Czech Republic, Land Records, 1450-1889

What is in This Collection?

This collection will include records from 1450 to 1889. Czech land books include declarations of land ownership, land transfers, and land inheritances. The Czech name of land records has varied over time; however, the records listed in this collection are named gruntovní knihy. These books initially were kept at the landholder level, then at village level, farm level, and finally by a district administrator and his scribe. Land registers are written mostly in German, with some in Czech. The available records only cover a very few geographical areas and towns. To see a list of the localities included in this collection, and the images, view the list of the images through the "Browse through the images" link in FamilySearch.org. The collection is incomplete and only covers a few towns. Additional images may be added to this collection in the future.

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

The land books (pozemkové knihy) recorded landholders and land lease titles; they date from about 1600. The oldest land books (pozemkové knihy) listed the location of the property along with the financial obligations of the landholder to the estate owner. Buildings on these lands were often listed by type (cottage, blacksmith’s forge, etc.) in land books. Starting in the mid 1600s, some records began differentiating by categories of farmers. Farmers were categorized as follows:

• Sedlák (Bauer) -- farmer who usually owned 1 or more than 1 "lán" of land
• Půlláník or Půlník (Halblähner) -- small farmer who owned "půl" = half of 1 "lán" of land
• Čtvrtláník or Čtvrtník (¼ lähner or Viertler) -- even smaller farmer who owned "čtvrt" = quarter of 1 "lán"
• Chalupník (Chalupner) -- cottager or small peasant, they owned their house and a small amount of land surrounding it
• Domkář (Häusler) -- cottager, who owned a house but no land
• Zahradník (Gärtler) -- gardener, see below
• Podruh (Inmann) -- farm laborer, they did not own house nor land

• Lán is an ancient land measurement unit, about 16-20 hectares (it depends, usually counted as 18 hectares). 1 "lán" is approx. 4.5 (American) acres.
• Zahradník has two different meanings: a) peasant who owned house with garden, and b) gardener. In Czech parish books 99% of the people identified as gardeners are actually peasants, and not gardeners.

Another interesting fact about the land registers is that holders sometimes abandoned farmsteads and moved to another locality. In general, they left to escape high debt, but mostly because of drudgery or oppression. The Thirty Years' War left many people dead. Many tried to get more land, and the gardener and serf classes decreased.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are written in German and Czech. For help reading the records see the following:

• German Language and Languages
• German Word List
• Czech Genealogical Word List
• Czech Republic Language and Languages

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

• A list of serfs with land rights, including their ages and type of obligations toward the estate owner
• Residences and often relationship to previous landholder
• Lists of all the inhabitants of the estate, testaments, debts, orphan matters, mortgages, marriage contracts, inheritance, and other matters
• Changes in ownership of properties, succession of farmstead holders, prices and payments of property and goods

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  Land record, 1827

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  Land record, 1850

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  Land record, 1852