Estonia Church Books and Synagogue Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Estonia

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Estonia, Church Books and Synagogue Registers, 1835-1940 CID1932350 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}
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Estonia
Flag of the Republic of Estonia
Location of Estonia
Record Description
Record Type:	Church
Collection years:	1835-1940
Languages:	Estonian
Title in the Language:	Eesti Kirik Raamatud
FamilySearch Resources
Estonia Record Finder
Estonia Genealogy
Estonia Websites
Related Websites
ESTONICA-Religion
EURAXESS- Estonia-Religion
Estonian Biographical Center
Estonian Genealogical Society
Archive
National Archives of Estonia

What is in This Collection?

This collection includes baptism, marriage, and burial/death records for various churches, such as Orthodox, Old Believer, Roman Catholic, and Baptist. The collection includes records from 1835 to 1940.

Estonia’s religious picture is influenced by the Soviet occupation and secularization. Estonia remains a Christian-shaped country, but only 23% of the population are members of Christian Churches. About 11% of the population belongs to the predominantly protestant religion, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, and 10% to the Orthodox Church, the second largest faith. Other religious communities (Roman Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Methodists, Muslims, Buddhists and others) are much smaller.

In most churches, the sacramental ordinances of baptisms, marriages, and burials were performed by an authorized ecclesiastical officer. These registers were generally kept in the parish archive, but later these were sent to the churches largest archive for preservation.

For a list of records by religion currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Image Visibility

Whenever possible FamilySearch makes images and indexes available for all users. However, rights to view these data are limited by contract and subject to change. Because of this there may be limitations on where and how images and indexes are available or who can see them. Please be aware some collections consist only of partial information indexed from the records and do not contain any images.

For additional information about image restrictions see Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections.

Reading These Records

These records are written in German, Russian and Estonian. For help reading these records see the following:

• German Genealogical Word List
• Germany Languages
• Germany Handwriting
• Russian Genealogical Word List
• Russia Languages
• Russia Handwriting
• Translator

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Estonia, Church Books and Synagogue Registers, 1835-1940.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The information in these records usually include the following:

Baptism Child's name Christening date Sometimes the birth date Parents' names Parents' marital status Parents' residence Father's occupation Sometimes the mother’s age Witnesses and their residences

Marriage Groom’s name Depending on the time period, the groom’s marital status, residence, and age Bride’s name Depending on the time period, the bride’s marital status, residence, and age Witnesses and their residences

Burial/death Name of the deceased Death date Burial date Residence Occupation Age Marital status and sometimes the spouse’s name Sometimes other biographical notes

Collection Content

Sample Images

• Estonia Church Books
• 

  1897 Births

• 

  1906 Marriages

• 

  1834 Deaths

How Do I Search This Collection?

To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:

• Name
• Date of the event
• Place of the event
• Other identifying information such as the names of the parents or the spouse

View the Images

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page

1. Select Religion
2. Select Parish
3. Select Event type, year range, (volume) to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?

Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

• Add any new information to your records
• When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
• Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information
• Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names
• Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in populations registers
• Use the residence and names of the parents to locate land records
• Use the parents’ birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family
• Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual
• Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

• Consult the Estonia Record Finder to find other records
• The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties
• The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant
• There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another
• Check for variant spellings of the surnames
• Search the indexes and records of nearby localities

Research Helps

The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Estonia.

• Estonia Record Finder

Citing This Collection

Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection Citation: The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Citing this Collection.

Image Citation: When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen.

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