Füssen, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History and Geography
Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the Austrian border. It has a population of 15,265. The town is known for its violinmaking industry, and as the closest transportation hub for the castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Füssen is located on the banks of the Lech River, which flows into the Forggensee. The Forggensee is a man-made lake which was built to prevent flooding. It is the catchment area for all the melting snow in the spring, and is drained after the middle of October. Füssen is 808 meters (2,651 ft) above sea level. The castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau are located near the town. There is a list at the bottom of the page of in Füssen/Wikipedia of the other towns and municipalities of Ostallgau.


 * Füssen was settled in Roman times, on the Via Claudia Augusta, a road that leads southwards to northern Italy and northwards to Augusta Vindelicum (today's Augsburg), the former regional capital of the Roman province Raetia.
 * Füssen later became the site of the "Hohes Schloss" (High Castle), the former summer residence of the prince-bishops of Augsburg.
 * In 1745, the Treaty of Füssen was signed between the Electorate of Bavaria and Habsburg Austria, ending Bavaria's participation in the War of the Austrian Succession.
 * Since the 1950s the town has been familiar to travellers as the southern terminus of the Romantic Road

Online Records

 * There is information on soldiers from Füssen on Ancestry.com in WWI Personnel Rosters 1914-1918
 * Cemetery records of Füssen are available on Find A Grave
 * FamilySearch Catalog This link takes you to the FamilySearch Catalog list of microfilmed documents for civil records of marriage proclamations, marriage supplements, and permissions to change residence for Füssen, Bayern, Germany. These might be available at a Family History Center, but there are plans to digitize everything eventually.
 * Familysearch/Search Records is also a good source from records on the town of Füssen.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta Search tool on the website of the German Society for computer genealogy.

Civil Registration
Füssen Standesamt Lechhalde 3 87629 Füssen Füssen Website

Rathaus (Record Office) of Füssen Lechhalde 3 87629 Füssen Zimmer B.101

Catholic Church Records
There are several Catholic Churches in Füssen and the surrounding area. This link provides you with a list of them, their addresses and directions to them. Most of the churches in Bavaria only keep current records on site. To do genealogy research it is necessary to go to the archive of that diocese. Archiv des Bistums Augsburg - for most of Schwaben Hafnerberg 2/II D-86152 Augsburg Germany Tel. 0821 / 3166-40, -411 Fax 0821 / 3166-495 E-Mail: archiv@bistum-augsburg.de You can visit these archives yourself to research the records. Privacy rules apply to birth records more recent than 120 years, marriage records 80 years, and death records 30 years. A day fee of about EU 7.00 is charged to use the records. Call in advance to make reservations.

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Schönsee, there is a chance they affiliated with the Catholic church because of the prohibitive distance to a Lutheran church. (There is not a Lutheran Church in Schnösee.) However, if you do not find them in Catholic records, you should search the Lutheran records.

Cemeteries
If you want 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). When traveling in the area to look for cemeteries, Find A Grave and Billion Graves both have great phone apps to assist you.
 * This is the link to Google Maps which shows the cemeteries in Füssen and the surrounding area.
 * This link shows only the Füssen Cemeteries