman’s Bureau or Indian censuses.
 * Use the naturalization information to find their naturalization papers in the county court records. It can also help you locate immigration records such as a passenger list which would usually be kept records at the port of entry into the United States.
 * If they are subject to military service, they may have military files in the State or National Archives.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as school records; children’s occupations are often listed as “at school.”

It is often helpful to extract the information on all families with the same surname in the same general area. If the surname is uncommon, it is likely that those living in the same area were related.

Be sure to extract all families before you look at other records. The relationships given will help you to organize family groups. The family groupings will help you identify related families when you discover additional information in other records.

Some other helpful tips to keep in mind are:


 * Married family members may have lived nearby but in a separate household so you may want to search an entire town, neighboring towns, or even a county.
 * You may be able to identify an earlier generation if elderly parents were living with or close by a married child.
 * You may be able to identify a younger generation if a young married couple still lived with one of their sets of parents.
 * Additional searches may be needed to locate all members of a particular family in the census.
 * The census may identify persons for whom other records do not exist.

Record History
The first national census was conducted in 1857, when Czechs were under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Afterward, censuses were taken in 1869, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, the states which compose the modern Czech Republic, were subject lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. As such, they were included in these census enumerations. An additional census was completed by the newly formed Czech Republic in 1921, and thereafter in 1930, 1940, 1950, 1961, 1970, 1980, 1991, and 2001.

Why the Record Was Created
Censuses were created in order to keep statistical records and regulate various aspects of society, particularly taxation and conscription.

Record Reliability
Censuses are usually reliable, depending on the knowledge of the informant and the care of the census enumerator. Therefore, use the information with some caution, since the information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the household. Some information may have been incorrect or deliberately falsified.

Related Websites

 * Czech Statistical Office (CSU)
 * State Regional Archives Litomerice

Related Wiki Articles

 * Czech Republic
 * Czech Republic Census
 * Czech Republic Archives and Libraries

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * "Delaware Marriage Records," index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org): accessed 4 March 2011, entry for William Anderson and Elizabeth Baynard Henry, married 23 November 1913; citing marriage certificate no. 859; FHL microfilm 2,025,063; Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Dover.
 * “El Salvador Civil Registration,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org): accessed 21 March 2011, entry for Jose Maria Antonio del Carmen, born 9 April 1880; citing La Libertad, San Juan Opico, Nacimientos 1879-1893, image 50; Ministerio Archivo Civil de la Alcaldia Municipal de San Salvador.

Sources of Information for This Collection
Czech Republic. District Census Offices. Censuses, 1843-1921. State Regional Archives of Litomerice, Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic.

The State Regional Archives of Litomerice is an administrative body under the Czech Ministry of the Interior. Its jurisdiction covers the geographic area of the Usti and Liberec Regions in Northern Bohemia.

Detailed instructions for adding citations are also listed in the wiki article: How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.