Baptismal register Picher 1701, baptism of Hanß Jochim Koß, name written upside down as a sign for illegitimate birth

Fonds of church registers

The Parish Register Authority at the Church Archives at Schwerin keeps the registers and register copies of all parishes in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg (about 390) as well as military church registers of the garrison at Neustrelitz (1841-1874) and the Wehrmacht parishes at Hagenow, Neustadt-Glewe, Schwerin and Wustrow/Rerik (1935-1945).

The range of church registers includes over 4600 volumes (about 300 m). The earliest registers begin in 1606, but generally it is not before the end of the devastating 30 Years War (1618-1648) that most of the registers set in.

The Parish Register Authority also preserves copies of the registers from the middle of the 18th century to the installation of the registry offices in 1875/76. The copies from 1875/76 to 1943/44 are kept by (1) the Municipal Archives of Rostock (mailto:stadtarchiv@rostock.de) in case of the city’s parishes, (2) the Archives of the Cathedral of Ratzeburg (Domarchiv, Domhof 35, D-23909 Ratzeburg) in case of the parishes of the former superintendency at Ratzeburg (Dom Ratzeburg, Carlow, Demern, Herrnburg, Schlagsdorf, Schönberg, Selmsdorf, Ziethen) and (3) the State Archives at Schwerin (mailto:poststelle@landeshauptarchiv-schwerin.de) for the remaining parishes.

Research

As the number of microfilm-readers in our reading room is limited, we ask you to announce your visit as early as possible – at least two month in advance (Tel. +49 385/200 385-50 / 51). To protect the registers from damage we only hand out film copies. You will find a list of the film copies under Verzeichnis der Kirchenbücher (155 KB) (Tf = baptism, Kf = confirmation, Tr = marriage, St = funeral register). For opening hours (Öffnungszeiten) and fees (Gebühren) see the web site of the Church Archives.

If you like to commission us to do the research, please attend to the fees order on our web site (the charge is 20 € for half an hour). Consider, that because of the actual large number of demands it will take about four weeks to carry out your commission. In case of lenghty and extensive research work we ask you to turn to local private researchers. Addresses will be provided on demand.

Landeskirchliches Archiv

Printed indexes

C.A. Endler / E. Albrecht: Mecklenburgs familiengeschichtliche Quellen, Hamburg 1936

Address and time for opening

Mecklenburgisches Kirchenbuchamt

Postfach 11 10 04

D-19004 Schwerin

Tel.: +49 (0)385 / 200 385 - 51 / - 50

Fax: +49 (0)385 / 200 385 - 66

E-mail: landeskirchenarchiv@ellm.de

Landeskirchliches Archiv

Links:

Ariadne

data basis of film copies of the church registers kept by the Parish Register Authority at the Archives of the Ev.-Luth. Church of Mecklenburg at Schwerin (Landeskirchliches Archiv Schwerin)

Mecklenburg State Archives at Schwerin

Mecklenburg State Archives at Schwerin (Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin), see for registers from 1876 to 1944 (with the exception of the city of Rostock and the former superintendency of Ratzeburg) and emigration permits beginning in 1863

Municipal Archives of the City of Rostock

Municipal Archives of the City of Rostock, see for Rostock registers from 1876 to 1944

Institute for Migration and Ancestral Research

Institute for Migration and Ancestral Research, provides help and a data basis of emigrants from Mecklenburg and West Pomerania

Archives of the State and City of Hamburg

Archives of the State and City of Hamburg (Staatsarchiv Hamburg), see for ships passenger lists of emigrants’ ships departing from Hamburg