Berlin Civil Registration Jurisdictions
by Sonja Höke-Nishimoto, 1992
Berlin Civil Registration
How to Use the Street Guide; Spelling & Alphabetization
Obtaining Civil Registration Records
Street Index to CR Jurisdictions: A-G, H-O, P-Z
The central part of Berlin (the historical center) was altered a
lot during and after WWII. Hauke Fehlberg has done a marvelous job putting maps of the central part of Berlin showing the streets as of 1812 and 1908 on his website:
http://mitglied.lycos.de/Pomerania2/
(On the left menu click on 'historical maps' and then 'Berlin'.) A modern street map which can be used in connection with this gazetteer and the historical maps can be found on the web at:
http://www.stadtplandienst.de/query?ORT=b
(It also includes some other interesting links for the city of Berlin.)
Introduction
Research in Berlin is complicated by the great size of the city and the large number of civil registration offices. This register is intended to help you identify the civil registration district in which your ancestor may have been recorded.
SECTION I. BERLIN CIVIL REGISTRATION
On October 1, 1874, under Prussian law it became necessary in Berlin for all births, marriages, and deaths to be recorded by the government. Therefore thirteen civil registration offices were formed in Berlin to record these records. These offices were each assigned a number, rather than a name. With the Increase In population new branch offices were added to the system with a number and a letter such as 13a and 13b added to district 13.
In 1912 there was a reorganization of the civil registration offices in Berlin. At that time the many outlying areas Berlin were Incorporated Into Berlin's Civil registration system and as a result forty-nine offices came Into existence which included these outlying areas. These offices remained the same until 1920. Since that time there have been several regroupings including changes resulting from the divided administration of the city at the end of World War II and the resulting sections were referred to as West Berlin and East Berlin. In 1991 Berlin was reunified into one city but the east and west designations still apply for postal and civil registration districts. Today in the whole of Berlin there are twenty-three civil registration districts. There Is no central register or index to the vital records held by these offices.
In order to obtain information from the civil registration offices of Berlin you must take note of the following:
If your ancestor lived in the area of the city that came to be called "West Berlin," you must determine what civil registration district had jurisdiction over the part of the city where the birth, marriage, or death took place. When you have determined which civil registration district your ancestor resided, you should write to Civil Registration Office Number I (Standesamt I in Berlin), which deals only with the vital record registrations from West Berlin. The address is (EDITOR'S NOTE: I couldn't find the new zip code for this one):
Standesamt I in Berlin
W-lO0O Berlin, 41
Federal Republic of Germany
If your ancestor resided in what came to be referred to as "East Berlin," it may not be necessary to know the exact civil registration district, although it may still be helpful to them If it is already known. There is a central clearing house for civil registration inquiries. You should write to Civil Registration Office Number I (Standesamt I in Groß Berlin). The address is:
Standesamt I von Groß Berlin
Rückerstr. 9
10119 Berlin
Germany
Because of the possible confusion of having two office number "l"s, it is possible that the names of these offices may change In the future but the addresses will likely remain the same and inquiries should reach the appropriate office.
SECTION II. HOW TO USE THE STREET INDEX
In this register you will find a listing of all the streets in Berlin and the civil registration jurisdictions for three different years including 1876, 1892, and 1919 as recorded in the street Indexes (Straßen Verzeichnisse) of the Berlin City directories.
In some cases there are no changes in jurisdictions noted over the course of the forty-three year time span. In other cases, the jurisdiction may have changed slightly. In such cases, where you want information of a specific year not given In this register, you can refer either to the street indexes in the microfilmed directory for the exact year you are searching, or you could write for information at either of the civil registration offices given for your street address.
All listings are street names (Straße) unless otherwise noted as an alley or lane (Allee), (Gasse), place, square (Platz), or other similar designations.
This register can be of assistance only when you know the street address of your Berlin ancestor. You can often determine this by using the Berlin city directories for the appropriate time period. Berlin City directories are available on 315 rolls of microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and through its Family History Centers.
You can find a more detailed description of the microfilmed City directories of Berlin in the Family History Library Catalog under:
- GERMANY, PREUßEN, BRANDENBURG, BERLIN - DIRECTORIES
The directories are divided in sections. Of greatest genealogical value are the alphabetized listings of city inhabitants with addresses. Search for your ancestor under the alphabetical listing of names in the time period your ancestor lived In Berlin. When you find your ancestor listed, write down the street and house number where he resided. Then turn to the listing of that street in this publication to determine which civil registration office that address was assigned to in the year closest to the time period when your ancestor lived there.
