Orb Parish, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, German Empire Genealogy

Guide to Orb Parish, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, Germany ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

History
The prefix "Bad" was officially added to Orb's name in 1909 in recognition of its status as a place with healing waters.

Jurisdictional Changes
Orb has belonged to the following independent countries or post-1871 German states:

Place Names
A very good gazetteer to begin with is Meyers Gazetteer. For more information, see the entry for Bad Orb.

Another essential online gazetteer to check is the Historic Gazetteer from Compgen. For more information, see the entry for Bad Orb.

Locations within Orb
The Catholic parish included Alsberg, Altenburg, Aufenau, Friedrichsthal, Lettgenbrunn, and Villbach.

Catholic
Catholic church records for this part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau are held at the Fulda Diocesan Archive in Fulda, Germany. The following records have been digitized by the website Matricula Online. You can learn how to use Matricula Online by clicking here. There are no indexes to these records. More recent records may be restricted.

Church records begin in 1607.


 * 1607-1947 Church records 1607-1947 at Matricula Online - images; includes separate books for Lettgenbrunn with Villbach after 1854.

Lutheran
Lutheran church records for this part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau are held at the Evangelical Church Archive of Kurhessen-Waldeck in Kassel, Germany. The following records have been digitized by the website Archion. Archion requires a subscription. You can learn how to use Archion by clicking here. There are no indexes to these records. More recent records may be restricted.

The Lutheran parish was established in 1947. Prior to 1947, Lutheran residents belonged to the parish of Aufenau.


 * 1949-1972 Marriages 1949-1972 at Archion - images, ($)
 * 1947-1976 Burials 1947-1976 at Archion - images, ($)
 * 1977-1995 Burials 1877-1995 at Archion - images, ($)

Jewish Records
Jewish Records for this part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau are held at the Hessian Main State Archive in Wiesbaden, Germany. The following digitized records are available in the Hessian Vital Records collection in LAGIS (Hessian Regional History Information System). These records have been indexed by JewishGen and can be searched for in their JewishGen German Collection database. Results are found in The Hessen Gatermann Index database. For help with understanding the Hebrew calendar dates click here.


 * 1821-1874 Births, marriages, and deaths 1821-1874 at LAGIS-Hessen.de - images
 * 1837-1884 Births 1837-1884 at LAGIS-Hessen.de - images

Civil Registration
Civil registration for Orb began in October 1874.

Town Genealogy (OFB or Ortsfamilienbuch)
For more information about compiled genealogies, see the article Germany Town Genealogies.

Societies and Libraries
Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck Family History Society for Nassau and Frankfurt Hessian Family History Association Hessian State Archives Society for Family Studies in Kurhessen and Waldeck