Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg and Posen, Church Book Duplicates - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection of records that is available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search – Pilot Site. To access the collection, see [Germany, Posen, Church Book Duplicates, 1800-1874]

Collection Time Period
German states successively began creating church book duplicates from 1792-1876. The duplicates ended with the institution of civil registration in 1876.

Population Coverage
The duplicates cover a majority of the population.

Collection History
In Germany, a "parish" was an ecclesiastical jurisdictions made up of many villages and hamlets, with one of the villages designated as the main parish town. This set of church book duplicates do not usually include records from all of the villages within a parish, but only records from one village, or from a few of the villages within the parish. In larger cities, where there was more than one church, each church is listed separately.

German states successively began creating church book duplicates from 1792-1876. The duplicates ended with the institution of civil registration in 1876. Inspired by the institution of civil registration in France in 1792, German states began creating church book duplicates: Rheinland and Brandenburg in 1792, Hessen-Nassau in 1803, Westfalen in 1808, Hannover in 1809. The German states required the clergy to create a transcript of their church books and turn them in annually to the state. Civil authorities assumed the registration function in Prussia in October 1874, and elsewhere in January 1876.

The clergy were required to record the vital events (births, marriages and deaths) of people living within their jurisdiction regardless of their religion. For example, Catholic or Jewish people living in an area that did not have a Catholic church or Jewish synagogue were often recorded in the Lutheran records. The reverse was also true in Catholic areas, where Lutherans and Jews were recorded in Catholic records.

Large cities had many churches or parishes, each serving part of the city. Rural churches often served several villages and hamlets.

Why was this collection created?
Church book duplicates were created for the use of civil authorities.

Collection Reliability
German church book duplicates, like the originals, are the most reliable and accurate family history source until 1876 when civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in all of Germany. Ages, birth dates and birth places found in marriage and death entries may be inaccurate, depending on the informant's knowledge. Church book duplicates may differ slightly from the originals because of transcription variations. They are often more legible than the originals.

Collection Description
Entries are usually arranged in chronological order in a column format. The baptisms, marriages and deaths for one year are grouped together before the baptisms, marriages and deaths for the next year (some of the records include only marriages and deaths, or only births and marriages, etc.). Some of the records are on preprinted forms. Some include indexes.

Many church book duplicates were lost but those that remain are well kept in civil archives.

Collection Content
These are the key genealogical facts found in most baptismal records:


 * Names of the child, parents and witnesses or godparents
 * Date and place of birth and baptism
 * Residence and religion of the parents
 * Occupation of the father
 * Whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate

These are the key genealogical facts found in most marriage records:


 * Names of the bride, groom, their parents (usually the fathers) and witnesses
 * Date and place of marriage and marriage proclamations or banns
 * Age of bride and groom (sometimes date and place of birth)
 * Residence of the bride, groom and their parents
 * Religion of the bride and groom
 * Occupation of groom and fathers

These are the key genealogical facts found in most death records:


 * Names of the deceased, spouse and parents
 * Date and place of death and burial
 * Age and residence of deceased (sometimes date and place of birth)
 * Cause of death

How to Use the Collection
German church book duplicates are a back up source for church books (parish registers) which are the best German records to identify individuals, parents, and spouses before the civil registration of vital events. German states instituted registration at different times from 1792-1874. There are more duplicates in the Family History Library and on FamilySearch, making them the best records available at this time.

Search the records for the villages where the person lived. If you do not find record of the person you need, you might want to: a) look for other people with the same surname in the village as that information might lead you to the records you need, b) search several years before and after the event you are looking for, and c) search surrounding villages for the individual.

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Church History Germany Church Records Germany