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Zichydorf Church Records

For many years, the only church records available to researchers in North America were microfilms from the Family History Library of the Mormon Church. Films #1190365 and #1190366 contain church records from 1789 to 1842 for baptisms, 1828 for marriages, and 1851 for deaths. These records were filmed by the Nazis during World War II for the purpose of determining who was and who was not German. The original films are kept in Stuttgart and the FHL was able to obtain copies. Eventually ZVA was able to obtain digital image copies of the original records into the late twentieth century. This article describes those records, finding aids, and includes a downloadable interpretation aid.

The original church books from 1789 to approximately 1895 are available at the archives in Bela Crkva, Serbia. Note that the records on microfilm end much earlier. Records from approximately 1895 to the present day are kept at the Roman Catholic Church in Jermenovci. Georghausen records are normally found in the Zichydorf church books, as Georgshausen was part of the Zichydorf parish. Some records from other nearby villages are also often found in the Zichydorf church books. Also, extended family of many Zichydorfers are found in the records of nearby churches such as Deutsch Stamora, Gross Gaj, Urmenhausen, and Morawitza.

After many years spent locating the records and trying to have them copied, ZVA was finally able to obtain digital photos of all Zichydorf church records from 1789 to post WW II. These are available from ZVA for $30. This package includes several other interesting documnets, as well as pictures of headstones in the cemetery  and the companion file described below.

A useful finding aid is the Familienbuch compiled by Peter Noll and Helmut Kaiser. This work compiles the church records into families. Ideally, you should use both sources. The Familienbuch is easily the simplest to use, however, it is a compilation and subject to errors and omissions in transcribing and interpretation. It is extremely well done, but errors have been found and corrected. Other errors may remain. The actual church records are much more difficult to use, but they are the original source records.

When we first compiled the church records, I created a companion document describing the contents, giving some pointers on how to find records, and including a glossary of some Latin, Hungarian, German, and English terms you will find in the records. I have since updated this file to include records that were missing from the original. It is attached to this page for you to download. If you have purchased the records, but are missing any of the newly discovered pages, please contact me and I will send them to you.

Helmut has also compiled Familienbuchs of the German families in Ümenyhaza, Deutsch Stamora, and Gross Gaj. The FBs for all four villages are found on his web site at http://zichydorf.ferienwohnung-otterberg.de. The information for Zichydorf, but not the other villages is also on the genealogy.net site at http://www.ortsfamilienbuecher.de/index.php. Scroll down to the Banat section. Helmut is also willing to answer individual requests. You can contact him through his web site. I also have copies of the latest versions as of early 2019. Please contact me if you need any of these.

To order the church records by PayPal, use the Donation box in the Main Menu on the left side of the page. Be sure to specify what it is you want in the appropriate box.  To order by mail, send your cheque to Zichydorf Village Association, 2114 E Laurier Cres., Regina, SK, S4V 0P6, Canada. Note: These records are now available on Dropbox for electronic download. In fairness to those who have already purchased them and to avoid complicating the ordering function, prices and the ordering procedure remain the same.