Poland Gazetteers

Gazetteers are dictionaries of place-names. They describe towns, villages, counties, provinces, and population sizes; parishes; and rivers, mountains, and other geographical features. They usually include only places that existed at the time of publication.

The place-names are generally listed in alphabetical order.

Gazetteers may also provide the following information about towns:


 * Local religious denominations and parishes
 * Postal facilities and other communication facilities (telephone, telegraph, and so on)
 * Local commerce, agriculture, manufacturing works, canals, docks, and railroad stations
 * Schools, colleges, and universities

You can use gazetteers to locate places where your family lived and determine the civil and church jurisdictions over those places. For example, Sarnów in Gliwice County is a small village that belongs to the Catholic parish of Toszek.

Because many places in Poland have the same or similar names, you will need to use a gazetteer to identify the specific town your ancestor lived in, the civil district it was in, and the jurisdictions where records about your ancestor were kept.

Gazetteers can also help you determine the county jurisdictions used in the Family History Library Catalog.

Finding Place-Names in the Family History Library Catalog
The Family History Library Catalog lists place-names under county (wojewódzstwo) jurisdictions used in the 1960s and 70s. Names are also listed under the German-Prussian province (Provinz) as of 1871–1914 or the Austrian province (Provinz) as of 1850–1915. To find the province that a town is filed under in the Family History Library Catalog, use the “see” references on the catalog’s first locality microfiche of each state. If you have the catalog on compact disc, use the “Locality Browse” search.

Each town is listed in the catalog with its district (powiat or Kreis) jurisdiction to distinquish it from other places of the same name.

Because of the many changes in place-names, the Family History Library uses one gazetteer as the standard guide for listing places in the Family History Library Catalog. Regardless of the names a place may have had at various times, all Polish places are listed in the catalog by the name they are listed under in:

Spis miejscowości Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej(Gazetteer of the Polish People’s Republic). Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Komunikacji I Łaczności, 1967. (FHL book 943.8E5s; film 0844922.) This gazetteer lists locality names as they existed from the 1950s to the 1980s. Locality names are listed alphabetically in column 1; column 3 indicates district; column 4, province; column 5, post office location; and column 7 the location of the current vital records office. For former Polish towns that are now part of Russia, see the 1934 Listing of Localities of the Polish Republic by Bystrzycki listed below.

Modern Place-Names
For research purposes such as correspondence, learn which jurisdictions your ancestral town was under at various times. Current jurisdictions can help you find the ancestral town on modern maps. The following modern gazetteers are at most large libraries and archives:

Wykaz urz.dowych nazw miejscowości w Polsce (List of official place-names in Poland). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akcydensowe, 1980. (FHL book 943.8 E5wu; fiche 6053522.) This gazetteer lists the jurisdictions as they were from the 1980s to 1998. Towns are listed alphabetically, giving the distict and province they are located in and the post office location. No parishes jurisdictions are listed.

''Bystrzycki, Tadeusz. Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''(Listing of localities of the Polish Republic). 3 vols. Przemyśl: Wydawnictwo Książnicy Naukowej, 1934. (FHL book 943.8 E5sm; film 11343868.) This gazetteer, of the republic of Poland from 1918–1939, is the most accurate gazetteer for the territory. It is arranged alphabetically in the first column. Other columns include townships, districts, provinces, post offices, and railways.

The last column gives parish jurisdictions but not synagogues. It does not include towns in western Poland that were part of Prussia in 1934 (for these towns, see the 1967 gazetteer mentioned previously).

Similar national sources are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under:

POLAND - POSTAL AND SHIPPING GUIDES

Historical Place-Names
With changes in national boundaries and governments, many place names and jurisdictions in Poland have changed. The following gazetteers identify Polish localities as they existed under Austrian, German, and Russian administrations:

Austria
“Gemeindelexikon von Galizien” (Gazetteer of Galicia) Gemeindelexikon der in Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder (Gazetteer of the crown lands and territories represented in the imperial council). Vol. 12. Vienna: K. K. Statistischen Zentralkommission, 1907. (FHL book 943.6 E5g; film 1187928.)

To use, find the village in the index, which gives the page number in the gazetteer. This will help locate the district given at the top of the page. In the appendix section, using the name of the district and the village, you can determine the parish town where the church records were kept for your village.

Germany
Uetrecht, E., Meyers Orts und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs(Meyer’s gazetteer and directory of the German Empire). Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut, 1912–. (FHL book 943.E5mo; film 496640–41; fiche 6000001– 29.) This gazetteer lists places alphabetically, gives their former German province, and states whether a place has its own parish or synagogue. It also indicates the location of the vital records office.

Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preussen (Gazetteer for the Kingdom of Prussia). 13 vols. Berlin: Verlag des Königlichen Statistischen Landesamts, 1907–09. (FHL book 943.E5kp; film 1186701, 0806633–35.) Volumes for each Prussian province are arranged by district with an index at the end. The gazetteer is in German Gothic print. Information is given in columns and includes population figures as well as civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions.

Russia (and many places in Austria and Germany)
Sulimierski, Filip, ed.Slownik geograficzny królestwa polskiego i innych krajów slowiańskich (Geographical dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic countries). 15 vols. Warsaw: Sulimierski i Walewski, 1880–1902. (FHL book 943.8 E5c; film 920957–72.) These locations are listed alphabetically with Polish text.

The following book gives name changes after World War I:

Kredel, Otto, and Franz Thierfelder, Deutsch-fremdsprachiges Ortnamenverzeichnis (German-foreign gazetteer). 3 vols. Berlin: Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1931. (FHL book 940 E5kt; film 0950387.) The purpose of this gazetteer is to locate place-name changes after World War I.

These sources are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under:

POLAND - GAZETTEERS

Spis miejschowości Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej. Polish gazetteer for 1967 (2 volumes). (FHL book 943.8 E5s; film 2037058 or fiche 6000369-6000383.)

Slownik geograficzny królestwa polskiego i innych krajów slowiańskych. Geographical dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland prior to WWI (15 volumes), Warszawa, 1880. (FHL book 943.8 E5c; film 920957-72.)

Skorowidz miejscowości rzeczypospolitej polskiej. A gazetteer of Poland between WWI and II (2 volumes). 1934. (FHL book 943.8 E5sm; films 2037057-8.)

Gemeindelexikon Der Im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche and Länder. V. 12 (1900). (FHL book 943.6 E5g.)

Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia. Lenius, Brian, Anola, Manitoba, Canada (1999). (FHL book 943.65 E5L.)

Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preußen. Königlichen Statistischen Landesamts. Ostpreussen, Westpreussen, Brandenburg, Posen, Schlesien, Pommern. (6 volumes) (1907). (FHL book 943 E5kp.)

Wykaz urzędowych nazw miejscowści w Polsce. V. 1. (FHL book 943.8 E5wu.)

Słownik nazw geograficznych Polski zachódniej i pólnocnej. Place name change dictionary of places taken from Germany after WW II and that were incorporated into Poland and Russia. V. 1. (FHL book 943.8 E5sn; film 847874.)

Roman Catholic parishes in the Polish People's Republic in 1984. Lidia Müllerowa, Chicago, Illinois. 1995. (FHL book 943.8 K24m.)

Alphabetisches Ortsnamenverzeichnis der Deutschen Ostgebiete unter fremder Verwaltung, Band 11. V. 1. 1955. (FHL book 943.8 E5b.)

Jewish Roots in Poland. Miriam Weiner, Secaucus, New Jersey. 1997. A listing of Jewish archival holdings. (FHL book 943.8 F2wm.)

Oficjalny Spis Pocztowych Numerów Adresowych, Warszawa 1993. Polish Postal Guide. (FHL book 943.8 E80.)

Web Sites
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PL/

http://www.halgal.com/gazetteers.html

http://polandpoland.com/polish-villages-towns-cities.html

http://www.pgsa.org/Inter/lithres.htm

ARCHIVES
http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/ Polish State Archives in Warsaw. http://www.katowice.ap.gov.pl/ State archives of Katowice http://www.ap.wroc.pl/index_de.html State archives in Wrocław http://www.gca.ch/Genealogie/Oels/staatsarchiv_breslau.htm Information about the State Archives in Breslau and information about Kreis Oels.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
http://www.katywroclawskie.finn.pl/ A Polish civil registration office webpage, one of many similar type Websites. http://www.technika.gliwice.pl/ A site where the CD of civil registration office addresses (CRO) can be purchased, includes webpage and email addresses. http://www.usc.pl/ A site from Technika Corporation, above, that gives civil registration offices mailing addresses and phone numbers without email addresses or webpages included.

EXTRACTED RECORD DATA BASES
http://www.mikeburger.com/rzeszow.html An extracted records database from the Rzeszow area. http://feefhs.org/ Website of the Federation of Eastern European History Society. http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/polandgen.html Poland Genweb site, with links and lots of transcribed parish records. http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/BreslauMarrgs.html Extracted Jewish records of Breslau/Wrocław. http://www.familienforschung-koperlik.de/Jarczowitz/jb1825-1871.pdf Extractions of the parish of Jarczowitz.

