The best place to look for marriage records is in the microfilms of the church records which are held by the Family History Centers of the Mormon Church. In order to use these microfilms, however, you must know the village your ancestors were from and the parish that village was located in. For more information on using the microfilm records and for a list of Family History Centers, go to Help with Research. If you do not know the name of the village or town of your ancestors, following are some additional suggestions.

Mecklenburg Marriage Information

HELPFUL INFORMATION: The marriage usually took place in the home parish of the bride. The pastor recorded the names of bride and groom, whether each was single or widowed, and the date of the marriage. The earliest marriage records give little information about the parents of the couple. In most cases, until the beginning of the 1800s, marriage registers recorded only the names of the bride's parents. In Mecklenburg-Strelitz the names of the groom's parents began to be recorded after 1810. This practice was introduced in Mecklenburg-Schwerin sometime after 1820. The birthdates of the bride and groom began to be entered in marriage registers during the 1800s. Some marriage registers even give the birthplaces of the bride and groom.

ABSTRACTS AND INDEXES: There are 37 volumes of marriage abstracts (about 110,000 marriages) taken from old Mecklenburg churchbooks which cover roughly 1751-1800. There are 13 indexes for the entire set. If you do not know the village or parish in Mecklenburg where your family lived, a count of marriages of your surname in every index may suggest where to look.

The marriages are grouped under the following headings: (A) - Stavenhagen, Malchin, Waren, Penzlin; (B) - Gustrow City, Gustrow County, Teterow, Laage; (C) - Robel, Malchow, Plau, Krakow, Goldberg; (D) - Schwaan, Neukalen, Gnoien, Tessin; (E) - Ribnitz, Marlow, Sulze; (F) - Doberan, Bukow, Drevesk, Butzow, Kroplin, Warin; (G) - Neukloster, Grevesmuhlen, Rehna, Gadebusch; (H) - Wittenburg, Zarrentin, Boizenburg; (J) - Lubz, Parchim, Neustadt, Grabow, Domitz; (K) - Hagenow, Crivitz, Sternberg, Bruel; (L) - Rostock City, Schwerin City, Wismar City; (M) - Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Area of Stargard; (N) - Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Principality of Ratzeburg

The 10 indexes for 1705 to 1750 include about 80,000 marriages. The indexes for the time prior to 1704 include about 40,000 marriages. The earliest marriage is in 1604.

These indexes include all readable names in all known surviving churchbooks. They are taken from the same churchbooks that the FHC has microfilmed. The Immigrant Genealogical Society will conduct a search of these marriage indexes/abstracts for you and provide you with information for a small fee.

Pommern Marriage Information

There are also index books of early marriage entries from parish registers for the western Pomerania area, including the city of Stettin. These are from the oldest parish registers from the beginning to the year 1704. The volumes are grouped as follows: (Vol. 1) Insel Rügen - name index on page 57; (Vol. 2) Kreis Franzburg/Barth -name index on page 63; (Vol. 3) Stadt Anklam - name index on page 75; (Vol. 4) Kreis Anklam, Kreis Demmin - name index on page 57; (Vol. 5) Kreis Grimmen - name index on page 63; (Vol. 6) Stadt Stralsund - name index on page 87; Index to Vols 1-6, name and volume no; (Vol. 7) Stadt Stettin; (Vol. 7a) Stadt Stettin, Proklamationen St. Jacobi; (Vol. 7b) Index to Vol. 7 and Vol. 7a; (Vol. 8) Stadt Wolgast; (Vol. 9) Raum Greifswald-Usedom; (Vol. 10) Treptow, Ueckermünde, Randow; Index to Vols. 8-10. Index includes name, volume, and page no.

The following alphabetical list of the parishes included in the volumes will be helpful in locating the correct volume to search for your parish. Name of parish is followed by the volume and page number. (For example, list of marriage entries for the parish of Altefähr will be found in volume 1 beginning on page 39.)

Altefähr - 1:39, Altwarp - 10:22, Altwigshagen - 4:ll, Anklam, St. Marien - 3:4, Anklam, St. Nicolai - 3:4, Bargischow - 4:1, Barth - 2:16, Bauer - 9:53, Benz - 9:55, Bergen - 1:1, Blesewitz - 4:36, Bobbin - 1:83, Bodstedt - 2:12, Brandeshagen - 5:52, Buchar - 10:9, Demmin - 4:37, Dersekow - 9:42, Drechow - 2:71, Ducherow - 4:6, Franzburg - 2:70, Ginst - 1:64, Glewitz - 5:42, Gorkow - 10:34; Grapzow - 10:10, Greifswald, St. Jakobi - 9:34, Greifswald, St. Marien - 9:26, Griefswald, St. Nikolai - 9:1, Grimmen - 5:1, Gristow - 9:38, Gross Bünzow - 8:85, Gross Kiesow - 9:44, Gross Mohrdorf - 2:30, Gross Teetzleben - 10:15, Gross Zicker/Mönchgut - 1:29, Gross Zicker/Middelhg - 1:30, Gross Ziegenort - 10:29, Gustow - 1:31, Hagen - 10:28, Hanshagen - 9:46, Hohendorf - 8:82, Iven - 4:32, Kartlow - 4:55, Katzow - 8:84, Kemnitz - 8:46, Kirch Baggendorf - 5:46, Klatzow - 10:11, Kloster - 1:62, Krummin - 9:51, Levenhagen - 9:39, Liepen - 4:34, Lindenberg - 4:46, Lüdershagen - 2:27, Medow - 4:35, Mönchow - 9:60, Nehringen - 5:45, Neuenkirchen - 1:83, Neuwarp - 10:24, Niepars - 2:51, Prerow - 2:1, Prohn - 2:40, Rambin - 1:45, Ranzin - 10:31, Rathebur - 4:10, Reinberg - 5:53, Richtenberg - 2:58, Rolofshagen - 5:47, Sagard - 1:82; Samtens - 1:53; Sassen/Trantow - 5:61, Sophienhof - 4:53, Spantekow - 4:23, Stettin, St. Gertrud - 7:171, Stettin, St. Jacobi - 7:189, Stettin, St. Jacobi procl. - 7a, Stettin, St. Marien - 7:1, Stettin, St. Nicolai - 7:40, Stettin, St. Peter u. Paul - 7:145; Stettin, Schlosskirche - 7:166; Stralsund, St. Marien - 6:78, Stralsund, St. Nicolai - 6:2, Teterin - 4:15, Torgelow - 10:20, Treptow ad. Tollense - 10:1, Ueckermünde - 10:18, Verchen - 4:49, Werder - 10:10, Wildberg - 10:16, Wodarg - 10:10, Wolgast - 8:1, Wolkwitz - 10:37, Wusseken - 4:13, Wusterhusen - 9:47.

For marriage lookups for Insel Rugen, Vorpommern only, contact Donna Kjendlie who will do lookups in the following Marriage Indexes: 1. VORPOMMERN I. Trauregister aus den ältesten Kirchenbücher von 1705 bis 1750 for Insel Rugen only., and 2.VORPOMMERN I Trauregister aus den ältesten Kirchenbüchern von den Anfagen bis zum Jahre 1704 for Insel Rugen only.