For more information, see the “Church History” and “History” sections of this outline.

Feast Dates. Each day of the year had several patron saints and was a feast day to honor those saints. Some vital events are recorded in church records only by the holy day (feast day) on the church calendar. For example, the feast day called “All Saints Day” [Allerheiligentag] is “1 November.” To convert feast dates to days of the month for either the Julian (old style) or Gregorian (new style) calendar, use the following book:

Bukke, Inger M., et al. The Comprehensive Genealogical Feast Day Calendar. Bountiful, Utah: Thomson's Genealogical Center, 1983. (FHL book 529.44 C738; fiche 6054630; computer number 255709.)

Duplicate Church Records

Unfortunately, some of Germany's church records were destroyed in wars or when parish houses burned. Because of concerns about such destruction, authorities in some areas began requiring copies of church books in the 1700s. Copies were either stored separately or sent to a central archive annually. These copies are called transcripts or duplicates [Kirchenbuchduplikate], and most are housed in central church archives or state archives. For example, the church record duplicates of 62 parishes in the Sondershausen Evangelical diocese from 1813 to 1846 were all gathered into the diocese's central archive.

Use duplicates, where available, to supplement parish registers that are missing or illegible. Keep in mind that duplicates often differ slightly from the originals.

Information Recorded in Church Records

The information recorded in church records varied over time. Later records usually give more complete information than earlier ones. The most important church records for genealogical research are baptism, marriage, and burial registers. Other helpful church records may include confirmation lists, family registers, lists of pastors, lists of members, account books, receipt books, and communion records. A detailed discussion of the content and variety of records is found in the following book:

Smith, Kenneth L. German Church Books: Beyond the Basics. (See the “For Further Reading” section of this outline.)

Most Catholic records were written in Latin until the 1800s. Protestant records were usually written in German. Local dialects may have affected the spelling of some names and other words in the church records. In German areas under French domination during the early nineteenth century, many church records were kept in French. Sometimes the records combine two languages.

There was no specific record-keeping style for church records. Early records were usually written in paragraph form. As record keeping improved, columns were often used in the entries. However, some places (especially Catholic parishes) used the paragraph format for a long time.

Some areas, such as Bayern and Preußen, often used preprinted forms that required specific information. This format is usually easier to read because the vital information is in the same place in each entry.

Baptisms [Taufen]

Children were usually baptized a few days after birth. Baptism registers usually give the infant's name, parents' names, status of legitimacy, names of witnesses or godparents, and baptism date. You may also find the child's birth date, the father's occupation, and the family's place of residence. Death information was sometimes added as a note or signified by a cross.

Earlier registers typically gave less information, sometimes including only the child's and father's names and the baptism date. A few records did not even give the child's name. This problem can sometimes be resolved if the godparents are mentioned in the entry. Boys were often named for the godfather and girls for the godmother. Until the end of the 1700s, pastors in some communities did not name the mother in the birth records, or they included only her given name. Sometimes only the baptism date was recorded, but in later years the birth date was given as well.

Because of social conditions in Germany, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon. Illegitimacy is usually noted in baptism records, sometimes by a note in the margin or an upside-down entry.

Marriages [Heiraten]

Marriage registers give the marriage date and the names of the bride and groom. The registers may also indicate whether they were single or widowed and give the names of witnesses. Other information about the bride and groom is often included, such as their ages, residences, occupations, birthplaces, and parents' names. In cases of second and subsequent marriages, the registers may include the names of previous partners and their death dates. A note was often made if a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage.

The earliest marriage records may give only the names of the bride and groom and have little or no information about the couple's parents. In some cases, only the names of the bride's parents are recorded. The groom's parents are commonly recorded after 1800. Later marriage records usually give at least the age of the bride and groom. Some even give the couple's birth dates and places.

Couples were often married in the bride's home parish. Typically, girls married for the first time between ages 18 and 25. Men typically married for the first time in their mid-twenties.

Marriage Banns [Aufgebote]. For three weeks before the marriage, marriage banns (announcements of intentions to marry) were read or posted in church. This gave other community members a chance to object to the marriage.

The marriage registers of some churches give the three dates on which the marriage banns were announced. The marriage banns themselves may exist in another record. Some parishes kept the marriage banns and other marriage information instead of marriage registers.

