Straubing, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History and Geography


Straubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria of southern Germany. It is the seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held here. It is located on the Danube forming the centre of the Gäuboden.


 * The area of Straubing has been continuously settled since the Neolithic Age.
 * After the fall of the Roman Empire Straubing became a centre of settlement of the Bavarii.
 * In 1218 a new part of the city (called 'new town') was founded by Duke Ludwig I Wittelsbach of Bavaria.
 * It became the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria-Straubing under Duke Wilhelm I when Bavaria was divided among the sons of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1349.
 * In 1633, during the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish army successfully besieged the city.
 * In 1944 and 1945, Straubing suffered from several American air raids. The local military hospital was destroyed to the extent of 80 percent with a loss of 45 patients.
 * In November 2016 a fire destroyed a greater part of the medieval town hall. See Wikipedia for more information about Straubing.

Online Records

 * This link takes you to the FamilySearch Catalog where there is information about the records available on microfilm from Straubing. All can be viewed at a Family History Center. Many of them have been digitized and some of the topics can be seen online. For instance: click on church records, go to the bottom of the page and then click on the camera icon.There you can read the original parish records in your own home. Eventually all the records will be available in this wonderful way.
 * Bavaria, Germany, WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 include information on some soldiers from Straubing on Ancestry.com Be sure to enter Straubing, Bayern, Germany not Straubing-Bogen for the place.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-search tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy. Enter the name of the town name in the place box, then click search and it will produce an alphabetical list of people from that area that are in the data base. You can do a more specific search by entering a surname, also or just the surname if you don't know yet the birthplace of your ancestor.
 * Find a Grave has some information on the Straubing cemeteries. This data base continues to grow for this site. So, if there's is nothing there concerning your family recheck it occasionally.

Civil Registration
There are two places that may have civil records in this city.

Straubing Standesamt Stetthaimerpl. 11 94315 Straubing Germany email: poststelle@straubing.de City of Straubing Website

Rathaus Straubing Theresienplatz 94315 Straubing Germany Phone +49 9421 9440


 * Most civil record offices in Bavaria only have records back to the late 1800's. To find information on your family before that it is necessary to go to church records.

Catholic Church Records
There are several Catholic Churches in Straubing. They are all worth visiting because their of amazing beauty, but not necessary when searching for genealogy since their parish records are at the Regensburg archive. It is possible that they have recent parish records at the churches, but anything before the late 1800's will be at the archive in Regensburg.

This is the Website of one of the local Catholic Churches in case you would like to contact them to determine exactly what records are kept at the local churches.

Regensburg Bischöfliches Zentralarchiv - for most of Oberpfalz
The older parish records are kept at the Central Archive in Regensburg. St.Petersweg 11-13 D-93047 Regensburg Germany email: archiv@bistum-regensburg.de
 * Archive Website

The records in the Regensburg Catholic Archive are on microfiche which takes time and patience to read. It is necessary to make an appointment to use a film reader. There is a 7 Euro fee per day per person to do research and a charge per document you have copied.(I think we paid about 8 Euros per page) This can add up to an expensive way to gather information, however, you can just take a pencil (not an ink pen) and paper and write down what you find. The people that work there don't usually have much time to assist you....so go planning on spending the first half of the day just figuring out how to use their system. Also, if you complete your research at the end of the day they may not be able to have the documents you need copied until the next day. You can return the next day to pick them up or you can pay them to mail them to your home.
 * List of parish registers This link takes you to a listing of the records available on microfiche at the Regensburg Catholic Archive. It is organized in alphabetical order of the cities, towns and villages in the diocese. It also tells you what kind of documents are available from which years. It is good to know that Taufen means baptisms, Trauungen means marriages, and Beerdigungen means burials.
 * The archive will do genealogical research for you. Requests can be made by mail or email. The fee for genealogical research is Euros 35.00 per half an hour plus postage.

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Straubing, there is a chance they affiliated with the Catholic church. However, if you do not find them in Catholic records, you should search the Lutheran records. Evanglische Erlöserkirche Bogen Dr.-Martin-Luther-Straße 6 94327 Bogen Germany Phone: +49 9422 1243
 * According to Meyer's Gazetteer, there was a Lutheran church in Straubing in 1871. Today the Lutheran Church serving Straubing is in Bogen.


 * Many records for the Lutheran (Evangelical) churches in Bavaria are digitized and available online through Archion ($). This is not a free site, but requires registration and a membership fee. This link gives instructions on How to Use Archion
 * Legacy Tree provides a detailed description of Archion that you may find valuable in deciding if this is a resource you want to use.


 * The Lutheran Archive for Bavaria is in Nurnberg. It is always a good idea to contact in advance and make an appointment to use any archive.

Veilhofstraße 8 90489 Nurnberg Germany E-Mail: archiv@elkb.de Website

Cemeteries

 * This link is to Straubing Cemeteries
 * Google Maps also has a list of the cemeteries in Straubing that could be helpful.

In a city this large walking through cemeteries could be very time consuming, unless you know which cemetery to go to and use the cemetery map to find the grave of your relative. If you are hoping to find information on your ancestors in a cemetery, keep in mind that in most Bavarian cemeteries the grave plots are re-used as often as every 25 years. (sometimes 50 -100 years. If you are lucky enough to go to Straubing and want to find a cemetery Find A Grave and Billion Graves both have great phone apps to help you locate cemeteries.