Other sections of the directories are businesses, public offices, societies, inhabitants' addresses listed under the street they resided, rather than by their name.
The suburbs of Berlin were in many, but not all of the directories. Some of the suburbs of Berlin which may be listed in the directories include:
- Baumschulenweg (Treptow), Boxhagen-Rummelsburg, Britz, Charlottenburg, Dahlem, Friedenau, Friedrlchsberg, Frledrichsfelde, Grunewald, Halensee, Helnersdorf, Hohen Schönhausen, Karlshorst, Lankwitz, Lichtenberg, Groß Lichterfelde, Mariendorf, Neukölin, Nieder-Schönhausen and Schönholz, Nikolassee, Ober-Schönweide, Pankow, Plötzensee, Reinickendorf, Rixdorf, Schlachtensee, Schmargendorf, Sch:neberg, Schönholz, Steglitz, Stralau, Südende, Tegel, Tempelhof, Weißensee, Neu-Weißensee, Westend, Wilhelmsberg, Wilmersdorf, and Zehlendorf.
These directories on microfilm begin in the year 1799 and continue through the year 1963, with some years not inclusive. Some of these directory films include a street index(Straßen Verzeichnis) (see illustration below) for each street. These street indexes note the jurisdictions for the civil registration offices, the city district numbers, poverty assistance offices, orphanages, school districts, court districts, parishes, police districts, and postal districts. The directories for some years also include the voting districts. Terms used for these jurisdictions in the headings vary from directory to directory. These street indexes are the source of the information for this publication. Street Indexes were included in the City directories from 1874-1919.
The format of the street indexes varies from year to year. For example, some directories list civil jurisdictions by house numbers; others list the jurisdictions by a street to street description such as "From Mühlen street to Spree". In such instances, there is no way to cross reference the descriptive and house number entries, therefore, the descriptions are listed in this register as they were listed in the original street indexes. The following example shows a street where only numbers where used to determine residence areas.
| STREET AND | HOUSE NUMBERS | 1876 | 1892 | 1919 |
| DRESDENER | 1-19 | 5 | 5A | 5A |
| 20 | 5 | 5 | 5A | |
| 21-112 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| 113-118 | 6 | 6A | 6 | |
| 119-136 | 5 | 5 | 5A |
When only descriptions of residences are given rather than house numbers, and there is more than one civil registration office listed, it may be necessary to search the records of each civil registration district listed for the street your ancestor lived on. For other years, house numbers may be given for the same street. House numbers arc listed separately from the "descriptions" and are given in the column for the appropriate year. These other entries may help you more easily determine the civil registration jurisdictions for those years where the description was not by house number. (See following example.)
| STREET AND | HOUSE NUMBERS | 1876 | 1892 | 1919 |
| DANZIGER | On Prenzlauer Allee | 8 | 8 | |
| Other numbers | 10 | 10B | ||
| 1-31 | 10C | |||
| 32-64 | 8 | |||
| 65-98 | 10C |
Some streets were named only with a number, such as Street 19 (Straße 19). There appears to have been some inconsistency in the way these streets were listed from year to year. In some cases there seems to be duplicate usage of certain numbers and the actual jurisdictions are not always dear. These streets have not been included in this publication due to the unclear divisions. For these and other addresses where confusion exists such as in the Berlin suburb areas it may be necessary to write to the following address:
Senatsverwaltung für Inneres in Berlin 1 C 64
Fehrbelliner Platz 1
W-l000 Berlin 31
Federal Republic of Germany
There will be a fee for this service and the search may take several months. Some streets did not exist in earlier years, but apparently came into existence as new housing was developed. Other streets are listed in the earlier street indexes but are not listed in the later ones. lt is not certain if these omissions were accidental or if the street names were changed or discontinued. lt is also possible that there were no residences on those streets in all years covered by directories. For this reason, civil jurisdictions may not be listed for all streets in Berlin for all years in this register.
For residents on streets near the train stations (Eisenbahn) look under the heading of Eisenbahn for the specific train station needed.
Spelling and Alphabetization
The inconsistent spelling of street names from one directory to the next is a problem. In the cases where alternate spellings were used, such as the street name of "Colonie" which was also listed as "Kolonie", they are listed twice in this register book for easier reference. Other variations in street names are handled the same way as in the case of "Ostbahnhof" which is also listed as "Am Ostbahnhof".
