Genealogy: Slovakia

Abbreviations:
sl -slovak
ger - German
hung - hungarian
Gsp. - Gespannschaft (z^upa, Komitat), roughly a county
N, E, W, S, M - North, East, West, South, Middle
Sl - Slovakia

Table of Contents:

• General Information
• Societies and Clubs
• Civil Records
• Gazetteers and Maps
• Bibliography
• Archives and Libraries
• Other countries and regions
• Miscellanous
• Other internet resources

General Information

• Description of the Research Area
  
  • By the 12th century, Germans settled in the area of today's Slovakia. These Germans are collectively called Karpatendeutsche, or Carpathian Germans, because they lived in the northern part of the great arc formed by the Carpathian mountains. They should not be confused with the Transylvanian Saxons, who settled in the Southern part of the great Carpathian arc at roughly the same time, and who also are, occasionally, called Carpathian Germans. The Carpathian Germans lived mainly in three areas, around Preßburg (Bratislava), in the Hauerland in Central Slovakia, and the Zips in the East. There were other small settlement pockets, including in the Karpatho-Ukraine. In 1938, there were about 140,000 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia, and another 18,000 in the Karpatho-Ukraine. After the war, they were deported with great loss of life. In 1991,the last Czechoslovak Census counted 5,900 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia, (though it is thought that about 15,000 live there), while about 3,000 live in the Karpatho-Ukraine, which is now part of the Republic of Ukraine. When looking at old documents, books and family memories, it is important to remember that Hungarian refers to a citizenship, not an ethnicity. All subjects of the Hungarian kingdom were Hungarians, and often patriotic at that--but only a minority were Magyars, (ethnic Hungarians), in 1844 42.5% of the population of the Kingdom.

  • Main German settlement areas (in brackets their main cities):
    • Hauerland (Deutsch-Proben)
      (Deutsch-Proben: Gsp. Neutra, S Sl, sl: Nemecke Pravno, ung: Nemetprona)
    • Zips (Käsmark)
      (Käsmark: Gsp. Szepes, Spis^, M Sl, sl: Kez^marok, ung: Késmárk)
    • Preßburger Land and the Island of Schuett, a large river island SE of it (Schüttinsel ),
      (Preßburg: Gsp. Preßburg, SW Sl, sl: Bratislava, ung: Pozsony)
    • Karpatho-Ukraine. East of Slovakia. Four Komitats, whose main city was Munkatsch, hung. Munkacs, russ. Mukac"evo .
• Political History: Borders:
  The territory of today's Republic of Slovakia belonged for close to 1000 years to the old Kingdom of Hungary, and was generally known, together with the future Karpatho-Ukraine, as "Feldivék," (Upper Hungary). The area never formed a separate administrative unit. In 1919, most of Feldivek was annexed by the newly created Czecho-Slovak Republic, and divided into a province of Slovakia and a province of Carpatho-Ukraine. The counties (comitatus in Latin, which was the legal language of the Hungarian Kingdom till 1844, Komitat or Gespannschaft in German documents, megye in Magyar), which either entirely or partly became part of the Slovak province were, from West to East: Preßburg/Poszony, Neutra, Komorn, Barsch, Neusohl, Gömör, Kleinhont, Hont, Neograd, Abauj, Torna, Liptau, Turz, Orava, Trentschin, Zips, Scharosch and Zemplin. Several megye were split, e.g. Abauj, with the county capital remaining in Hungary, including records archived at the county level. The Slovak areas were regrouped into six Z"upans whose boundaries did not follow much the old megye boundaries. Also, on the Northern border, on both sides of the Zakopane salient, Poland annexed 12 villages of the Northwest Zips, with 8.747 people, main village Jablonka, and 13 villages in the Arwa area, with 389 km2 und 16.133 people, (main village Neu-Bela), among whom were some Germans. Here, county records remained in Slovakia but post-1919 records belong to the respective Polish archival depositories.

