The regional church archive in Magdeburg is one of two archives of the Lutheran-Protestant Church in Central Germany (EKM). The second archive is located in Eisenach. Both archives administer different areas within the borders of the EKM. They collect and preserve the historical records of the former Lutheran-Protestant Church of the Church Province of Saxony (KPS), including the former Prussian province of Saxony and extending to the majority of the present state of Saxony-Anhalt, large parts of Thuringia and smaller peripheral areas of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony.
The archives hold approximately 60,000 parish registers from over 3,000 communities including baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records. In order to protect the originals from deterioration or damage, they are only available as microfilms. The original registers are kept at their respective churches. Most records are written in Kurrent or Sütterlin script. They date back as far as the late 1500s and continue until the introduction of the civil registry in 1874. However, many records include entries from the 1870s up to the 1950s, some even to the 1990s. We recommend you enquire about the parishes and years you are interested in before booking a visit.
Records from the districts of Bad Liebenwerda, Egeln, Elbe-Fläming, Halberstadt and Magdeburg are available at www.archion.de. Next up are the following districts: Haldensleben-Wolmirstedt (2023/2024), Eisleben, Stendal, Salzwedel, Torgau-Delitzsch, Merseburg, Sömmerda, Naumburg-Zeitz, Halle-Saalkreis. Please note that in some cases not all records will be available at once and that there may be subsequent deliveries at a later date.
We charge a user fee of €8 for access to the archives collections. Black and white printouts are 30 cents per page. Feel free to bring your camera or smartphone (€5 for an unlimited number of pictures.) We only accept bank transfer or cash.
