FAQ: Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine)

April, 1997

Please send any corrections or suggestions to
Q1: Where is Elsass-Lothringen?
Q2: What were the administrative areas of Elsass-Lothringen?
Q3: What were the court districts in Elsass-Lothringen before 1900?
Q4: Are there maps available for the Elsass-Lothringen area before 1945?
Q5: Is there a listserv for Elsass-Lothringen family researchers?
Q6: Any websites of interest to Elsass-Lothringen researchers?
Q7: Where are the Mennonite congregations in the Elsass (Alsace)?

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Q1: Where is Elsass-Lothringen?

A1: Elsass was a German province before 1697,
    Elsass-Lothringen a German Reichsland after the Franco-German
    war of 1870-1871  until 1918 when it reverted to France.
Its main city is Strassburg-Strasbourg in North-Eastern France today.
Its population in 1890 was 77% Catholic, 21% Protestant, 2% Jewish.

Q2: What were the administrative areas of Elsass-Lothringen?

A2: In 1900 Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) had 3 districts:

Bezirk (district) of Ober-Elsass with capital Kolmar and (6) Kreise (counties):
  Altkirch,Gebweiler,Kolmar,Muehlhausen,Rappoltsweiler,Thann.

Bezirk (district) of Unter-Elsass with capital Strassburg and (8) Kreise (counties):
 Erstein,Hagenau,Molsheim,Schlettstadt,Strassburg-Stadt,Strassburg-Land,
 Weissenburg,Zabern.

Bezirk (district) of Lothringen with capital Metz and (8) Kreise (counties):
 Bolchen,Chateau-Salins,Diedenhofen,Forbach,Metz-Stadt,Metz-Land,
 Saarburg,Saargemuend.

Q3: What were the court districts in Elsass-Lothringen in 1900?

A3: The highest court was the Oberlandesgericht in Kolmar.
    The lower courts were

Landgericht Kolmar with (15) Amtsgerichte:
  Barr,Ensisheim,Gebweiler,Kaisersberg,Kolmar,Markirch,Markolsheim,
  Muenster,Neubreisach,Rappoltsweiler,Rufach,Schlettstadt,
  Schnierlach,Sulz,Weiler.

Landgericht Metz with (12) Amtsgerichte:
  Ars,Bolchen,Busendorf,Chateau-Salins,Delme,Diedenhofen,Dienze,Metz,
  Remilly,Rombach,Sierck,Vic.

Landgericht Muelhausen with (11) Amtsgerichte:
  Altkirch,Dammerskirch,Hirsingen,Hueningen,Masmuenster,Muelhausen,
  Pfirt,St.Amarin,Sennheim,Sierenz,Thann.

Landgericht Saargemuend with (11) Amtsgerichte:
  Albesdorf,Bitsch,Drulingen,Falkenberg,Forbach,Grosstaenchen,Rohrbach,
  Saaralben,Saargemuend,Saar-Union,St.Avold.

Landgericht Strassburg with (15) Amtsgerichte:
  Benfeld,Bischweiler,Brumath,Erstein,Hagenau,Hochfelden,Illkirch,
  Lauterburg,Niederbronn,Schiltigheim,Strassburg,Sulz,Truchtersheim,
  Weissenburg,Woerth.

Landgericht Zabern  with (12) Amtsgerichte:
  Buchsweiler,Finstingen,Loerchingen,Luetzelstein,Molsheim,Oberehnheim,
  Pfalzburg,Rosheim,Saarburg,Schirmeck,Wasselnheim,Zabern.

Q4: Are there maps available for Elsas-Lothringen before 1920?

A4: There is LDS microfilm #068814 available of
   Karte des Deutschen Reiches, scale 1:100000, 1km = 1cm
   which may be loaned thru the LDS Family History Centers.
   It covers Germany for 1914-1917.

Q5: Is there a listserv for Elsass-Lothringen family researchers?

A5: There is a mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest
    in Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine).
    Mailing address for postings is

       ALSACE-LORRAINE@rmgate.pop.indiana.edu.

    To subscribe, send the following message to

        maiser@rmgate.pop.indiana.edu:

     HELP or  SUBSCRIBE ALSACE-LORRAINE

The ALSACE-L mailing list for Elsass(Alsace) has posting address:

ALSACE-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM

To subscribe, send the request:
SUBSCRIBE ALSACE-L  
to:  LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM

Q6: Any websites of interest to Elsass-Lothringen researchers?

A6:  http://www.genealogy.com/gene/reg/rindex.htm
     http://w3g.med.uni-giessen.de/gene/reg/rindex.htm

       Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe.
         Archivbestand des ehemaligen Auswanderungsamtes.
       http://www.bawue.de/~hanacek/info/karlsr01.htm
         Surviving records of the Auswanderungsamt, including
       extensive indexes, are deposited here.(1866-1911)
       Microfilm copies of the indexes, but not the records themselves,
       are  in the Family History Library (FHL), in Salt Lake City.

Q7: Where are the Mennonite congregations in the Elsass (Alsace)?

A7: Strassburg was a main center of the early Anabaptist movement.
Between 1671-1711 Anabaptist refugees came from Switzerland, notably
from Bern.
In 1890 there were 678 Mennonites in Unterelsass, 1012 in Oberelsass.

In 1898 Mennonite congregations were in
Birkenhof bei Altkirch (130 souls), Colmar-Wolfganzen (151), Markirch-Weilertal (32), Pfastatt (250), Pulversheim (35), Hang (139), An dem Salm (60).
FAQ: Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine)

April, 1997

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