  In 1919, Slovakia and the Karpatho-Ukraine had been promised autonomy, but the Czech government granted self-government only after the September 1938 Munich Agreement. On March 14, 1939, the Slovak Provincial Parliament declared independence.The Slovak Republic lost territory: Poland annexed, in the same area as 1919, another 7 villages with 21 km2 and 9,900 people, including a few Germans. This territory, as well as that lost in 1919, was returned to Slovakia on November 21, 1939. The boundary with Hungary also changed. In November 1938, Hungary received the mainly Magyar territory along the Danube, and part of the Karpatho-Ukraine, with 12.051 km2 and 1,06 million people, followed in March 1939 by the absorption of the remainder of the Karpatho-Ukraine and another 491 km2 in Eastern Slovakia. Germany received 43 km2 with 16,000 people, (Engerau, and the small city of Theben/Devin). From 49,021 km2 in 1930 with 3.3 Million people, the Slovak territory shrunk to 38,055 km2 with 2.6 Million people.

  After the end of World War II, Slovakia, in the boundaries of 1938, was made again part of Czecho-Slovakia, while the Karpatho-Ukraine was annexed by the Soviet Union. Since 1991, it is part of the Republic of Ukraine. The CSR dissolved in Spring 1993 into the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia. The Germans from the Karpatho-Ukraine are Carpathian Germans, but the impact of the present political borders on research warrants a separate webpage for the Karpatho-Ukraine.

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Societies and Clubs

• Genealogical Societies
  • Arbeitsgemeinschaft ostdeutscher Familienforscher e.V. (AGoFF)
    Fuhrweg 29; D-53229 Bonn
    Germany
    AGoFF)
    Research area: pre-1919 Hungary (incl. Slovakia):
    Director: Anton von Könczöl, Schwarzwaldstr. 34a, D-79276 Reute (Breisgau). Germany
    AGOFF will provide general information, including which archives to seek out, but will not do individual genealogical research.The information is free for members. Non-members are charged a moderate fee, depending on the amount of time spent on their inquiry. AGOFF publishes genealogical material and an informative newsletter.

  • Slovak Genealogical-Heraldic Society at the Matica Slovenska. A recent (1991) society that also includes non-Slavic people within Slovakia. Concerning Carpathian Germans, it cooperates with Dr. Poess, the director of the Carpathian German Museum in Pressburg (Bratislava). Check their Website

  • [ Siehe auch: List of all genealogical societies in Germany ]

• Other societies
  Karpatendeutsche Landsmannschaft in Deutschland,
  Haus der Heimat, Schloss-strasse 92/II, 70176 Stuttgart.
  Website: KDL
  E-mail: karpatendeutsche@aol.com
  Sells Heimatbuecher, that is local histories of specific German cities and villages. So far all are in German, with some Slovak translations being planned. The KDL also gives information about contemporary Carpathian Germans and may help locate archives. For a reasonable fee, they will translate from Slovak and Hungarian to German, incl. legally certified translations.Their annual Karpatenjahrbuch has many historical articles and pictures. Their monthly Karpatenpost has an obituary, birth and marriage index, 1950-1970, which ought to help locate relatives.

  Karpatendeutsche Landsmannschaft in Oesterreich
  Quellenstrasse 95/2, 1100 Wien
  Same as above, but more focused on Carpathian Germans from the Pressburg area. Publishes the Heimatblatt, 6 times a year.
  Their Website is in progress

  Karpatendeutscher Verein in der Slowakei
  Lichardova 20, SK-04000 Kos"ice, Republic of Slovakia
  Publishes the monthly Karpatenblatt. The KDV can help find inexpensive researchers able to read German/Hungarian/Slovak, who will work in local archives. Websites at KDL and KDL Geocities
  E-mail: Oswald Chelin

  Karpatenblatt.
  Karpatenblatt Website
  New address (since Jan. 2002): Hviezdoslavova 2/418, P.O. Box 47
  SK-05-801 Poprad; Republic of Slovakia
  Tel. and Fax: (421) 92-724 217. E-mail: karpatenblatt@stonline.sk
  The KDV's informative monthly, in German. A bargain at $28 (airmail), for those interrested in knowing how survivors fare, cultural activities etc. E-mail: Karpatenblatt

  Carpathian Germans in USA and Kanada
  John E. Scholtz, Secretary
  14100 Worthington Road, Philadelphia, PA 19116
  Organizes annual meeting. E-mail: Dan or Thomas

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Genealogical and Historical Documents

• Church Records The Catholic church is organized by territory, not ethnicity. The records of parishes formerly inhabited by German Catholics have remained with their respective church archives in Slovakia. The area of today's Slovakia belonged to the archdiocese of Esztergom (in german Gran), with the dioceses of Beszterczebanya (ger. Neusohl), while the rest of Slovakia belonged to the archdiocese of Eger (ger. Erlau), with the dioceses of Kassa (Kaschau), Rosznyo (Rosenau), Szatmar (Ger. Satmar), and Szepes (Ger. Zips). Gran and Erlau are still in Hungary.

