Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Newly admitted citizens in Rottweil between 1632 and 1707
Research into the earlier periods of Rottweil is not very favorable because a fire in 1696 destroyed church records from 1601 to 1696. A marriage register exists beginning with the year 1744, and also the death records do not have much information for the time of the 30 Years War. Other available church records only record a small percentage of the citizens of Rottweil in the early 1600s. A good source to fill the gap is the book with newly admitted citizens which the city council has kept since 1580.

Whoever desired to become a citizen of Rottweil had to be of Catholic faith. People had the choice to convert, which a good many did. People had to produce a so called “Geburtsbrief”, a document that showed a legitimate birth. The candidate then had to swear an oath at the city hall. He also had to donate two leather buckets and deposit them at the guild in which he wanted to become a member. The leather buckets were used to extinguish city fires. Between 1632 and 1707 altogether 231 new citizens were registered, wives and children not included.

The author Winfried Hecht published in Archiv für Sippenforschung, Jahrgang 53, Heft 107 (1987) page 195 a list of citizens who were registered in Rottweil between 1632 and 1707. They appear in his list as they were registered (name, profession, place of origin, and where in the original the entry is found) The periodical can be accessed through FamilySearch, FamilySearch Catalog, call number 943 B2as.