Regen County, Germany, Births, 1876-1904

About this collection

This collection contains birth records from Regen County covering the years 1876 up to and including 1904. Regen is the administrative center of the district of the same name in the German state of Bavaria. The city, named for the Regen River, is located in the Bavarian Forest about 19 miles west of the Czech border and about 40 miles north of Passau. In 1148, Regen was mentioned in a papal letter of safe conduct. During the time period of this collection, Regen belonged to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The collection also includes birth records from the incorporated village of March covering from 1878 up to and including 1904.

Beginning on January 1, 1876, birth, marriage and death records in the former German Empire were created by local 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." Occasionally, alphabetical directories of names were also 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

Birth records were created using preprinted forms that were filled in by hand by the registrar. In each record the date of a birth 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, Denomination
• Mother: Given Names, Last Name, Maiden Name, Denomination, Residence/Address
• Child: Birth Date, Time of Birth, Sex, Given Names
• Signatures

More about using this collection

Each record comprises one page. Additional events from the life of the child 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 often a midwife or the child's father. Under "Browse this collection,” select the City and Year Range of the register desired.