Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany Germany (/almaɲ/; German: Deutschland, in long form the Federal Republic of Germanyb, abbreviated as FRG (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, abbreviated as BRD), is a central European state, and by some definitions a western European state, surrounded by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the north, Poland to the east-north-east, the Czech Republic to the east-south-east, Austria to the south-south-east, Switzerland to the south-south-west, France to the south-west, Belgium and Luxembourg to the west, and the Netherlands to the west-north-west. Germany is a decentralised federal state with four metropolises with more than one million inhabitants: the capital Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. The seat of government is located in the city of Berlin and in the federal city of Bonn. Frankfurt am Main is considered the financial capital of Germany: the headquarters of the European Central Bank are located in this city. The official language of the country is German. Parish registers Digitised archive of parish registersThe German Church owns the parish registers, i.e. the parishes and then the episcopal (bishop's) archives. None of these archives are available in the municipal, state or federal archives. At the moment some churches are digitising their archives. https://www.icar-us.eu/en/cooperation/online-portals/matricula/ The Protestant Church of Bavaria has digitised its archives. Access is subject to a fee. You have to become a member (35€) per year or create an account (10€ per month). On the link: https://ahnen-forscher.com/ (in German) Civil status Births, marriages and deaths are recorded in the German civil status registers. In Germany, these registers are not kept by the town halls but by separate registry offices. In principle, a civil status event is always recorded in the register of the civil status department of the district in which it occurred. In general, modern civil registration begins in 1876. With a few exceptions and in some Länder: 1792 in...
