Slovakia, Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1935

What is in This Collection?

This collection contains images of christenings, marriages, and burials for the years 1592-1935, and includes records from Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Reformed Church parishes, as well Jewish congregations in Slovakia.

The earliest Slovak church book was created in 1587 (a book of christenings from Košice). A few Catholic registers date from the early and mid 1600s, but most date from the early 1700s. Protestant churches usually did not begin to maintain parish registers until the late 1600s. Many church books from earlier time periods were lost during the Turkish invasions and Slovak rebellions around 1600-1700.

In the mid-twentieth century, many of the church books of Slovakia were nationalized, and the state began to transfer books to one of seven state regional archives (Štátné oblastné arhívy): Prešov, Košice, Bratislava, Levoča, Nitra, Banská Bystrica, and Bytča. It is from these national archives that this collection comes. Many records are still located in local city halls or other institutions; these will be added to the collection as they become available. Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are in Slovakian, German, Jewish, Latin, Hungary, and Russian. For help reading them see:

• German Language and Languages
• Jewish Language and Languages
• Latin Genealogical Word List
• Hungarian Genealogical Word List
• Russian Genealogical Word List
• Old Church Slavonic reading guide
• German Gothic Handwriting Guide

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Collection Content

Sample Images

• 

  1836 Baptism Record

• 

  1883 Marriage Record

• 

  1858-9 Death Record

Coverage Table

The Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books - FamilySearch Historical Records Coverage Table shows the places and time periods covered in the indexed records for this collection. Most of the records in the collection are from the time periods listed in the table; however, the collection may have a few records from before or after the time period. Consult the Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books, Place Names Table - FamilySearch Historical Records for more information about places in Slovakia.