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About the Church records

The names and dates are from the church records of Rahden a small town in Northern Germany. The records shown are not complete. I will add the missing data from time to time.

Unfortunately, the work of  the genealogist is impeded by German law. Because of this law, all data from 1875 and after is not published. To get any data from 1875 on, you have to be a direct descendant and obtain it from the authorities (Standesamt - Register Office, Kirchenamt - Church Office). Interested researchers have to directly contact the authorities.

When you find something in the records shown, you may want to look for more information in the church records. Here is written in many books the different official events of the church, as there is baptism-, marriage-, deathrecords (Tauf-, Heirats-, Sterberegister).

In the baptism record you can find more than just only the given name of your ancestor. Here you will find the names of parents, the place of residence and the names of the godparents. Many times you can find the marriage date of the child's parents.

In the marriage record you can find not only the names of the bride and groom. Here you can find the birthdates of the couple and the couple's parent's names, and if the bride or groom had a legitimate birth. And many times you find a message or dates indicating if they were married before. Also you can see the birthplace or where they live after the marriage. Often a death date is entered into the record for the bride and groom.

The death record shows the whole name of the deceased persons and the occupation of the person. Also, marriage(s) and the last living place. The age is shown in years, month and days. It will show how many children and if a wife or husband was left behind. You can also find the cause of death. Besides the date of birth you may find their birth place. In these death records, it is sometimes possible to find a message about this person having immigrated and when and where he has died.

Explaination of the records:
T, H and S ( Tauf-, Heirats-, Sterberegister) are written for every official act. T=baptism-, H=marriage-, S=deathrecord
xx-xxxx = number - year

Großd.            = Großendorf was the name of Rahden until 1910, it includes also the village Alt-Espelkamp.
Kld. or Kleind.= Kleinendorf,
Strh.                = Ströhen, in this records Pr. Ströhen,
Thd.                = Tonnenheide. Please note that Thd. and Wehe both had the same housenumbers until 1880, after 1880 each
                          village had their own numbers.
Sielh.               = Sielhorst. Please note that Varl and Sielh. both had the same housenumbers until 1880, after 1880 each
                          village had their own numbers.
Wehe  -  List of housenumbers

Varl  -     List of housenumbers