JEWISH
http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/jriplweb.htm Jewish synagogue records indexing. http://www.zchor.org/rozan/rozan.htm Example of a Jewish town history. (Yitzkor book translations) http://www.yadvashem.org.il/ Database for Jewish Holocaust-Shoah victim’s names with pages of testimony.

HERALDRY
http://www.szlachta.org/heraldry.htm This site contains information about Polish heraldry.

HISTORICAL
http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/history.html Polish History timeline. http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Haven/1538/Polishpg.html Site with lots of general information about Poland with links to many useful Polish sites. http://www.kasprzyk.demon.co.uk/www/HistoryPolska.html This is an English language site with Polish history and Biographical history.

REGIONAL SOURCES
http://www.territorial.de/ndschles/ndsl.htm German language site for Niederschlesien with Kreis (county) information for each county and town history (timelines, etc) http://www.archidiecezja.lodz.pl/dekanaty.html This site lists addresses of Catholic parishes in Łodz Archdiocese. http://www.schlawe.de/ Research group for the Schlawe district includes reconstruction of some lost parish records. http://www.rummelsburg.de/literatur/index.htm This site deals with the genealogy and history of the Rummelsburg, (now Miastko, Poland) county. http://www.toszek.pl/index.php?option=com_frontpage&amp;Itemid=1 Polish town website provides historical and contact information. http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/kujtowns.html This site contains useful information of parishes and counties in the Kujawsko-Pomorski Province. http://pommernkontakte.de/index.html?sessid=60e8be6f55b3ebe9e24d607b71dc38c1 Pommern researcher contacts, data sharing, and guidelines for researchers.

RELIGION SPECIFIC SITES
http://www.kuria.gliwice.pl/ site for the Catholic diocese in Gliwice with diocese boundary maps with parish addresses and information. http://www.luteranie.pl/ Polish Evangelical website with all diocese addresses and individual parishes and email addresses. http://www.luteranie.pl/diec.wroclawska/ Evangelical diocese Wrocław with parish addresses and email addresses. http://www.diecezja.legnica.pl/ This site lists contact information for parishes in the Diocese Legnica. http://www.vogel-soya.de/Kirchspiele_OS.html Catholic and Lutheran parish designations for Oberschlesien. This list includes a list of all villages in the parish boundaries. The site also gives starting dates of church books available for parishes in Oberschlesien. http://www.opoka.org.pl/struktury_kosciola/diecezje/index.html All the Catholic Diocese in Poland, with addresses, emails and websites. Addresses for some Catholic libraries are included. http://www.upstreamvistula.org/Parishes/Parishes.htm A site for the Lutheran parishes of the Vistula region.

RESEARCH HELPS
http://www.poltran.com/ Polish translation site http://www.kartenmeister.com A Site, which gives Polish¬¬-German place name changes and German-Polish place name changes and personal contact information of other researchers by town of interest. http://www.pilot.pl/ A Polish on-line map search. http://hamburg.de/index.html Port of Hamburg website with Index for names. Charges apply. http://www.ksiazka-telefoniczna.com/index.php?language=de Polish White pages, telephone directory. It is necessary to know the town when the people lived to use this successfully. http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html Site where you can input surnames and find the modern provinces where they can be found and their distribution. http://www.genpol.com/Mapa+main.html A map, which works with the surname distribution site and shows where names are, indicating where the heaviest distributions of names can be found. http://www.atsnotes.com/other/gerpol.html This site contains interesting links, gazetteers and useful reference aids. http://www.tr62.de/maps/silesia.html Helpful maps of different time periods for Silesia, some religious maps, migration pattern maps, minorities, and population maps. Handwriting and typeface examples and tips on how to learn about them. This site has German surname density maps, which can be ordered.

SOCIETIES AND SPECIALIZED ORGANIZATIONS
http://feefhs.org/ Website of Federation of Eastern European History Society website. http://pommerscher-greif.de/index.htm Pommeranian Society website, with tips, links and some books to purchase. http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/polandgen.html Poland Genweb site, with links and lots of transcribed parish records. www.pgsa.org Polish Genealogical Society of America’s website. www.pgst.org Polish Genealogical Society of Texas website. http://english.its-arolsen.org/ Post WWII tracing services for Jewish people, displaced people and prisoners of war.