Church Archives of Saxony

for Genealogy and Family History

26 October 2005

Overview

There are two main denominations in Saxony today.

The Roman Catholic Church (Römisch-Katholisch Kirche) in Saxony is administered mainly by the Bishop (Bischöf) of the Dresden-Meissen Diocese, though the Bishop (Bischöf) of the Görlitz Diocese does administer a portion in the east and the Bishop (Bischöf) of the Magdeburg Diocese a simlar one in the north. Each bishop has their own archives.

The Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Sachsen) is a largely independent territorial union of Lutheran and Reformed persuasions, which is administered by a Bishop (Bischöf) from Dresden with central archives in Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Görlitz. Unfortunately this is not so simple and clear cut as it would seem. Some parishes of the church extend into Brandenburg to the north and Thüringen (Thuringia) to the west. Likewise some parishes of Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen extend into Sachsen. A portion in the north is also administered by the Evangelical Church of Saxony-Anhalt (Evangelische Kirche der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen), and another in the east is administered by the Evangelical Church of Schlesichen-Oberlausitz (Evangelische Kirche der Schlesichen-Oberlausitz). Both of these territorial churches have their own archives, and they are all members of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland .

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony was reorganised in 1922, and is today subdivided into 950 Kirchgemeinden (or Parishes) grouped into 25 Kirchenbezirk (or Presbyteries) and 5 Regionen (ie. Regions), namely:

Their parish registers will be in either one of the central church archives or with the original local parish church. As there is no civil or cannon law to determine the disposal of these registers, there is no quick and easy way of identifying where the particular register of interest is to be found. Even if a parish has been closed, merged with another or subdivided, the registers may still not be lodged with one of the central church archives. They may have been transferred to the nearest operational parish, one of the daughter parishes, or even deposited in the civil archives of the town county or state.

There are other Protestant denominations:

• The Evangelical Methodist Church (Evangelisch - methodistische Kirche) was formed from the union of the Methodist Church (Methodistische Kirche) and the Evangelical Community (Evangelische - Gemeinschaft).
• The Alliance of Free Evangelical Congregations (Bund Evangelisch - Freikirchlicher Gemeinden) is a fairly common Baptist denomination.
• The Evangelical Reformed Church (Evangelisch Reformiert Kirche) of Chemnitz/Zwickau and Leipzig are the only Saxon parishes of this denomination which survived the forced territorial union of Lutheran and Reformed persuasions.
• The Moravian Church (Evangelische Brüder-Uniät) was founded in 1721. They originated in Bohemia and have managed to retain most of their records.
• The Seventh-day Adventistists are late comers by comparison.

There are also the Russian Orthodox, Reformed Evangelicals, Mennonites, Quakers, Jews, Hugenots and Mormons to consider.

Local parishes can usually be contacted at an address after one of these two formats:

The local parishes of all the Churches in Leipzig are listed together, which is fortunate as there are over eighty of them.

Some of the Evangelical Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Methodist Churches of Reichenbach in Vogtland are now also listed together. At last count there are nine.

If you have any additions or corrections to this page, please email them to me. They will be greatly appreciated and added to this page.

Evangelical Lutheran Archives

Evangelische Kirche des Görlitzer Kirchengebietes
Berlinerstraße 62
D-02826 Görlitz
(03581) 5485

Evangelisch-lutherischer Kirchgemeindeverband Dresdens
Caspar-David-Friedrich-Straße 5
D-01219 Dresden
(0351) 43342

Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens
Lukasstraße 6
D-01069 Dresden
(0351) 46920

In Leipzig, church records prior to 1875 can be found at the Kirchliches Archiv Leipzig. For records after that date, the Superintendentur Leipzig-West or the Superintendentur Leipzig-Ost must generally be consulted.

Kirchliches Archiv Leipzig
Fröbelstraße 10
D-04229 Leipzig
(0341) 476535

Superintendentur Leipzig-West
Nikolaikirchhof 3
04109 Leipzig

Superintendentur Leipzig-Ost
Thomaskirchhof 18
04109 Leipzig

Evangelische Kirche der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen
Am Dom 2
D-39104 Magdeburg
(0391) 31881

Evangelische Kirche in Berlin-Brandenburg
Neue Grünstraße 19
D-10179 Berlin
(030) 2003216
also
Evangelisches Zentralarchiv
Jebensstraße 3
D-10623 Berlin
(030) 3190010

Evangelisch-lutherische Kirche in Thüringen
Dr. Moritz-Mitzenheimstraße 2a
D-99817 Eisenach
(03691) 5226

Roman Catholic Archives

Bischöfliches Ordinariat Magdeburg
Max-Josef-Metzger Straße 1
D-39104 Magdeburg
Tel: (0391) 5961134 Fax: (0391) 5961135

Bischöfliches Ordinariat Dresden-Meißen
Käthe-Kollwitz-Ufer 84
D-01309 Dresden
Tel: (0351) 3364 720 Fax: (0351) 3364 821

Bischöfliches Ordinariat Görlitz
Postfach 30 09 43
D-02814 Görlitz
or
Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 41
02826 Görlitz
Tel: (03581) 47820 Fax: (03581) 478212

Other Church Archives

Bibliothek der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage
Hainichenerstraße
D-09599 Freiberg
(03731) 3413

Consistorium der Französischen Kirche
Jägerstraße 5
D-10117 Berlin
(030) 2291307

Evangelische Brüder-Unität
Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde
Archiv der Brüdergemeinde
Zittauerstraße 24
D-02747 Herrnhut/Oberlausitz
(0358) 7348731
archiv@ebu.de

Stiftung "Neue Synagoge Berlin" Centrum Judaicum
Oranienburgerstraße 28
D-10117 Berlin
(030) 2828723

Zentralarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland
Bienenstraße 5
D-69117 Heidelberg
(06221) 164141

Request for an Extract from a Parish Register

German Version

Your name and address

Sehr geehrter Herr Pfarrer,

Ich betreibe Ahnenforschung über meine Familie und möchte Sie um Ihre Hilfe bitten.

Sehen Sie bitte die Kirchenbücher nach name of ancestor durch. Er / Sie wurde geboren / hat geheiratet / ist gestorben am / ca. date of event in place of event.

. Senden Sie mir bitte einen vollständigen Auszug des entsprechenden Eintrages.

Einen adressierten Rückumschlag, einen internationalen Rückantwortcoupon und einen Scheck habe ich beigelegt.

Mit vorzüglicher Hochachtung verbleibe ich,

Your signature.

English Version

Your name and address

Dear Pastor,

I am researching my family history and would like to ask you for your help.

Please look through the parish register for name of ancestor. He / she was born / married / died ca date of event in place of event. Please send me a complete extract of the corresponding entry.

An addressed envelope, International Reply Coupon and cheque are attached.

With highest respect I remain,
Your signature.

Notes

Remember to use only one alternate wherever several are given. Otherwise your letter will be weird. These alternates are separated by forward slashes.

Each extract will cost you 13DM, or if you haven't got exact dates, their standard charge is 13DM for each half-hour of research required or part thereof, according to the Schedule of Charges published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1999.

Saxon Genealogy
Copyright: ©1999-2005 Jon Kehrer, Canberra