Practical Information for Genealogists
Please take note of these informations before contacting us:
1. We are sorry to inform you, that there are no church records or family genealogical registers at the Landeskirchliches Archiv Hannover. So we are not able to help you with genealogical data about families in general. This is only possible as far as members of the clergy and other servants of the church are concerned.
2. There is no central index of families or names for the territory of our church. All data of historical persons can only be traced directly from the church records of the local parishes. It is therefore indispensible for efficient genealogical research to know the exact name of the place of origin the person(s) concerned.
3. Very often you can find a reference to the place of origin concerned in the immigration records at the National Archives of your country. For data of German immigrants to the USA you may also consult:
• Deutsche Auswanderer-Datenbank (resources of the National Archives NY) beim Historischen Museum Bremerhaven, An der Geest, 27570 Bremerhaven
• Historic Emigration Office (emigrant´s ships departing from Hamburg), Steinstrasse 7, D-20095 Hamburg
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• Routes to the roots (with links to other emigration-websites and data-bases)
4. The origin of persons emigrating from this part of Germany is frequently stated in their new home country as "Hanover" (or "Hannover"). Now this can cause some confusion because Hanover is both the name of a city and of a historic country. Therefore sorry, but this statement is not helpful. You should first try to find out the exact name of the place of origin.
5. Written requests should be addressed to the local parish concerned. We will gladly help you to find out the parishes and give you their addresses.
6. If you would like to come and have a glance at the church records yourself, we are sorry to inform that this is not possible for preservation reasons. In recent years the church records up to 1852, in some cases even up to 1875, of nearly all the parishes of this church have been copied on microfiches. For personal research on family genealogy you can use these microfiches at the
• Ev.- luth. Stadtkirchenverband Hannover Kirchenbuchamt, Hildesheimer Str. 165/167, D-30173 Hannover, e-mail: kirchenbuch.staki.hannover@evlka.de
7. For personal data from 1875 onward you should contact the local registrar´s office. From that year on the parishes were by law no longer entitled to keep registers for civil purposes also as before.
8. Church records, like all archive documents, are subject to blocking periods. Therefore they may be used not earlier than 30 years after the completion of the volumes in question and 90 years after the birth or 10 years after the death of the persons concerned.
9. For requests on church records from the former eastern provinces of Germany - now part of either Poland or Russia - please contact the
• Evangelische Zentralarchiv in Berlin, Bethaniendamm 23-29, D-10997 Berlin and the
• Saechsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig, Abt. Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie, Schongauerstr. 1, D-04329 Leipzig.
10. As far as genealogical data from the state of Lower Saxony are concerned, of which Hanover is the capital, it may also be advisible to contact the following addresses:
• Familienkunde Niedersachsen - Niedersaechsischer Landesverein für Familienkunde e. V., Am Bokemahle 14-16 (Stadtarchiv), D-30171 Hannover
• Niedersaechsisches Institut für historische Regionalforschung e. V,. Engelbosteler Damm 7, D-30167 Hannover
• Arbeitskreis Familienforschung Osnabrueck e. V., An der Egge 16, D-49191 Belm
• Osnabruecker Genealogischer Forschungskreis e. V., Kiwittstr. 1a, D-49080 Osnabrueck
• Familienkundliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft der "Maenner vom Morgenstern", Herr Rinje Bernd Behrens, Müggenburgweg 2, D- 27607 Langen (for the area of Bremerhaven-Wesermünde)
• Genealogisch-Heraldische Gesellschaft Göttingen e. V., Postfach 2062, D-37010 Göttingen
• Oldenburgische Gesellschaft für Familienkunde, Herr Wolfgang Büsing, Lerigauweg 14, D-26131 Oldenburg/Old.,
• Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft, Fachstelle in der Landschaftbibliothek, Fischteich 16, D- 26603 Aurich (for the area of Ostfriesland)
• Die Maus - Gesellschaft für Familienforschung e. V., Am Staatsarchiv 1, D-28203 Bremen (City and area of Bremen)
translated by J. Schmidt-Clausen