Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes two collections that are scheduled to be made available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search – Pilot Site. To access this collection, see Slovakia, Prešov Region Church Books, (Slovakian Place Names), 1592-1952

Collection Time Period
The earliest Slovak church book was created in 1587 (a book of christenings from Košice). Few Catholic registers date from the early and mid 1600s, but most registers date from the early 1700s. Protestant churches usually did not begin to maintain parish registers until the late 1600s. While church books are kept to the present, this collection only goes through 1952.

Collection History
The edict of the Council of Trent in 1563 mandated that priests create church books. In 1827, duplicate copies were supposed to be deposited in the bishop’s consistory archive. Starting in 1869, the civil authorities took charge of keeping records of births, marriages, and deaths, although the individual churches continued to actually record these events. The official legal copy was kept by local officials. This action was prompted when many of the clergy refused to perform Catholic rites for non-Catholics. Everyone was registered under this new system (not only Catholics or Protestants).

In 1949, all of the church books of Slovakia were nationalized. In 1952 the state began to transfer the books to one of seven state regional archives (Štátné oblastné arhívy): Prešov, Košice, Bratislava, Levoča, Nitra, Banská Bystrica, and Bytča.

Many church books from earlier time periods were lost during the Turkish invasions and Slovak rebellions around 1600-1700. Those which carry over past the early 1900's (even though they may have begun earlier) are still located in local city halls or other institutions. The Family History Library has copies of almost all birth, marriage, and death registers for the following religions: Catholic (the majority religion), Evangelical Lutheran, Reformed, Jewish, Greek Catholic, and Orthodox. Filming of the records was done from 1991-2009. The images in this collection are from those films.

The church books cover a majority of the population.

Why This Collection Was Created
Church books were created at first by the church to identify those who had received church sacraments. After 1869 they were used also as an official record of vital events by civil authorities

Collection Reliability
Slovak church books are extremely reliable, more so than census and other records. Ages, birth dates and birth places found in marriage and death entries may be inaccurate, depending on the informant’s knowledge.

Collection Description
Many church books from earlier time periods were lost during the Turkish invasions and Slovak rebellions around 1600-1700. Those which carry over past the early 1900's (even though they may have begun earlier) are still located in local city halls or other institutions. The Family History Library has copies of almost all birth, marriage, and death registers for the following religions: Catholic (the majority religion), Evangelical Lutheran, Reformed, Jewish, Greek Catholic, and Orthodox. Filming of the records was done from 1991-2009. The images in this collection are from those films.

Entries are usually arranged in chronological order and, after 1784, in a columnar format. Sometimes, baptisms, marriages, and burials are kept all for all villages in a parish, for each year. Other times, each village has its own section of baptisms, marriages, and burials, listed chronologically. Some records are on preprinted forms. Most records include indexes.

Most Catholic records are in Latin and Hungarian; while Reformed and Lutheran Evangelical are in Latin and Slovak (but may also be found in Hungarian.) Greek Catholic records are in Latin, Russian, Ukrainian, and Hungarian. Orthodox records are written in Ukrainian (Ruthenian) or Russian. Jewish records may be in a combination of one or more of the following: German, Hebrew, Latin, Hungarian. Several languages are often found in the books of a single place. A law of 1868 allowed different religious groups to use the language they favored, e.g., Ukrainian in Ruthenia.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in baptism entries are:


 * Names of the child, parents, and witnesses or godparents—sometimes includes names of grandparents
 * Residence and religion of the parents and other direct-line ancestors
 * Occupation of the father and other males listed
 * Whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate

Key genealogical facts found in marriage entries are:


 * Names of the bride, groom, their parents, witnesses, and sometimes grandparents
 * Date and place of marriage, sometimes time of marriage
 * Date and place of marriage, sometimes time of marriage
 * Age of bride and groom
 * Residence of the bride, groom, and their ancestors (sometimes birth places)
 * Religion of the bride and groom
 * Occupation of the groom and other males listed

Key genealogical facts found in burial entries are:


 * Names of the deceased, spouse/parents, and sometimes grandparents
 * Date and place of death and burial, sometimes time of death and burial
 * Age and residence of deceased
 * Residences of other ancestors listed
 * Whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate
 * Cause of death or illness
 * Funeral location and date

How to Use the Collection
Slovak church books are definitely the best source for identifying one’s relatives in the Slovak Republic. Because so many other relatives are mentioned in the church books, a miniature pedigree chart can be created from almost every entry in a church book.

Related Websites
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Bibliographic Information
Original documents are housed in the Štátny archív v Prešove, Slovakia

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Slovakia Church Records