Rhineland, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1610-1909

About this collection

This collection contains an index of names found in parish registers from several Protestant communities that are today part of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The oldest church records in this collection date from the 17th century.

They are primarily from the cities of Duisburg, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Oberhausen. Records from Duisburg begin in 1610, year of the first general synod of the Reformed Church. This church meeting took place in the Duisburg Salvatorkirche basilica and represents the birth of Protestantism in Rhineland.

For the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr, this collection contains some official civil registry documents from the French era in addition to church records. All communities in this collection belonged to the French Department de la Roer from 1808 to 1813. After 1815 they became part of Rhenish Prussia. For that reason, 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 ecclesiatical records. These parish records primarily contain information about births and baptisms, marriages, and deaths and burials. A few confirmations and communions are also included. 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 Duisburg city archives. Search for names, dates or places using the search form.

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