Posen, German Empire Church Records

Church records (parish registers, church books) are an important source for genealogical research in Germany before civil registration began. They recorded details of baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. The vast majority of the population was mentioned. To learn more about the types of information you will find in church records, click on these links: For a comprehensive understanding of church records, study the article Germany Church Records.
 * Baptisms (Taufen)
 * Marriages (Heiraten)
 * Burials (Begräbnisse)
 * Confirmations (Konfirmationen)
 * Family Registers (Familienbücher)

Online Class on Locating Posen Parish Registers

 * German Research: Strategies and Sources for Eastern Provinces. Be sure to download the class syllabus.
 * 1) Watch the General Resources portion, beginning at 13:47 minutes, to learn how to check for parish registers using:
 * 2) The PRADZIAD Database
 * 3) Szukaj w ArchiwachTutorial
 * 4) Archion, Cooperative of protestant archives ($)
 * 5) Archives Portal Europe
 * 6) Watch the Posen portion, which begins at 36:19 minutes.

Church Records on the Internet
Online records for Posen are found in Archion in the Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin. Among its collections there are about 6,000 church records of Protestant church communities in the former Eastern Church provinces of Prussia. They come from the provinces of East and West Prussia, Pomerania, Posen, Silesia, Brandenburg (east of the Oder and Neisse). Some of the provinces are represented by numerous, others because of the loss of war, with only a few church books.
 * Archion: Evangelical Central Archives in Berlin ($)
 * Poznan Marriage Project(PMP)
 * Tutorial, “Poznan Marriage Project”
 * BaSIA: Database of Archival Indexing System: After locating a marriage in the Poznan Marriage Project, use this database to see the original record.
 * Szukaj w ArchiwachTutorial
 * List of holdings State Archive of Poznan
 * Geneteka Instructions
 * GENBAZA Instructions
 * FamilySearch Historical Records. Index and images. In German. Incomplete.
 * Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg and Posen, Church Book Duplicates (Deutschland, Preußen, Brandenburg und Posen, Kirchenbuchduplikate), 1794-1874. MyHeritage.com, ($). Index and images. In German. Incomplete.
 * Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg and Posen, Church Book Duplicates (Deutschland, Preußen, Brandenburg und Posen, Kirchenbuchduplikate), 1794-1874. Ancestry.com, ($). Index and images. In German. Incomplete.
 * Brandenburg, Germany, Transcripts of Church Records, 1700-1874, index and images ($). List of parishes, includes parishes from Posen

Records at the Family History Library
The Family History Library has many German church records on microfilm.


 * a. Click on the Places within Germany, Preussen, Posen drop-down menu] and select your town.
 * b. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * c. Choose the correct record type and time period for your ancestor. "Taufen" are baptisms/christenings. Heiraten are marriages.  "Tote" are deaths.
 * d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

EZA Berlin (Lutheran)
Evangelical Central Archives Berlin ( EZA ) Bethaniendamm 29 10997 Berlin Germany Family Research: Ruf. 030 / 22504-536 E-mail:kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de Space reservation: Fax. 030 / 22504-540 or Email to reservierung@ezab.de
 * List of holdings

BZ Regensburg (Catholic)
Bishops' Central Archives Regensburg St. Petersweg 11-13 93047 Regensburg Ruf. Germany Telephone: 0941 / 597-2520 Fax. 0941 / 597-2521 E-Mail: archiv@bistum-regensburg.de
 * Website
 * List of holdings

DZfG Leipzig
German Central Office for Genealogy Saxon State Archives State Archives Leipzig Schongauerstraße 1 04328 Leipzig Germany Email: poststelle-l@sta.smi.sachsen.de Telephone: 0341 / 255-5500
 * Website
 * List of holdings

Poland
State Archive in Poznań 60-967 Poznan Poland tel. (61) 852-46-01 Fax (61) 851-73-10 E-mail: archiwum@poznan.ap.gov.pl
 * Website
 * List of holdings

Catholic

 * Parish list for Archdiocese of Poznan The visual list is difficult to use as it does not show towns.  You will get better results but naming the desired town in the search engine.

Protestant
In Poland approximately 134 protestant parishes exist. Some records formerly found in such parishes may now be archived in local Catholic parishes. For a list of the Protestant parishes in Poland, and their addresses, you can visit the Lutheran Church in Poland for a listing of Lutheran parishes which are in existence today.

Addressing the Letter
Using these addresses as guides, replacing the information in parentheses. If you do not know the street address of a church, you can omit it. For State Archive Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For a Roman Catholic Parish Parafia Rzymsko-Katolicka (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For a Protestant Parish Parafia Ewangelicka (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

For an Orthodox Parish  Parafia Prawoslawna (street name and number) (postal code) (name of locality) POLAND

Letter Writing Guides
How to write a letter: Detailed instruction for what to include in the letter, plus Polish translations of the questions and sentences most frequently used are in the Poland Letter Writing Guide.''' In some cases, the records are held in archives in Germany. For letters in German, including addressing the letter, plus German translations of the questions and sentences most frequently needed, use the the German Letter Writing Guide.''' Because part of Posen is now in Russia, this article may help: Russian Letter Writing Guide

Other Religious Groups

 * To learn how to determine the location of other religious records, namely Jewish, French Reformed, German Reformed, etc., watch Hansen’s Map Guides: Finding Records with Parish Maps beginning at 48:00 minutes, to learn how to locate these congregations. Then go back and watch from the beginning to understand how to use the reference book. This course teaches you how to use a set of reference books found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. If you are not in Salt Lake City, use the Contact Us feature to request information from the books.

Jewish Records

 * See the Wiki article, Germany Jewish Records

Huguenots (French Protestants)
*German Huguenot Society eV, index.
 * See the Wiki article, ’’’Huguenots in Germany’’’

Reading the Records

 * It's easier than you think! You do not have to be fluent in French and German to use these records, as there is only a limited vocabulary used in them. By learning a few key phrases, you will be able to read them adequately.  Here are some resources for learning to read German records.
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * German Handwriting


 * These video webinars will teach you to read German handwriting:
 * Old German Script Part 1
 * Old German Script Part 2
 * Old German Script (German Church and Civil Records) Part 3


 * Also online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:
 * . In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
 * German Script Tutorial
 * . In this lesson, you will explore several types of German genealogical records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records.
 * German Script Tutorial

This converter will show you how any phrase or name might look in German script:
 * Kurrentschrift Converter (enter German genealogical word, click on "convert", view your word in Kurrentschrift (Gothic handwriting)

Latin Records
Records of the Catholic church will usually be written in Latin:
 * Latin Genealogical Word List

Polish
Because Posen is now in Poland, these articles will help:
 * Poland Letter Writing Guide
 * Polish Word List
 * Poland Language and Languages

Search Strategy

 * Search for the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Next, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will have information that will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all known family members.
 * Repeat this process for both the father and the mother, starting with their birth records, then their siblings' births, then their parents' marriages, and so on.
 * If earlier generations (parents, grandparents, etc.) do not appear in the records, search neighboring parishes.


 * German Research Troubleshooting Strategies