  The Protestant church records are more scattered. Until 1919, all Lutherans belonged to the Ungarländische Evangelische Kirche, A.B. (Augsburger Bekenntnisses, that is Augsburg Confession, in contrast to the Evangelische Kirche, H.B., that is Helvetischen Bekenntnnisses, the Calvinists, whose denomination was codified by Jean Calvin in Switzerland, called Helvetia in Latin). In the decades preceeding 1919, the leaders of the Lutheran church followed a policy of assimilation to the Magyar language. The Hungarian state refused to allow the formation of separate Slovak and German synods. In the German parishes, occasionally a minister used magyar earlier, but from 1884 to the end of 1919, it is the only language used in parish registers. Hence, it is useful to familiarize oneself with basic magyar terms, as well as names (Katalin is Katherina, for instance, Gerö is Rudolf). The websites Radixindex and German-Hungarian Dictionary are useful if you know some German, but have no idea what a jobbagy, czipsez or polgar is (a peasant, shoemaker and burgher, respectively).

  After 1919, the Czech state supported Slovak, and refused the creation of a separate synod for Magyar and German Lutherans. In 1940, the new Slovak State allowed the German Lutherans to have their own synod, the German Evangelical State Church in Slovakia, A.B. (Deutsche Evangelische Landeskirche in der Slowakei, A.B.). In Spring 1945, the order was given to evacuate the German church records, since they were likely to be destroyed by the Beneshists. But many got lost in the chaotic days of March-April 1945. Two ministers, Rev. Drgala and Rev. Nika, found a wagonload of church records in Austria and saved them. Most of these are now held in trust by the Lutheran Church Archive in Württemberg, Germany. Some refugee villagers have voted in the past years to give these records to the Slovaks who took their homes, parishes and cemetaries, trusting that now there is a greater willingness to respect the German past in Slovakia. Others, a tad less trusting, have voted to keep their records in Germany. The records of several Zipser parishes ended up in Moscow (see below). The best is first to ask the Hilfskommittee der ev. Karpatendeutschen (address above) if they have any idea where a particular church record book is.
  

• Civil Records
• Other documents
  • Real estate records (Grundbücher)
  • Military Records, incl. marriages etc. of military personnel, see Archive

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Gazetteers and Maps

• Gazetteers
  Other useful books in English are (and there are very few in English)s:
  • Genealogical Guide to German Ancestors from East Germany and Eastern Europe, 4th ed. 1994, AGOFF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ostdeutscher Familienforscher), Neustadt/Aisch (Germany): Verlag Degener & Co.

  • Chalupecky, Dr. Ivan. Führer durch die Archive der Slowakischen Republik.
    Stuttgart: KDL 1998. A 59 page booklet that is a MUST for anyone working with archives in Slovakia. Dr. Chalupecky works as archivist and historian in Slovakia. $5 from KDL. ISBN 80-88704-15-4.

  • Gardiner, Dr. Duncan. German Towns in Slovakia and Upper Hungary.
    3rd ed. 1993. $17.50, from the author, at 12961 Lake Avenue, Lakewood, OH 44107.
    Dr. Gardiner is a genealogist for Central Europe at the FEEES.

  • Lasslob, Isidor : Deutsche Ortsnamen in der Slowakei.
    Karpatendeutsche Landsmannschaft, Stuttgart, 1975. 6 DM.
    Lists all town-names in German, Slovak and Hungarian.

  • Mayerhofer, H.: Österreichisch-ungarisches Ortslexikon
    Gazetteer for the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Incl. the judicial district the locality belonged to, as well as all local religious denominations, and the parish/other administrative subdivision they belonged to. Wien 1896. Invaluable if you can get it by Interlibrary Loan.

  • Majtan M.: Názvy Obcí na Slovensku za ostatnych dvesto rokkov (=Township Names in Slovakia in the past 200 years)
    Vydavatelstvo slovenskej akademie vied (=publ. by the Slovak Academy of Sciences), Bratislava 1974. New edition 1998, Veda Publishers, Bratislava.

