THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE : GALICIA : CADASTRAL MAPS : HOUSE NUMBERS : GENEALOGY GEN-TIPS SERIES #4

THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE : GALICIA : CADASTRAL MAPS : HOUSE NUMBERS : GENEALOGY GEN-TIPS SERIES #4

 MORE MAP RESOURCES    

When AUSTRIA ruled Hungary and the southern part of now-Poland, called Galicia, the two countries were subject to modernization notions coming out of Vienna.  Because of Austrian rule, census took place, maps were made, educational standards were raised (though that was easier said than done), and military service as well as taxes were demanded.  

As previously mentioned, today's house numbers and the numbers on old maps from a hundred or more years ago - and mentioned on church records - are unlikely to coordinate. What's key is to find a map that shows properties on or about the time the ancestors lived in the town. We previously looked at an excellent resource called HUNGARICANA. 

But there are other resources for maps.

One of the best is ARCANUM which used to be called MAPIRE. These are historical maps of Europe. The site has four categories. Maps of Europe.  City maps. Country maps.  And Cadastral maps.

Under Cadastral we link to ARCANUM MAPS : HAPSBURG EMPIRE

As I mentioned in my first post, which was a bit of a history lesson,  Galicia - Southern Poland, parts of what is now Ukraine, and what is now Slovakia - as well as some other geographical possessions of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (aka Hapsburg Empire) fall into one category.  So maps at this site include from the HUNGARIAN, CROATION, BUDAPEST, AUSTRIAN, and UKRAINIAN archives. (To find them we may research possible German names for the same settlement.)

But, you may be surprised to learn that our very own LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS A WONDERFUL ADVISEMENT AND COLLECTION.  You can go right there at this link:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS : AUSTRIA HUNGARY CARTOGRAPHIC RESOURCES EASTERN EUROPE

Excerpt: As Empires go, that of Austria Hungary was among the briefest, having lasted only form 1867 to 1918, nevertheless, its constituent nations served as major sources of emigration to the Unite States in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

All posts in this series have the tab Austrian-Hungarian Empire - Gen Tips

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CHURCH RECORDS : DID THEY WALK OR CARRIAGE RIDE TO A DIFFERENT CHURCH? DIOCESE RECORDS: HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY PRO TIP #2

CHURCH RECORDS : DID THEY WALK OR CARRIAGE RIDE TO A DIFFERENT CHURCH? DIOCESE RECORDS:  HUNGARIAN GENEALOGY PRO TIP #2 

MISSING CHURCH RECORDS ?  

In the previous post of this series I mentioned that perhaps the reason there are gaps in one church's records is that the church did not exist or was closed for a time and during that time the usual parishioners went to a church in a neighboring area, usually within the same diocese. 

As well, Great Grandma might have been remarking on the Diocese she was married in, rather than the exact place where she was born or where she lived, or where she left, and it turns out there are so many churches to consider.

Research the history of the church. When did it open?  Was it closed for a period?  Was the church destroyed? Is it a working parish today?  What Diocese is it in today?  Can that Diocese tell you about the history of the church?  Do they have duplicate records or other records that would help, records that no one got permission to film?

Pragmatically, the people might have erected a small chapel rather than walk or ride every Sunday.  If they were without a horse or carriage, they might not have gone at all.   But information on them may still appear in a church or diocese record even though they didn't make the trip for a service.

This is where finding MAPS of the area about the time these ancestors seem to have gone missing on existing records, preferably at a time when they lived there, may be helpful.  

Try to find a map that was used at the time your ancestors were living there, preferably one that shows rivers, mountains, roads and railroads.  Let's see if they could walk or take a horse and carriage ride to the next inhabited place (less than five miles away). Then go into a database such as FamilySearch and see if that place brings up any church records. Some places only have Protestant Records, some also have Jewish records, so we know there were enough Protestant or Jewish people living there to have their own church or temple. Jewish people going to another place to worship and bury their dead was not at all unusual in the Old World but being able to walk there was important because Saturday was truly meant to be a day of rest.

While searching the Internet may bring up some good maps to use, we should not forget about a major source of information, and that is the National Archives of Hungary!  We go to Hungarica and then to Databases, and then to Mapire. 

Here is the link! MAPS ARCANUM

If you're researching for Hungarians in what is now Slovakia, you may find that the records are kept under present day Slovak place names, or within Slovakia itself.

Same for Romania.  Those "Saxon" towns, where people kept Germanic customs, including recipes, clothing styles, and architecture Germanic.  Romania is also where a great number of Hungarian noble families originated or lived.

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To bring up all posts in this series click on the tag/label Gen Pro Tip : Missing ? Church Records