Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

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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.

Record 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 Record 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

Record 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.

Record 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

Image problems
The collection is formed from microfilm conversion to digital image before the publication process online. Where the original record is assembled other than a systematic or chronological order problems are replicated in the online collection of images.

One example of this is found in the Jewish records in the Inv. 1187 Births 1890-1901, Sztropko, Slovakia Jewish Records, there are several images (1, 3, 4) where the righthand page does not go with the lefthand page. This can be seen by examining the third and fourth columns of the righthand page which represent the dates of circumcision for males (column 3) and naming in the synagogue for girls (column 4). Circumcision usually takes place 8 days after birth and naming of girls usually any time within a week of birth. The left half of image 1 goes with the right half of image 3; the left half of image 3 goes with the right half of image 4; and the left half of image 4 goes with the right half of image 1.

Unfortunately where an original record is out of order as in this example we have no means of correcting this in the digital image collection.

How to Use the Record
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 Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Slovakia Church Records

Sources of This Collection
“Slovakia, Prešov State Regional Archive church records, Slovakian place name collection", database, FamilySearch; from State Regional Archives throughout Slovakia. Digital copies of originals housed in State Regional Archives throughout Slovakia.

“Slovakia, Prešov State Regional Archive church records, Hungarian place name collection, 1592-1952,” database, FamilySearch; Digital copies of originals housed in State Regional Archives throughout Slovakia.

How to Cite Your Sources
An example of citing these records is: Prešov State Regional Archive. Baptism. From FamilySearch Internet, April 27, 2010. David Keler. January 1780.

Instructions for citing this source can be found at: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections