New Mecklenburg Help Mecklenburg Region Links and Archives
Updated 11/18/14 by Frederick C. Kruse III


The region of main interest is of old Mecklenburg-Schwerin shown in Green in far northern Germany,
although some info on parts of old Western Pomernia are included in current Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.    

Find the Town of Your Ancestor in the Hamburg Departures, Census, or Family Trees

Of utmost importance in finding more records in the old Mecklenburg Region is to find the town of your ancestor. The
Hamburg Passenger Lists from 1850 to 1914, see below, are the actual handwritten Departures that will show the
town of the last residence. The other lists are the Arrival  Lists to New York, or other Ports, but may not show the town
name. The Bremen Passenger Lists Departures, that would have show the town, have been destroyed. So if your
ancestor took a Hamburg Ship, and most Mecklenburgers did, then these very important handwritten Hamburg Departure
List Manifests may be your only evidence to your ancestors historical region and town, and have been recently indexed
on Ancestry.

Another way to find the town is to use the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Census, starting in 1819, also indexed.  There were
no census for Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Once the town is found, then find the Parish that served the town by using
the Lists of Parishes and Towns for old Mecklenburg.

If your ancestors lived in the old Mecklenburg Region before 1876 you will need to order the Parish that served the town
through FamilySearch.  These Parish Church Book Records, on microfilm, are handwritten by the Pastor, and have
registers of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths.

If they were in Germany after 1876, many of the Mecklenburg Parish Church Book Records are now on Ancestry and
some available on FamilySearch.

Note: Check with relatives to see if someone has done the work and found the town already. And check other sources,
like FamilySearch and Ancestry, for family trees that may have parts of your family already. A really fast and easy check
is to do a Google Search. This could help you save possibly hundreds or thousands of dollars in research costs, time,
and effort.

The following Websites and Resources will help to find your Mecklenburg Ancestors

The Hamburg Passenger Lists Indexed 1850 to 1914
These Departure ship list manifests from the Hamburg Port will show the town of the last residence.
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1068&enc=1

Mecklenburg-Schwerin Census 1704, 1751, 1819, 1867, 1890, 1900, and 1919.
These census are used to find your family and the town. No census for Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The 1867, 1890, and 1900 
are free on FamilySearch. There are also a few early census records for the Duchy of Mecklenburg for 
1633-1634, 1677, and 1689. Ancestry has them starting with 1819.
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1&countryId=1927074&recordType=Census
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1167
http://www.emecklenburg.de/Mecklenburg/en/census.htm

List of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz Parishes and Associated Towns
http://genealogists.us/germany/mecklenburg/meckpar.htm
(Note: this is a older cached page, scroll down to see the Parish List)

List of Towns and Associated Parishes of old Mecklenburg
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Mecklenburg-Schwerin_%E2%80%93_Herzogtum_%28duchy%29Gazetteers

Church Parish Records On Microfilm Order through FamilySearch
To discover your family with births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths registers and are 
mostly available for old Mecklenburg. Films come to your local Family History Library.
https://familysearch.org/catalog-search

New: Mecklenburg Archives of Church Books, Parishes and Microfilm Numbers
available on microfilm through FamilySearch and the Schwerin Archive
http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de/visitenkarten/mecklenburg/Kirchenbuecher_Mecklenburg.pdf

New: Mecklenburg Church Book Registers Online and Indexed - Mainly 1876-1918
includes Lutheran Parishes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Meck-Strelitz, some Catholic, and Military
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1627

New: Pomeranian Church Book Registers Online and Indexed - Mainly 1824-1883
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8798
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1874205
http://tinyurl.com/lxjjfjt

New: Germany and Mecklenburg Database on FamilySearch
These databases are continually being updated with transcribed church books, etc.
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/location/1927074
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany_Births_and_Baptisms,_Coverage_Table_%28FamilySearch_Historical_Records%29

New: Southwest Mecklenburg-Schwerin Region Marriage Register 1800-1875
Includes Eldena, Hagenow, Muchow, Ludwigslust, and more
http://tinyurl.com/n8gsotq
1910 Map of that Southwest Mecklenburg Region
http://griesegegend-online.de/fotos/Griese%20Gegend%201911.JPG

New: Southwest Mecklenburg-Schwerin Region Marriage Register 1876-1934
http://tinyurl.com/lmzssjz

Pomeranian Church, Civil Records, and Archives
Many of the archives old Pomerania, Prussia includes Western and Eastern Pomerania, or Vorpommern and 
Hinterpommern in German are not available, or destroyed. Some exist in the current Parishes, but are not easy 
to retrieve, and others are being filmed and archived. You may have to hire a researcher for the Archives.
http://www.genealoger.com/german/pommern/pommern__church_records.htm
http://en.provinz-pommern.de/
http://www.kirche-mv.de/Propstei-Stralsund.532.0.html
http://www.pommersches-kirchenarchiv.de/Seiten/bestand09.htm

Germany and Mecklenburg Town Locators
very helpful to find churches, towns and villages.
http://gov.genealogy.net/search/index
http://www.emecklenburg.de/Mecklenburg/l31.php?tab=query
http://www.kartenmeister.com/preview/databaseuwe.asp

Map Your German Surnames and German Phonebook
http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/en/Default.aspx
http://maps.dastelefonbuch.de/DasTelefonbuch/kartenfinder.html

MFP Databases, and Locations
for contact and surnames of Mecklenburg Families
http://www.mfpev.de/recherche-kontaktdatenbank.html
http://www.mfpev.de/recherche-ortsdatenbank.html

Very Useful Guidelines for Finding Your German Hometown and More
http://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/german-immigrant-ancestor-hometown.html
http://www.germanroots.com/outline.html

Mecklenburg FAQ by Dieter Garling
Lots of questions answered about old Mecklenburg History and culture
http://www.emecklenburg.de/Mecklenburg/en/ms_faq.html

Helpful Maps and History

Old German Maps by David Rumsey
Use this searchable map link, very nice high detail maps!
http://rumsey.mapranksearch.com/

The German Empire in 1871
(note Mecklenburg-Schwerin was not a part of Prussia)
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~wggerman/map/germanempire.htm

Old Mecklenburg 1730
http://www.bergbook.com/images/20522-01.jpg

Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz 1867
http://www.bergbook.com/images/27236-01.jpg

Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz 1908
http://tinyurl.com/mxlnma2

Pomerania 1905
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Provinz_Pommern_1905.png

New: 1910 Map Old Eastern Mecklenburg, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and West Pomerania
http://griesegegend-online.de/fotos/Mecklenburg-Ost.JPG

New: 1910 Map Old Western Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz
http://griesegegend-online.de/fotos/Mecklenburg-West.JPG

Pomerania Maps 1938
in High Detail 26 Regional Maps (not available at times)
http://www.ourwebpages.net/pommern_ws/map_table.html

Mecklenburg-Schwerin History and More Help
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerin
http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Mecklenburg
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Mecklenburg-Schwerin_%E2%80%93_Herzogtum_%28duchy%29Church_Records