MyHeritage Updated A German Record Collection

MyHeritage announced an update to the Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Death Index 1874-1938 collection in collaboration with the Landesarchiv Nordhein Westfalen, the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia. In this update, MyHertiage added 9 million death records from the the districts of Düsseldorf and Köln, bringing the total number of records in this collection to 20 million.

MyHeritage is the first to index these images with the full support of the Landesarchiv, the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia – making the information in the images more accessible and readily searchable than ever before.

Civil death registration records in Germany, called Personenstandsregister, are an excellent source of genealogical information. Kept by the German Civil Registrar, they cover 98% of the population and became mandatory in all German states by 1876. This collection now includes all of the death records from the districts of Arnsberg, Detmold, Münster, and more than half of the death records from Düsseldorf and Köln.

Unlike previous releases that were by district orRegierungsbezirke, the death records of Düsseldorf and Köln were archived into one single record group organized in alphabetical order based on the names of the registry offices or Standensämter within Düsseldorf and Köln. This release covers records from registers offices from A-R, beginning with the “Aschen” office and concluding with the “Rheydt” office. This collection will be updated once more in the future to complete the collection with the remaining death records from Düsseldorf and Köln.

The records contain the deceased person’s first and last name, maiden name, gender, religion, date and place at the time of death, age at death, and date and place of birth, as well as the names of spouses, parents, and descendants.

In addition, the records include administrative information such as the certificate number, date of registration, and the signature of the person reporting the death as well as the signature of the registrar.

MyHeritage provided an example of the records. The collection contains the record of August Thyssen, a German industrialist known for iron and steel industries. The record includes the birth date and birth place, May 17, 1842 from Eschweiler, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The death date and location is April 4, 1926 in Laupendahl. Thyssen was 83 years old when he died.

Also in the collection is the death record of steel magnate Alfred Krupp, also known as the “Cannon King” because he was a cannon and arms supplier of Prussia and Germany. The record includes his birth place, Essen A D Ruhr, and infers his birth year 1812. It also includes his death date and place, July 14, 1887, Villa Hügel in Der Gemeinde Bredeney. The record also lists his father and mother names, Fredrich Krupp and Theresia (born Wilhelmi).

The Germany, North-Rhine Westphalia Deaths 1874-1938 collection makes it easier than ever before to research your German roots and discover invaluable treasures. Searching this collection is free. To view these records or to save records into your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete subscription.

If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, their Record Matching technology will notify you automatically if records from this collection match your relatives. You’ll then be able to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your tree.

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