Estonia, Church Books and Synagogue Registers, 1590-1941
Images and a partial index of baptisms/births, marriages, deaths/burials, family books for Estonia. The original records, created by local priests of each parish and by Jewish rabbis are located in the Historical Archive of Tartu. The entries are in German, Russian, and Estonian.
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Estonia, Church Books and Synagogue Registers
What is in This Collection?
This collection includes baptism, marriage, and burial/death records for various churches, such as Orthodox, Old Believer, Roman Catholic, and Baptist. The collection includes records from 1835 to 1940.
Estonia’s religious picture is influenced by the Soviet occupation and secularization. Estonia remains a Christian-shaped country, but only 23% of the population are members of Christian Churches. About 11% of the population belongs to the predominantly protestant religion, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, and 10% to the Orthodox Church, the second largest faith. Other religious communities (Roman Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Methodists, Muslims, Buddhists and others) are much smaller.
In most churches, the sacramental ordinances of baptisms, marriages, and burials were performed by an authorized ecclesiastical officer. These registers were generally kept in the parish archive, but later these were sent to the churches largest archive for preservation.
This collection includes records from the following religions:
- Evangelical Lutheran
- Old Believers (Eastern Orthodox)
- Estonian Orthodox
- Roman Catholic
Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.
Reading These Records
These records are written in German, Russian and Estonian. For help reading them see:
- German Word List
- German Language and Languages
- Germany Handwriting
- Russian Genealogical Word List
- Russia Language and Languages
- Russia Handwriting
- Estonian Genealogical Word List
To Browse This Collection
| You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Estonia, Church Books and Synagogue Registers, 1835-1940. |
What Can These Records Tell Me?
The information in these records usually include the following:
Baptism
- Child's name
- Christening date
- Birth date
- Parents' names
- Parents' marital status
- Parents' residence
- Father's occupation
- Witnesses
Marriage
- Marriage date
- Groom’s name
- Bride’s name
- Marital status
- Residence
- Age
- Witnesses
Burial/death
- Name of the deceased
- Death date
- Burial date
- Residence
- Occupation
- Age
- Marital status
- Father or spouse’s name
Collection Content
Sample Images
1897 Births
1906 Marriages
1834 Deaths
Collection Details
Language
Estonian
Location of Original Records
National Archives of Estonia
"Estonia, Church Books and Synagogue Registers, 1590-1941." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 27 March 2026. National Historical Archive, Tartu.
