Trier, Germany, Marriages, 1798-1924

About this collection

This collection contains marriage records from Trier covering the years 1798 up to and including 1924. The records are from civil registry office holdings and from Dezennaltabellen (alphabetical indexes of births, marriages, and deaths divided up into 10 year periods). Trier, in the modern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, is located on the Moselle River about 47 miles northwest of Saarbrücken and 9 miles from the border of Luxembourg. Founded more than 2,000 years ago as the Roman city of Augusta Treverorum, Trier enjoys the distinction of being the oldest city in Germany. Since 1986, many of the Roman monuments in Trier have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Among them is the city's notable landmark, the former Roman city gate, the Porta Nigra. During the time period of this collection, Trier first belonged to the French Département de la Sarre until 1815 and thereafter to Rhenish Prussia. This collection also contains records from the modern districts of Ehrang and Pfalzel. The time periods covered in those records vary.

On September 20th 1792, the French National Assembly passed a law governing the documentation of civil status in France. The French model for recording Births, Marriages and Deaths was officially introduced when French troops began the occupation of the left bank of the Rhine on May 1st, 1798 and established new departments of France. Throughout the entire former German Empire, civil registration was taken over and performed by local registry offices beginning on January 1, 1876.

The civil registration records are usually arranged chronologically and bound in yearbook form. Occasionally, alphabetical 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.

The Dezennaltabellen (Ten-year-directories) are name indexes to the civil registers. These were usually created separately for births, marriages and deaths. They often do not extend over a period of decades, but run, for example, from 1863 to 1872.

What you can find in the records

Marriage records in the civil registers were initially completely handwritten. Later they were filled in by hand on preprinted forms. The first forms are in French. After 1815, the forms were printed in German. Beginning in 1876, standardized civil registry forms were used. Depending on the individual form or on the formulations used by the registrar, you may find:

• Sequential or Certificate Number
• Marriage Date
• Groom: Occupation, Given Names, Last Name, Denomination, Age, Birthdate and Birthplace, Residence/Address as well as details about his Parents and their Place of Residence
• Bride: Occupation, Given Names, Last Name, Maiden Name, Denomination, Age, Birthdate and Birthplace, Residence/Address as well as details about her Parents and their Place of Residence
• Witnesses
• Signatures

Depending on the form used, the name directories are arranged alphabetically by the last names of the groom and of the bride, and then chronologically within the first letter of the last name. They contain the following details:

• Sequential number
• Last Names and Given Names of the Groom and/or the Bride, sometimes their Residence is included.
• Cross-reference to marriage register

More about using this collection

Each document has a front and back. These are displayed one ofter the other. Additional events from the life of the couple 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.

Under "Browse this collection,” select the Civil Registration Office and Year Range for the desired records. When name directories (Namensverzeichnis) are available for a registry office, they are separately displayed and selectable at the end of the list.