Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

History and Geography


Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia, northern Bavaria, Germany. Located on the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is East Franconian. It lies about equidistant from Frankfurt am Main and Nuremberg (each about 120 kilometers or 75 miles away). Although the city of Würzburg is not part of the Landkreis Würzburg, (i.e., district of Würzburg), it is the seat of the district's administration. The city has a population of around 124,000 people.

See Wikipedia for more information on the history of Wurzburg.
 * This former Celtic territory was settled by the Alamanni in the 4th or 5th century, and by the Franks in the 6th to 7th.
 * Würzburg was the seat of a Merovingian duke from about 650. It was Christianized in 686 by Irish missionaries Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan.
 * The city is mentioned in a donation by Duke Hedan II to bishop Willibrord, dated 1 May 704, in castellum Virteburch. The Ravenna Cosmography lists the city as Uburzis at about the same time.[3] The name is presumably of Celtic origin, but based on a folk etymological connection to the German word Würze "herb, spice", the name was Latinized as Herbipolis in the medieval period.

Online Records

 * There is some information from the Wurzburg cemeteries at Find A Grave
 * Bavaria, Germany, WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 includes information on some soldiers from Passau on Ancestry.com This source is most useful when you are able to enter the ancestors full name and place of birth. However if you don't know all those details enter what you can and you may be pleasantly surprised.
 * Various records can be found through the Meta-search tool on the website of the German Society for Computer Genealogy. You just need to enter Passau as the place name then click "start search" and it will provide an alphabetical (by last name) list of all the information on this data base from that city.

Civil Registration
Wurzburg Standesamt Rückermainstraße 2 97070 Wurzburg Germany Website The Standesamts (Civil Registration Offices) at the Rathaus (Town Hall) in most of Bavaria only have records back to the late 1800's. If you are seeking information concerning your family prior to that time it is necessary to go to church records. But this is definitely a good place to start. It is possible to contact them by mail or email requesting information. If you have an opportunity to go there in person it is best to make an appointment to ensure that the person that oversees the civil records will be available to assist you. Most of the time there will be a fee for a copy of any record.

Catholic Church Records
The Diocese of Würzburg is a diocese of Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, and the bishop is seated at Würzburg Cathedral. Founded in 741, the diocese lost all temporal power after the Napoleonic wars.

There several Catholic Churches in Wurzburg and the surrounding area. You can see them on Google Maps

Catholic Archive in Wurzburg
Domerschulstraße 17, 97070 Wurzburg Germany Telefon: 0931 - 386 67 100 Telefax: 0931 - 386 67 101 E-Mail: archiv@bistum-wuerzburg.de Website A large part of the old records of this diocesan archives after 1821 were destroyed by the bombing of the Second World War. However, some important information was preserved. In addition, there is quite a bit from the post-1945 period. A program was created in the 1970s to acquire numerous records which includes extensive collections from the 14th to the 20th century. They can be contacted by email with questions.

Lutheran Church Records
Bavaria was and is predominantly Catholic. If your ancestors lived in Wurzburg, 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.

Today there are several Evangelische Parishes that serve this area that can be seen on Google Maps
 * According to Meyer's Gazetteer, there were two Lutheran churches in Wurzburg since at least 1871.
 * 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.

You can email to inquire about information for you ancestors.
 * 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
There are many cemeteries in Wurzburg and the surrounding area. They can all be seen onGoogle Maps The cemetery in the center of town is the Hauptfriedhof.

Hauptfriedhof Martin-Luther-Straße 20 97072 Wurzburg Germany

If you are lucky enough to go to Wurzburg and want to find a cemetery Find A Grave and Billion Graves both have great phone apps to help you locate cemeteries. 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).