Kingdom of Hannover and Province of Hannover, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1684-1892

About this collection

This collection contains an index of names found in parish registers from numerous Protestant communities that are today part of the German state of Lower Saxony. The area mainly comprises: the district of Emsland including Papenburg, Meppen and Lingen; the county Grafschaft Bentheim including Nordhorn and Schüttorf; and Osnabrück including Bramsche, Quakenbrück and Melle. The oldest church records in this collection date from the 17th century. In 1814, most of the region became part of the Kingdom of Hannover. In 1866, it became part of the Prussian province of Hannover. Consequently, many record sets in this collection end in 1874 because, in addition to records traditionally kept by the Church in Prussian provinces, the State mandated in 1874 that personal and vital statistics be recorded by local registry offices.

What you can find in the records

This collection is an index to the names found in the ecclesiastical records. Parish records primarily contain information about births and baptisms, marriages, and deaths and burials. Images of the records themselves are not included. The following details may be found:

• Last Name, Given Names
• Event Type (Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Death, Burial)
• Event Date
• Event Place, Community
• Relatives (usually Parents or Children)

More about using this collection

The indexed records are based on older microfilms of the holdings of the Niedersächsischen Landesarchivs in Hannover. Search for names or dates using the search form.

Updates:
13 Aug 2020: Changes were made to improve the performance of this collection. No new records were added.