In the original street indexes the street called "Unter den Linden" is listed as, "Linden, Unter den". This register lists this Street alphabetically as "Unter den Linden". This method has been applied consistently also for "Am, An der, Alte, Neue, Hinter dem, Klein, Groß," and similar prefixes on street names. Words with an Umlaut () are alphabetized as though there were no Umlaut. The German letter "ß" is alphabetized as "ss".
SECTION III. OBTAINING CIVIL REGISTRATION RECORDS
The Family History Library currently does not have microfilmed copies of civil registration records for Berlin. In order to obtain these records lt will be necessary to correspond directly with the current civil registration office (Standesamt). lt may be helpful to use theGerman Letter Writing Guide in preparing your letter to the civil registration office. This is available through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City:
Family History Library
35 North Nest Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150
The numbers given in this register refer to the old civil registration offices. The list below gives the old offices as listed in this register and provides the name of the new civil registration office that currently has jurisdiction. Following is also a list of the addresses of the current civil registration offices. Use the current addresses when you write to Berlin for civil registration information.
ALT BERLIN
| FORMER JURISDICTIONS | PRESENT DAY JURISDICTIONS |
| Berlin 1 | Standesamt Mitte von Berlin |
| Berlin 2 | Standesamt Mitte von Berlin |
| Berlin 3 | Standesamt Tiergarten von Berlin |
| Berlin 4, 4A, 4B | Standesamt Kreuzberg von Berlin |
| Berlin 5, 5A, SB | Standesamt Kreuzberg von Berlin |
| Berlin 6 | Standesamt Mitte von Berlin |
| Berlin 7, 7A, 7B, 7C | Standesamt Friedrichshaln von |
| Berlin 8 | Standesamt Friedrichshain von |
| Berlin 9 | Standesamt Mitte von Berlin |
| Berlin 10, lOA | Standesamt Mitte von Berlin |
| Berlin lOB, lOC | Standesamt Prenzlauer Berg von |
| Berlin 11 | Standesamt Wedding von Berlin |
| Berlin 12, 12A, 12B | Standesamt Tiergarten von Berlin |
| Berlin 13, 13A, 13B | Standesamt Wedding von Berlin |
ADDRESSES OF CURRENT CIVIL REGISTRATION OFFICES OF ALT BERLIN
The following addresses are for civil registration offices which have jurisdiction over the streets referred to in this register:
| Standesamt Kreuzberg von Berlin Mehrlngdamm 110 10965 Berlin Germany |
Standessamt Mitte von Berlin Alexanderplatz 1 10178 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Tiergarten von Berlin Kurfürstenstr. 57 10785 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Friedrichshain von Berlin Friedenstr. 68 10249 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Wedding von Berlin Müllerstr. 146/147 13353 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Prenzlauer Berg von Berlin Fröbelstr 17 10405 Berlin Germany |
AREAS OF GREATER BERLIN (Which until 1991 were part of West Berlin)
| FORMER JURISDICTIONS | PRESENT DAY JURISDICTIONS |
| Britz | Neukölln von Berlin |
| Buckow (1, II) | Neukölln von Berlin |
| Charlottenburg (1 through IV) | Charlottenburg von Berlin |
| Dahlem | Zehlendorf von Berlin |
| Deutsch-Wilmersdorf | Wilmersdorf von Berlin |
| Friedenau | Schöneberg von Berlin |
| Frohnau | Reinickendorf von Berlin |
| Groß-Lichterfelde | Steglitz von Berlin |
| Grunewald (Forst) | Wilmersdorf von Berlin |
| Hasenheide | Neukölln von Berlin |
| Haselhorst | Spandau von Berlin |
| Heerstraße | Charlottenburg von Berlin |
| Heiligensee | Reinickendorf von Berlin |
| Hermsdorf | Reinickendorf von Berlin |
| Kladow | Spandau von Berlin |
| Krankenhaus Neuköl1n | Neukölln von Berlin |
| Kreuzberg | Kreuzberg von Berlin |
| Lankwitz | Steglitz von Berlin |
| Lichtenrade | Tempelhof von Berlin |
| Lichterfelde | Steglitz von Berlin |
| Lübars | Reinickendorf von Berlin |
| Manendorf | Tempelhof von Berlin |
| Manenfelde | Tempelhof von Berlin |
| Neukölln (1 through III) | Neukölln von Berlin |
| Nikolassee | Zehlendorf von Berlin |
| Pfaueninsel | Zehlendorf von Berlin |
| Pichelsdorf | Spandau von Berlin |
