Lübeck, Germany, Burials, 1832-1988

About this collection

This collection contains burial records from Lübeck, Germany from 1832 up to and including 1988. The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is an independent city situated on the Trave River near the Baltic Sea, about 40 miles from Hamburg in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It was one of the most important cities of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages. Lübeck is known for its medieval landmark, the Holsten Gate and as a producer of marzipan. It was the implied setting of Thomas Mann's novel, “Buddenbrooks.” Its well-preserved old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lübeck is known as "The City of Seven Towers" because of the Brick Gothic churches that dominate its skyline.

Until 1832, Lübeck's deceased were buried within the city walls in local parish and monastery cemeteries. Plague victims were interred mostly in burial grounds such as St. Gertrud, St. Jürgen and St. Lorenz cemeteries which were located outside the city gates. For hygienic reasons due to a cholera epidemic in Lübeck, internments were forbidden within city limits. On July 19, 1832, "God's Acre at the Castle's Gate" (Burgtorfriedhof cemetery) was inaugurated. Between 1907 and 1909 two additional cemeteries at Vorwerk and Waldhusen were added.

What you can find in the records

In 1832, chronological registers were created to record burials. Burials in the years 1832-1833 were recorded chronologically and arranged by parish. These records contain the following details:

• Burial Date
• Last Name, Given Names, Maiden Name of the deceased
• Parish

Burials from 1834 to 1912 were recorded chronologically. These records contain the following details:

• Burial Date (Year, Month, Day)
• Parish
• Last Name, Given Names, Maiden Name, Age, Occupation, and Residence of the deceased
• Gravesite

Burials after 1913 were recorded alphabetically by the first letter of the deceased's last name and then chronologically. The details recorded remain the same.

More about using this collection

Each burial record covers two pages. An index of names may be included at the end of each yearly register. This collection may contain images of the records up to 1955. Records for the years 1956 to 1988 are only available as indexed data. Archiv der Hansestadt Lübeck makes available the following highly detailed publication on Lübeck's family history resources:

Kruse, Meike: Wo finde ich was? Handbuch zur Familien-, Personen- und Hausforschung im Archiv der Hansestadt Lübeck. In: Kleine Hefte zur Stadtgeschichte, Heft 18, Lübeck 2005.