Liechtenstein Church Records

Europe Liechtenstein

Background
The population of Liechtenstein today includes about 31,000 inhabitants, including over 12,000 resident foreigners, primarily from Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany. Church membership consists of 87% Roman Catholics, 9% Protestants, and 4% others.

Church records (Kirchenbücher) and parish transcripts (Kirchenbuchduplikate)
Research use: Primary source for compiling pedigrees and family groups prior to civil registration. Some parish registers are indexed.

Record type: Births and baptisms; marriages, marriage proclamations; deaths and burials; confirmations; church censuses, memberships, annual masses for the dead, and family registers.

Time period: 1560-present. Transcripts begin as early as 1784, but some do not start until later. They extend until the advent of civil registration.

Contents: Baptismal/birth records:  Dates and places of birth and/or baptism; names of children, parents; names of godparents. Marriage records: Names of couples, date of marriage and/or date of proclamation; often names of parents, names of witnesses. Death/burial records: Name of deceased, date of death and/or burial; often age and cause of death; often name of spouse, especially of women; names of parents of deceased children. Confirmation records: Name of child, age, place of residence and name of father. Church censuses, membership lists, family registers: Names of married couples, their ages or birth dates and places, sometimes dates of marriage, names of children, ages or birth dates, death or burial dates of children. Sometimes marriage dates and names of spouses of children are given.

Location: Local parish and state archives. Transcripts in diocesan archives in Chur.

Percentage in Family History Library: 80% of parish registers, 0% of transcripts.

Population coverage: 50% before 1800, 70% thereafter.

Reliability: Very good.