| Plötzensee | Charlottenburg von Berlin |
| Reinickendorf (East - West) | Reinickendorf von Berlin |
| Rixdorf | Neukölln von Berlin |
AREAS OF GREATER BERLIN (Which until 1991 were part of East Berlin):
| FORMER JURISDICTIONS | PRESENT DAY JURISDICTIONS |
| Adlershof | Berlin-Treptow |
| Alt-Glienicke | Berlin-Treptow |
| Bliesdorf | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Blankenburg | Berlin-Pankow |
| Bohnsdorf | Berlin-Treptow |
| Boxhagen-Rummelsburg | Berlin-Lichtenbnsee |
| Französisch-Buchholz | Berlin-Pankow |
| Friedrichsfelde | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Friedrichshagen | Berlin-Köpenick |
| Friedrichshain | Berlin-Friedrichshain |
| Grünau | Berlin-Köpenick |
| Heinersdorf | Berlin-Pankow |
| Hellersdorf | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Hohenschönhausen | Berlin-Weißensee |
| Horst Wessel | Berlin-Friedrichshain |
| Johannisthal | Berlin-Treptow |
| Karlshorst | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Karow | Berlin-Pankow |
| Kaulsdorf | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Kietz bei Köpenick | Berlin-Treptow |
| Köpenick | Berlin-Köpenick |
| Köpenicker Forst | Berlin-Treptow and
Berlin-Köpenick |
| Lichtenberg (1, II) | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Mahlsdorf | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Malchow | Berlin-Weißensee |
| Mitte | Berlin-Mitte |
| Müggelheim | Berlin-Köpenick |
| Niederschöneweide | Berlin-Treptow |
| Niederschönhausen | Berlin-Pankow |
| Oberschöneweide | Berlin-Treptow |
| Pankow | Berlin-Pankow |
| Prenzlauer Berg | Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg |
| Rahnsdorf | Berlin-Köpenick |
| Rosenthal | Berlin-Pankow |
| Rummelsburg | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Schinöckwitz | Berlin-Köpenick |
| Schöneweide | Berlin-Treptow |
| Stralau | Berlin-Friedrichshain and
Berlin-Lichtenberg |
| Treptow |
Berlin-Treptow |
| Weißensee | Berlin-Weißensee |
| Wilhelmsruh |
Berlin-Pankow |
| Wuhlgarten | Berlin-Lichtenberg |
The following addresses are for civil registration offices which have of Berlin and its suburbs which are jurisdiction over streets in other areas not covered in this register:
| Standesamt Charlottenburg von Berlin Alt- Lietzow 28 10587 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Spandau von Berlin Carl-Schurz Str. 2-6 13597 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Wilmersdorf von Berlin Berkaer Platz 1 14199 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Zehlendorf von Berlin Teltower Damm 10 14169 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Schöneberg von Berlin John-F.-Kennedy-Platz 10825 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Steglitz von Berlin Goethe Str. 9/11 12207 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Tempelhof von Berlin Tempelhofer Damm 165/169 12099 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Neukölin von Berlin Donaustr. 33/34 12043 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Reinichendorf von Berlin Eichborndamm 215/239 13437 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Köpenick von Berlin Alt Köpenick 21 12555 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Lichtenberg von Berlin Anton-Saefkow-Platz 7 10369 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Weißensee von Berlin Amalienstr. 8 13086 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Pankow von Berlin Johannes-R.-Becher-Str. 13187 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Treptow von Berlin Grosberliner Damm 35/37 12487 Berlin Germany |
| Außenstelle Berlin-Buch Wetbergstr. 38 13125 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Marzahn von Berlin Helene-Weigel-Platz 8 12681 Berlin Germany |
| Standesamt Hohenschönhausen von Berlin Zingster Str. 2 13051 Berlin Germany |
Standesamt Hellersdorf von Berlin Alte Hellersdorfer Str. 41 12629 Berlin Germany |
For a street or area map of Berlin, please see Hoeke-Nishimoto, Sonja, Berlin Evangelical Parish Jurisdictions, Salt Lake City, UT.: Family History Library, 1991 (FHL Book 943.155/B1 K24h).
