Geographical Overview

East Prussia

East Prussia was formerly the easternmost church province of Prussia. The capital was Königsberg (today, Kaliningrad, Russia); among the larger cities were Tilsit and Memel. East Prussia was severed from Germany in 1945. Today, Kaliningrad and the territory around it belong to Russia. A part of East Prussia belongs to Lithuania, and the southern part, Masuria, belongs to Poland.

A part of the East Prussian parish registers were removed to the west already in 1944 in order to protect them from war damage. In this process of removal some parts were lost. The remaining part is today kept in our archives. Many parish registers have been lost, from some parishes there are no registers at all. In the large cities (Königsberg, Tilsit, Memel) there are some congregations and parishes from which not all the parish registers reached us. From the period before 1874, there are microfiches of the east Prussian parish registers at the German Center for Genealogy (Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie) in Leipzig. Here too, however, no complete parish record collection is available. Reproductions of parish registers are hold in the Secret State Archives (Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz) in Berlin-Dahlem.

Please contact: Rolf Engelbart (kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de)

West Prussia

The Church Province of West Prussia extended along the Baltic Sea between Pomerania and East Prussia. This area was, during the first division of Poland in 1772, largely ceded to Prussia, and after the First World War was ceded to a large part back to Poland, hereby the city of Danzig, the most important in this area, had a special fate. A large number of west Prussian parish Registers were removed to the West before the end of the Second World War. Therefore while we have a substantial number of registers from Protestant parishes of west Prussia, this collection is, however, incomplete. What has survived is preserved in our archives. From the period before 1874, there are microfiches of west Prussian parish registers at the German Center for Genealogy (Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie) in Leipzig. Parish registers from West Prussia are preserved in the Polish state archives. Microfilms are found in the genealogical research centers of the church of Jesus Christ of the latter-day saints (Mormons).

Please contact: Renate Rüb (kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de)

Brandenburg east of the Oder River (today Poland)

Another area east of the Oder still belonges to the former church province of Brandenburg. This area was ceded to Poland in 1945. There are only a few parish registers available available. Duplicates from east Brandenburg are found at the Central Archives of Brandenburg (Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv) in Potsdam. A few may be found in the German Center for Genealogy (Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie) in Leipzig. Important: Parish registers today belong to the state of Brandenburg are not in our archives. For these, the Evangelische Landeskirchliche Archiv in Berlin is responsible. Helpful and important references are found in the archival catalogue of Georg Grüneberg, "Kirchenbücher, Kirchenbuch-Duplikate und Standesamtsregister der ehemals brandenburgischen Kreise Königsberg, Soldin, Landsberg, Arnswalde, Friedeberg, Ost- und Weststernberg, Crosse, Züllichau-Schwiebus, Guben und Sorau (östl der Neiße), Schwerin, Meseritz, Bomst. Bestandsverzeichnis 2012". ISBN 978-3-9803515-3-0 (Druckerei & Verlag G. Grüneberg Lenzen).

Please contact: Hannah Nagel (kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de)

Pomerania

The church province of Pomerania formerly stretched farther to the east. The province capital was Stettin. The western part of the former church province today belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The area east of the Oder River, Eastern Pomerania (Hinterpommern), today is Poland. We hold an almost complete collection of parish registers of the german Protestant parishes of Stettin. The parish registers of Stettin were transported by ship shortly before the end of World War II over the Baltic sea to Hamburg, thence to the Berlin parish register repository. From the other areas of Pomerania, very few parish registers are preserved. The archives of the Protestant church of Pomerania in Greifswald keeps some parish registers from Farther Pomerania (Hinterpommern). Reproductions of the parish registers of Pomerania are maintained at the state archives in Greifswald (Landesarchiv Greifswald). From the period before 1874, there are microfiches of Pomeranian parish registers at the German Center for Genealogy (Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie) in Leipzig.

Please contact: Hannah Nagel (kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de)

Posen

The Prussian province of Posen included these areas which were ceded to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the three divisions of Poland. In regard of ecclesiastical administration, they belonged to the Protestant church of the Old Prussian Union (EKU). After the First World War, this area was ceded back to Poland. During the Nazi period, this area of the former province of Posen was part of the Warta River Region (Wartheland).

Only very few parish registers from Posen are available. The districts of Bromberg and Wirsitz belonged to the church district Danzig-West Prussia since 1940. Therefore, parish registers from these districts together with the west Prussian collection were removed to the Danzig church registry office (Kirchenbuchamt) and, in case they survived, have been brought to our archives. From other districts there are only a few Parish Registers. Furthermore we have microfiches of some parish registers, the original registers are still in the archives of the archdiocese of Posen.

Please contact: Hannah Nagel (kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de)

Silesia

The church province of Silesia adjoins in the east with Saxony and Brandenburg; in the south it is bordered by the Riesengebierge ("Giant Mountains"). A small part of Silesia is the Oberlausitz and belongs to the state of Saxony. The larger part of Silesia extends east of the Neisse River and today belongs to Poland. The most important city is Breslau (today, Wroclaw, Poland). We have fifty parish registers in our archives from the former province of Silesia (east of the Neisse). A few parish registers from the part of Silesia east of the Neisse are preserved in Görlitz in the archives of the Protestant church of the Silesian Lausitz. From the period before 1874, there are microfiches of Silesian parish registers at the German Center for Genealogy (Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie) in Leipzig. There is a larger collection of parish registers in the church and state archives in Poland, too. For a large part, there are microfilms of these registers in the genealogical research centers of the church of Jesus Christ of the latter-day saints (Mormons).

Please contact: Renate Rüb (kirchenbuchstelle@ezab.de)