Barnim, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1966

About this collection

This collection contains death records from present and past civil registry offices in the district of Barnim. The modern offices of Bernau and Joachimsthal are not included. The collections covers the years 1874 to 1966.

The District of Barnim lies northeast of Berlin in the modern German state of Brandenburg. The region belonged to the Prussian province of Brandenburg until its dissolution in 1947. In 1952, the district of Bernau was created from the eastern portion of the old Niederbarnim district and from some communities in Oberbarnim. At the same time, cities from the previous district of Angermünde and Oberbarnim, along with the city of Eberswalde (which was an independent city from 1911 to 1950), were combined to create the district of Eberswalde. During the district reform of 1993, the administrative district of Barnim was formed from the districts of Bernau and Eberswalde, (excluding Bölkendorf, and the municipalities of Tiefensee and Hohensaaten formerly in Bad Freienwalde district). The administrative center is the city of Eberswalde.

Beginning on October 1, 1874, local registry offices were made responsible for creating birth, marriage and death records in the former Prussian provinces. The collected records are arranged chronologically and usually in bound yearbook form which are collectively referred to as "civil registers." For some of the civil registry districts included in the collection, corresponding 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

Death records were created using preprinted forms that were filled in by hand by the registrar. In each record the date of death 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
• Informant: Given Names, Last Name, Maiden Name, Occupation, Residence/Address, Denomination
• Deceased: Occupation, Given Names, Last Name, Maiden Name, Age, Denomination, Residence/Address, Place/Date of Birth, Spouse/Parents, Place/Date of Death, Time of Death
• Beginning in 1938, the records may also cross reference to corresponding birth and/or marriage registers
• From 1938 to 1957, the Cause of Death is often included
• Signatures

Depending on the form used, the name directories are generally grouped alphabetically according to the last name of the deceased with entries chronological by year. They are bound in chronological volumes separately or with several years combined. They contain the following details:

• Sequential number
• Last Name, Given Names of the deceased, often including the Death Date and Denomination
• Cross-reference to death register

More about using this collection

Each record comprises one page. Additional events from the life of the deceased 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 usually a relative of the deceased.

These records also document casualties (Kriegssterbefälle) from the Second World War. Occasionally, records for some of the dead were also later made available by the "German Office for the Notification of Next-of-Kin of Members of the Former German Armed Forces who were Killed in Action" (WASt) in Berlin. Between 1943 and 1945, this institution was temporarily located in Saalfeld. Under "Browse this collection,” select the Civil Registry Office and Year Range for the desired records. Name directories, "Namensverzeichnis," appear at the end of the Year Range lists.