Westphalia (Westfalen), Prussia, German Empire Genealogy

Germany

Prussia

Westphalia (Westfalen)

Guide to Westphalia (Westfalen), German Empire ancestry, family history, and genealogy before 1945: birth records, marriage records, death records, both church and civil registration, compiled family history, and finding aids.

Westphalia (Westfalen), German Empire Wiki Topics
Getting Started
Finding Town of Origin Finding Aids For German Records Research Strategies Record Finder
Major Record Types
Church Records	Civil Registration
Reading the Records
German Word List Latin Word List French Word List	Handwriting Languages Feast Days Script Tutorial
Additional Westphalia (Westfalen) Record Types
Court Records Emigration and Immigration	Manumissions Online Records
Westphalia (Westfalen) Background
Gazetteers History Jurisdictions	Maps Personal Names
Local Research Resources
Archives and Libraries Societies Family History Centers
Germany Record Types
Cemeteries Church Records Civil Registration Genealogy Jewish Records Land & Property Population Records Military Records Naturalization & Citizenship	Newspapers Obituaries Occupations Online Records Town Genealogies Periodicals Probate Records Religious Records School Records
Germany Background
Biography Church Directories Funerary Customs Cultural Areas	Handwriting Historical Geography Letter Writing Guide Nobility Websites
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Historical Background

• The Province of Westphalia (German: Provinz Westfalen) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and eventually the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.
• Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Prussia received several territories in the Westphalian region and created the Province of Westphalia.
• The Duchy of Westphalia was a different region, but was annexed to the Province in 1816, along with the principalities of Hohenstein, Berleburg, and Nassau-Siegen in 1817.

• After World War II, the present state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) was created by merging the former Prussian Province of Westphalia, the northern half of the former Prussian Rhine Province, and the province of Lippe.

Wikipedia

Getting Started

Getting Started with Germany Research Links to articles on getting started with German research: "How to" Guides Germany Finding Town of Origin German Church and Civil Records See More Research Strategies

Germany Research Tools Links to tools and websites that assist in German research: Meyers Gaz Online Gazetteer German Genealogical Word List Latin Genealogical Word List French Genealogical Word List Old German Script--Three parts German Script Tutorial German Letter Writing Guide See More Research Tools

Westphalia (Westfalen) Online Genealogy Records

Germany Online Genealogy Records

Ask the Community

Historical Geography

Westphalia (Westfalen) within the German Empire

Westphalia (Westfalen) Within Modern North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)

Modern North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)

Westfalen (Westphalia), 1905 To enlarge the map, click on this image. A second and third click will enlarge it further. Enlarge the view even further by zooming in with your browser.

History of Westphalia (Westfalen) in the German Empire	Geo-Political Differences Today	FamilySearch Catalog (organized by 1871 Meyer's Gazetteer)	Wiki Pages
Westphalia (Westfalen)	1945: Became part of the current state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) (Map)	Preussen, Westfalen	Westphalia (Westfalen), Prussia, German Empire Genealogy (before 1945) North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), Germany Genealogy (after 1945)

Finding Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Westphalia (Westfalen)

Most of the information you need to identify you ancestors and their families will be found in two major record groups: civil registration and church records. To locate these records, follow the instructions in these Wiki articles.

1. Find the name of your ancestor's town in family history records.

Records were kept on the local level. You must know the town where your ancestor lived. If your ancestor was a United States Immigrant, use the information in the Wiki article Germany Finding Town of Origin to find evidence of the name of the town where your ancestors lived in Germany.
Also, see:

• Network Westphalian America emigration since the 19th century, Index. Incomplete.
• Male immigrants from Rheinland and Westfalen, Prussia
• Female immigrants from Rheinland and Westfalen, Prussia
• Emigrants from the surrounding area of Olpe, Westfalen, Germany
• Bielefeld emigrants

2. Use gazetteers and/or parish register inventories to learn more important details.

Your ancestor's town might have been too small to have its own parish church or civil registration office. Find the location of the Catholic or Lutheran (Evangelical) parish that served your ancestor's locality. Find the name of the civil registration office (Standesamt) that serves your ancestor's locality. Use the Wiki article Finding Aids For German Records for step-by-step instructions.

Germany was first unified as a nation in 1871. An important gazetteer, Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-lexikon des deutschen Reichs, "Meyer's Gazetter" for short, details the place names of villages, towns, counties (kreise), and higher jurisdictions used at that time. In the Research Wiki, FamilySearch Catalog, and FamilySearch Historical Records, the records of Germany are organized using those place names.

You can also consult Westphalia (Westfalen) Parish Record Inventories to learn the Lutheran or Catholic parish that would have kept records for your town.

At the end of both World Wars, the boundaries of the states were changed dramatically, as areas of Germany were distributed among the Allied nations. Eventually, after re-unification in 1990, the states of Germany settled into what they are today. It is also necessary to understand Germany by this system, as it affects the locations of civil registration offices, archives, and mailing addresses used in correspondence searches.

3. For birth, marriage, and death records 1808-1815 and from 1 October 1874, use civil registration.

Follow the instructions in Westphalia (Westfalen), German Empire Civil Registration.

4. For baptism, marriage, and death records, use church records or parish registers.

Follow the instructions in Westphalia (Westfalen), German Empire Church Records.

More Research Strategies and Tools

• Germany Online Classes and Tutorials
• German Paleography Seminar - Lessons on German Handwriting
• Old German Script Transcriber (alte deutsche Handschriften): See your family names in the script of the era. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. Click on the 8 different fonts. Save the image to your computer and use it as you work with old Germanic records.
  
• Finding Aids for German Records
• Research Tips and Strategies
• German Research, BYU Independent Study, no cost.

• These printable handouts can be used for ready reference when reading German Handwriting.
  

Letters:

• Kurrent Letters handout
• Additional Kurrent Letters handout

Vocabulary found on Specific Records:

• Birth Records Vocabulary handout
• Marriage Records Vocabulary handout
• Overview of Marriage Laws and Customs (handout)
• Death Records Vocabulary handout

Dates, Numbers, Abbreviations:

• Days and Months handout
• Numbers Vocabulary handout
• Script Dates and Numbers handout
• Common Abbreviations handout
• Common Symbols handout

Miscellaneous Vocabulary:

• German Occupations Vocabulary handout
• Illnesses Vocabulary handout

Fraktur:

• Fraktur Font -- Many forms and books are printed in this font.

German Given Names:

• List of Names in Old German Script -- A comprehensive list of German given names, written in old script, with possible variations.