  • Pfohl, Prof. Ernst : Ortslexikon Sudetenland,
    Helmut Preussler Verlag, Nürnberg; 1987. Reprint of 3rd edition 1931, 680 pages. ISBN 3-925362-47-9. Available from publisher, DM 59,50.
    Covers Czechoslovakia in the borders of 1938, incl. Karpatho-Ukraine. For every locality, the Gazetteer lists its various names, population, topography, industrial and commercial data, monuments, etc., but NOT the parishes to which it belonged!

  Note: Few libraries in the United States have a Carpathian German collection. Usually, if at all, it is an odd book here and there. But the University of Cincinatti has a decent number of books. Check their catalogue at Langsam Library. When searching any cataloue, remember that the changing fortunes of the area produced a salad of keywords, e.g. Germans--Carpathian Mountains, Germans--Hungary, Germans--Czechoslovakia, Germans--Slovakia.
  

• For Historical Maps, see Austria-Pages

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Bibliography

• Bibliography
• History Books
  English-language literature about Slovakia is scant, and rather lopsided. There are no histories of the Carpathian Germans in English, and very few about modern Slovakia that are not written from a nationalist Czech perspective that tries to justify the 1945 deportation of the local German and Hungarian minorities.There is an Overview by Dr. Thomas Reimer in English with a bulletin board. See also the list of German history books in German, or the following.
  • Alfred M. de Zayas: Nemesis at Potsdam. The Anglo-Americans and the Expulsion of the Germans.
    Background, Execution, Consequences. (Routledge & Kegan Paul 1977) ISBN 07100 0458 3
    
  • Alfred M. de Zayas. A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950.
    New York: St Martin's Press 1994. ISBN 0-312-12159-8 (pbk). 180 pages.
    In these two works, the American international lawyer and senior advisor at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, analyses the brutal ethnic cleansing of 15 million German civilians from their Eastern homelands, including Czechoslovakia.
  • Yeshayahu Jelinek. The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists, 1918-1948.
    New York: Columbia University Press 1983.
    A political history of modern Slovakia. Occasionally mentions Carpathian Germans.
  • Stanislav Kirschbaum. A History of Slovakia:The Struggle for Survival.
    New York: St Martin's Press 1995.
    Same as above, but from a different perspective.
• Genealogical Literature.
  Holmesa book store with many books on Slovakia/Upper Hungary
• Adressbooks
• Registers of local families (Ortsfamilienbücher) see Ortsfamilienbücher, Liste
• Local histories and archival collections, see
  Local histories list

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Archives and Libraries

• Archives
  • Slovak State Archives/Central Administration in Preßburg:
    Archivni sprava Bratislava, Krizkova 7, SK-81104 Bratislava
    Its County and Regional archives have material about the German settlement areas:
    Statny okresni archiv in Z^iar nad Hronom (to which the former Schemnitz belongs now)
    Statny okresni archiv in Kremnica (=Kremnitz)
    Statny oblastni archiv in Levoc^a (=Leutschau)
    Permission to do research, incl. the making of copies, must be obtained from the Central Administration in Bratislava./Pressburg
    It is advisable to give a price limit in DM/US$ when ordering. Read Ivan Chalupecky's Guide first.
  • Kriegsarchiv Wien (Personel records, incl. on marriages etc., of people who served in the armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy).
  • Military Archives, ul. Wyborgskaya, Moscow, which in its Fonds 1295, Religious Organizations, holds archival material from the Zipser lutheran parishes of Eisdorf, Bierbrunn, Deutschendorf and Niederschwaben. The web catalog is available at Moscow Sonderarchiv
    
• Libraries
• LDS FHC's
  (Genealogical branch of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), see our
  LDS Homepage and FHC Adresses in German-speaking Central Europe and (USA)

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Other countries and regions

• Historical Regions
  • Preßburger Land and Schuett Island (Ger: Schüttinsel; sl: Z^itný ostrov)
    Ratzersdorfby Norbert Gschweng

  • Hauerland
    Oberstuben by Joachim Geburtig
    Muennichwies

  • Zips (sl: Spis^)
    Die ZipsUniversitaet Bielefeld
    Oberzips KDV Beschreibung der Oberzips
    Eisdorf by Thomas Reimer
    Metzenseifen
    Metzenseifen-USA an English website by a descendant.

• Earlier States:
  Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy

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Miscellanous

• Publishers
• Professional Researchers specializing in the area of Slovakia, including Karpatho-Ukraine (This listing does not in any way indicate endorsement. This listing is for information purposes only):
  Verbatoria, a Slovak firm.
  Familytree, a Hungarian firm.