The parish registers of the Hungarian Evangelical (Lutheran) Church
Project of the Hungarian Evangelical (Lutheran) Church
project leader: Eleonóra Kovács
Dear Visitors!
The Őskereső database was last updated on 2017.11.17 with new documents; with this update the amount of pages in the database now reaches 824.000!
In 2014 the Hungarian Evangelical Church created a digital workshop to start its registers digital processing. The project has made a great stride forward, coordinated and supervised by the Collection Committee of Church and it has been continuously available for the public. At the present the first results can be seen by the inquirers. The project was funded by the Church’s own funds as well as the Ministry of Human Resources pecuniary assistance.The Hungarian Evangelical parish registers are located at the six prominent congregation archives, (Békéscsaba, Győr, Nyíregyháza, Orosháza, Sopron, Szarvas-Ótemplom), and also in the parishes property.
The publishing method of the registers is the alphabetical order of the individual parishes.The geographical marks on the pictures: D, É, Ny, are denoting the regional district to which the items belong (South, North, West). On the other hand the following data does not follow the condition of the present church district. In addition, the presently connected parishes data are separated except in cases when the registration of the settlements used the same register (i.e. Bezi-Enese, Hegyeshalom-Levél). Every settlements where individual registration is/was used is individually listed in our data base even if this was a short period of time. However, we did not make separate entries in the filial registration if they used separate books. The formerly individually registering but presently filial parish registers are separately marked at the name of the former parishes.
If the researcher needs help about in one era’s registration of the belonging of the settlements one can find help at the MEE digital lists. Those lists are contains the church district assignment. Accessible at http://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/collection/edt_evangelikus_orszagos_konyvtar
In those cases when within one town two or more parishes existed those names will be separately listed (i.e.: Szarvas-Ótemplom, Szarvas-Újtemplom).
Budapest is a special case. Formerly independent settlements have separated parishes and this is the case at present also. In these cases we listed them in Budapest’s list no matter when did they become part/district of the capitol. We did not difference whether or not they are part of the capital, like Budapest-Kőbányai Evangéikus Egyházközség and if they use their historical name, i.e. Cinkotai Evangélikus Egyházközség
If the name of a settlement changed we listed it in its present name, but we also mentioned the old name and other variations of its name, to make the search easier.
Other than the main registers (register of birth, marriage, death) if these were available we published the register of confirmation, conversion, school registers, and also the attached documents such as school records, records of immigrants to America.
These documents have outstanding values as part of the evangelical identity and also in number of cases they are the oldest documents of the parishes, ecclesiastic and historical documents. The newly published material will continuously expand. Our goal is that by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the reformation, all of the Hungarian evangelical registers will be available in the Internet.
In the archives of the church the personal research is free according to the present laws. The maintainer restricted the research of certain materials. Unfortunately these are not available online nor in the research facilities.
The time period in which certain registers are available for research:
- Register of baptism: up to 12.31.1918
- Register of death: up to 12.31.1988
- Every other registers: 12.31.1943
It is important to know that the web site represents our work up to and including the present. As the database expands there will be changes right until we reach completion of the last, final version. As we are developing the registry, we currently testing and improving our methodologies of organization and publication hence some changes to the final product is anticipated.
We welcome any comments or questions about the web site or the subscription please contact us at oskereso@lutheran.hu
Our website is continuously expanding and developing. Website is available for research with registration fee. The details are in the Subscription and Information chapter.
To assist searching in the Hungarian documents we list some of the most important expressions
| Hungarian | English |
| Település | Settlement |
| Típus | Type |
| Évszám | Date |
| Tartalomjegyzék | Table of contents |
| Keresztelési anyakönyv | Register of Baptism |
| Házassági anyakönv | Register of Marriage |
| Halotti anyakönyv | Register of Death |
| Konfirmációs anyakönyv | Register of Confirmation |
| Kitérők és betérők anyakönyve | Register of conversion |
| Születés, keresztelés, esketés, halálozás éve és napja | Date of the birth, baptism, marriage, death |
| Az anya neve, vallása, állapota (foglalkozása) | The name, religion, occupation of the mother |
| Az apa neve, vallása, állapota (foglalkozása) | The name, religion, occupation of the father |
| Menyasszony | Bride |
| Vőlegény | Groom |
| Házastársa | Spouse |
| Törvényes | Legitimate |
| Törvénytelen | Illegitimate |
| Származási hely | Place of origin |
| Lakóhely | Place of residence |
| Tanúk | Witnesses |
| Keresztszülők | Godparents |
| A halál oka | Cause of death |
| Életkora | Age of |