Austria Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Austria, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Records

 * 1651-1940 - at FamilySearch, index and images, incomplete. How to Use This Collection includes coverage table.
 * 1722-1898 - at FamilySearch, index. How to Use This Collection includes coverage table.
 * 1768-1918' - at FamilySearch, index. How to Use This Collection includes coverage table.

Catholic Records

 * 1612-1966 - Austria-Hungary, Roman Catholic Indexes, 1612-1966 at MyHeritage - index ($)

Evangelical-Lutheran Records
Diocese of Burgenland Diocese of Carinthia (Kärnten) and East Tyrol (Tirol) Diocese of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) Diocese of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) Diocese of Salzburg and Tyrol Diocese of Styria (Steiermark) Diocese of Vienna
 * 1848-1900 - at FamilySearch, images only. How to Use This Collection
 * Matricula: Kärnten Ev. Kirche A.B
 * Matricula: Niederösterreich: Ev. Kirche A.B.
 * Matricula: Oberösterreich: Ev. Kirche A.B
 * Matricula: Steiermark: Ev. Kirche A.B
 * Matricula: Vienna (Wien) Ev. Kirche A.B.
 * Matricula: Vienna (Wien) Ev. Kirche H.B. (Reformed

Writing for Records

 * The Wiki article, German Letter Writing Guide, will assist you in writing to request records.

Church records (Kirchenbücher or Matriken) and parish transcripts (Kirchenbuchduplikate)

 * Before 1895, vital records were recorded by church officials: births and baptisms; marriages, marriage proclamations; deaths and burials; confirmations; church censuses, memberships, and family registers.
 * Records exist for many denominations and for military units.
 * Transcripts are similar in content to original parish registers and civil registration. Printed forms were used and indexes added that make them easier to search than parish registers.
 * Occasionally transcripts have more complete data than parish registers. Sometimes the originals have more.
 * Very often separate transcript registers were kept for major towns in the jurisdiction of each parish, whereas the originals have only one register which includes all towns.

Time Coverage
The first Protestant regulation for the keeping of Church books was in 1533, and the first Catholic regulation to do so was in 1563, however, a few isolated parishes had already begun in 1379 in Tirol, 1517 in Dalmatia, 1518 in Hungary and 1523 in Austria. Many early church records were destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648 and in subsequent conflicts. Generally, registers exist for the following denominations:


 * Evangelical Lutheran (Evangelisch-Lutherisch) 1533-
 * Evangelical Reformed (Evangelisch-Reformiert), 1556-
 * Moravian Baptist/Hutterite (Hutterer) 1561-
 * Brethren (Brüdergemeine) 1561-
 * Catholic (Katholisch) 1563-
 * Orthodox 1600-
 * Orthodox (Uniat) 1697-
 * Jews (Juden) 1709-
 * Salzburger (Salzburger Protestanten) 1731-
 * Others: Baptists, Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Old Catholics.

Transcripts begin as early as 1784, but some do not start until later. They extend until the advent of civil registration.

Baptismal/birth Records

 * Dates and places of birth and/or baptism
 * Names of children, parents (often mother's maiden name is given)
 * Names of godparents and sometimes their relationships to infants.

Marriage Records

 * Names of couples
 * Date of marriage and/or date of proclamation
 * Often names of parents, names of witnesses.

Marriage Contracts and Banns (Heiratskautionen und Belege)

 * Names of couples,
 * Dates of intention of marriage,
 * Places of residence,
 * Occupation,
 * Names of witnesses,
 * Often names of parents and sometimes other relationships.

Death/burial Records

 * Names 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
Children were confirmed between the ages of 12 and 16.


 * 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.