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

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

Jurisdictional Changes
Besse 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 Besse.

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

Church Records
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.

Civil Registration
Civil registration for Besse 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