Germany, Lübeck, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1797-1961

What is in This Collection?

This collection contains Catholic and Protestant church records (parish registers, church books) from the city of Lübeck. These are the main source of genealogical information in Germany before civil registration began in 1876. They record details of baptisms, marriages, confirmations, deaths and burials. Generally, the majority of the population can be found in the records. Additionally, these records can contain financial account books which may detail expenses incurred in performing marriages, funeral masses, etc., Lists of persons receiving communion, penance registers, lists of church members and registers naming members of each family.

It is important to know the religious affiliation of your ancestors as Catholic and Protestant parishes kept separate records. Records of Catholic parishes, especially the earliest volumes, are generally written in Latin. In many places, it was also common for the local church records to function in the role of civil registrar.

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

Reading These Records

These records are written in Latin and German. For help reading them see:

• German Language and Languages
• German Genealogical Word List
• Germany Handwriting
• Latin Genealogical Word List
• Brigham Young University: Script Tutorial German Documents
• FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
  • German Paleography Seminar

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:
Baptism

Marriage

Death

Collection Content

For more information about these records see Germany, Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records.

Inventory

Please note that not all films or folders in these titles may be indexed as part of this Historical Records collection.

Click on any column heading to resort this table. The default sort is by Locality. Click the link in Title column to open the FamilySearch Catalog record in a new window.