Understanding a German Church Record Entry

German Church records are usually well organized and can give a lot of information about a person. Two examples are provided and are from the Wehdem Church records. Many churches in this area followed the same or a similar format. If you are looking at Levern or Dielingen records for example, you might some variances, but you should be able to figure out the information from these examples.  These come from the late 1800s and early 1900s, which are easier to read and are entered in a pre-formatted book. Earlier records generally carry the same or a similar format. The earliest records still available (1600s) do not follow this method and is more of a paragraph-style entry, but have much of the same information. First, you'll need to know some key German words. Please note that your monitor resolution may affect how easily you can read these samples and you may need to change resolution to improve both viewing and printing. These are best printed in landscape format. With resolution 800x600 and landscape format, you should be able to print the entire images. These are just a couple of examples and, as a result, do not show all the possible entries for some columns.

Baptism (Birth) Records

Marriage Records


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