Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1950

About this collection

This collection contains death records from Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Thuringia. It covers the years from 1874 up to and including 1950. It also includes records from Günterode which was incorporated into the city in 1992. "Heilbad" was officially added as part of Heiligenstadt's name in 1950 but it does not appear in these records. Heiligenstadt is located near the point where the German states of Thuringia, Hesse and Lower Saxony meet. It is also considered the geographical center of Germany. The surrounding historical region, the Eichsfeld (Oaksfield), was part of the Archbishopric of Mainz in the Middle Ages and reflects a strongly Catholic tradition. Heiligenstadt received its town charter in 1227. Starting in 1813 and during the time period of this collection, Heiligenstadt belonged to the Province of Saxony in the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1918 to 1933 it was part of the Free State of Prussia under the Weimar Republic.

Mandated on January 1, 1876, birth, marriage and death records in Prussia and the former German Empire, were thereafter kept by local goverment registry offices. The collected records are arranged chronologically and usually bound together in the form of yearbooks. These are collectively referred to as "civil registers." Complementary alphabetical directories of names may also have been created. While churches continued to keep traditional records, the State also mandated that the personal or marital status of the entire population be recorded.

What you can find in the records

Death records were created using preprinted forms that were filled in by hand by the registrar. Beginning in 1943, the forms were completed by typewriter. In each record the date of death usually differs from the date it was registered. Depending on the individual form or on the formulations used by the registrar, you may find:

• Sequential or Certificate Number
• Registration Date
• Informant: Occupation, Given Names, Last Name, Maiden Name, Residence, Address
• Deceased: Occupation, Given Names, Last Name, Maiden Name, Age/Birthdate, Denomination, Residence/Address, Birthplace, Marital Status, Spouse/Parents, Place/Date of Death, Time of Death. After August 1938, the records may also include a Cause of Death and cross references to corresponding marriage registers.
• Registrars' Signatures

More about using this collection

Each record comprises one page. Additional events from the life of the deceased were sometimes recorded later on in the margins. These notes, sometimes referred to as "narration," can contain very useful information but they have not been indexed. As a result, information from the notes will not found via the search form. The “Informant” was usually a relative of the deceased. In later years death information was often submitted by hospital administrators or funeral directors. War casualties and victims were taken from military records. Those from August 1939 to January 1946 were made available by the "German Office for the Notification of Next-of-Kin of Members of the Former German Armed Forces who were Killed in Action" (WASt) in Berlin. Under "Browse this collection,” select the Civil Registration Office and Year Range for the desired records.