Bavaria (Bayern) Court Records

Grundbuch (land register)
Each property owner or person interested in a property can with proper ID obtain an extract from a land register or can authorize someone to do so if a justifiable interest exists. The extraction from a land register is a copy of an entry re. land ownership. An extract of such an entry can be obtained through the Grundbuchamt, attached to the lower court (Amtsgericht). The administration of the Amtsgericht will issue certified or uncertified copies, costing 10 or 18 Euros. In many federal states of Germany the land registers have been digitized, and a notary public as well as other authorized persons have access to the records online. Going through this process is true for people who want to buy property or who need such documentation for other reasons, i.e., inheritance etc.

If one wants to find out whether an ancestor owned property in passed centuries, one would have to look for such a record in an archive. For instance: A certain property owner lived in Hainersdorf/Saxony in 1850. The documentation of his ownership can be found today in the State Archive Dresden. Why? Hainersdorf belonged to Amtsgericht Sebnitz. All older records of this court were given to the State Archive in Dresden because it has jurisdiction over Sebnitz.

Older documents showing property ownership usually contain information about the owner, his profession, the name of the property, its size, the locality, when the property was obtained, what transaction took place and when. Such information could be crucial when exchanges in property took place especially among namesakes.

The Family History Library has a copy of the land register from Augsburg for the 16th-19th century. It is available through film number 0409556. Films can be ordered through the Family Research Centers worldwide at www.familysearch.org

Briefprotokoll – record of the lower courts
In the archives of Bavaria are deposited Briefprotokolle which contain the business dealings of the people in city and country, such as marriages, transfer of farms, inheritances, purchases, exchanges, guardianships and others. Such records have been preserved since the 30 Years War and were established in the lower courts, (the administrations of the sovereign lords, manor lords, cities, and monasteries. In 1862 the offices of the notary public took over the documentation of the populations’ business dealings.

The genealogist interested in extending his research beyond church records and verifying facts should get acquainted with this record type. Today they can be found in state archives, rarely in city archives or nobility archives.

Source: Joachim Wild: Anleitung zur Familienforschung in Bayern. Sonderdruck aus den „Mitteilungen für die Archivpflege in Bayern“ 25./26. Jahrgang – 1979/1980 in überarbeiteter Form (Stand: Mai 2001). http://www.gda.bayern.de/famfor.htm http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Briefprotokolle

Here is a list of Briefprotokolledatabases in Bavaria.