Burials [Begräbnisse]

Burials were recorded in the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of death.

Burial registers give the deceased's name and the date and place of death or burial. Often the deceased's age, place of residence, and cause of death and the names of survivors are also given. Occasionally the deceased's birth date and place and parents' names are given. However, information about parents, birth dates, and birthplaces may be inaccurate, depending on the informant's knowledge.

If the burial record mentions a sermon, you may be able to find a printed copy at a local library or archive. Funeral sermons often mentioned several generations of ancestors. See the “Obituaries” section of this outline for more details.

Some areas began recording burials before births and marriages. Other areas recorded baptisms and marriages for several years before beginning to record burials.

Stillbirths were not recorded the same way in all churches. The pastor or priest often determined how to record stillbirths in his parish. In some areas, stillbirths were recorded in birth records. In other areas, stillbirths were recorded in death records. Some parishes listed stillbirths in both birth and death records. You should check both birth and death records if you suspect that a child was stillborn.

Confirmations [Konfirmationen]

Protestants were usually confirmed around age 14, Catholics about age 12. Some confirmation registers merely list the names of those being confirmed and the confirmation date. Other confirmation registers give additional information about those being confirmed, including their ages or birth dates, birthplaces, and fathers' names.

Family Registers [Familienbücher]

Some parishes kept family registers that give information about each family group in the parish. Family registers are more common in southern Germany, especially in Württemberg and Baden after 1808. These registers list the names of the husband and wife and their birth dates and places, marriage date and place, parents' names, occupations, and residence. If a second marriage is listed, details about the parents of the new marriage partner are often included.

Children are usually listed in chronological order. Names, birth dates, confirmation dates, marriage dates, and death dates may be listed. In some registers, when a child married and remained in the same parish, the register gives a “see” reference and a page number where that particular child appears as the head of a household.

Some family registers indicate whether the family moved to another village or emigrated to another country.

The information in family registers was compiled from other church books or obtained from the head of the household, and it is subject to error. Whenever possible, you should confirm all information found in family registers with baptism, marriage, and burial records.

Parish Genealogy [Ortssippenbuch]

Pastors or genealogists sometimes compiled a village lineage book [Ortssippenbuch], which included each family in a parish. For details see the “Genealogy” section of this outline.

Locating Church Records

Church records were kept in the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church minister. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many neighboring villages in their boundaries.

To use church records, you must know both your ancestor's religion and the town where he or she lived. You must also determine in which parish the town was located.

Some gazetteers indicate parish jurisdictions. For more information, see the “Gazetteers” section of this outline and the section below that discusses church record inventories.

A small village that did not have its own church was usually assigned to a parish in a nearby larger town. Consequently, your ancestor may have lived in one village but belonged to a parish in another town. Some parishes had branch churches in neighboring towns. Over time, some villages may have belonged to several parishes as jurisdictions changed. In Schleswig-Holstein, each local district parish office [Kreis Pfarramt] has custody of Protestant records.

The Family History Library Catalog refers to parishes by the town in which the parish church was located, unless there was more than one church in the town. In large cities, there may be many parishes for each religion. Church buildings were often named for saints, so the catalog uses the church name (such as Sankt Pauli Bremen) to distinguish between different parishes in the same city.

Church Record Inventories

Church record inventories are essential tools for finding German records. They identify what records should be available for a specified parish and where to write for information on these records. They list the church records, their location, and the years they cover. Sometimes inventories explain which parishes served which towns at different periods of time. For example, an inventory may state that the village of Schönberg belonged to the parish in Prinzbach before 1696 and to the parish in Schönberg after that date. For more information, see the “Church Directories” section of this outline.

The following source contains a helpful list of German church record inventories with Family History Library call numbers and English annotations:

Blodgett, Steven W. Germany: Genealogical Research Guide. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1989. (FHL book 943 D27bs; film 1573115 item 2; fiche 6001630; computer number 543018.)

Church record inventories are available for most areas in Germany. They are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

GERMANY - CHURCH RECORDS - INVENTORIES, REGISTERS, CATALOGSGERMANY, [STATE] - CHURCH RECORDS - INVENTORIES, REGISTERS, CATALOGS