HISTORICAL RESEARCH SERVICES

Parish Registers of the "Ev-luth. Landeskirche Hannover"
Church district Buer


The whole Osnabrück area (church districts Bramsche, Buer, Georgsmarienhütte and Osnabrück) was a state of it`s own (“Fürstbistum Osnabrück”) until 1806. The religious situation in this area was very special and you can find both Lutheran and Catholic parishes in all church districts. The special and very unusual thing is that you can find Lutherans in the catholic parish registers and Catholics in the Lutheran ones for the period 1650-1806/14.

Based on the so called "Capitulatio Perpetua" of July 25, 1650 the whole Fürstbistum was divided between the Lutherans and Catholics based on the confessional situation of 1624. In the church district of Buer nine parishes (Barkhausen, Buer, Essen, Hoyel, Lintorf, Melle-St. Petri, Neuenkirchen, Oldendorf and Venne) were given to the Lutherans, while eigth ones stayed to be or were given back to the Catholics (Bohmte, Gesmold, Hunteburg, Melle-St. Matthaeus, Ostercappeln, Riemsloh, Neuenkirchen St. Annen and Wellingholzhausen). Despite of the few towns in which a church for both denominations existed (like Melle) the parish membership was based on a strict territorial basis. This ment for instance that everybody, who lived in the parish of Riemsloh belonged to the Catholic parish of St. Johannes der Täufer, independent of the fact if his/her personal confession was Lutheran or not. The Lutherans in a Catholic parish (and Catholics in a Lutheran one) were allowed to stay Lutheran, but they had to bring their children to the Catholic church to baptize them, they had to marry in the Catholic church and they had to be buried at the Catholic churchyard. They were regarded as beeing baptized as Lutherans.
But their baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded in Catholic parish registers. And they had to pay the fees for baptisms, marriages and burials to the Catholic church. You can find remarks for the Catholic parish registers which are relevant for Lutherans in blue letters. The Catholic parish registers are accessable at the Diozösanarchiv Osnabrück.
But there were exceptions for the already very confusing situation. The Lutheran church of Arenshorst (located on a big estate with a Lutheran estate owner) managed to establish a Lutheran parish-like area within the Catholic parish of Ostercappeln. And the Catholic church of St. Annen near Neuenkirchen did the same within the Lutheran parish of Neuenkirchen. And – there were a lot of attempts of the people, who belonged to a church of the “wrong” denomination to do their baptisms, marriages and burials in a church of their own faith. If this was done officially they had to pay a fee in both parishes and often we can find the relevant entry in both the Lutheran and Catholic parish registers. But there are a number of cases (especially baptisms) in which families tried and managed to “escape” from the territorial principle. In these cases we can find the entries in Lutheran neighbour parishes. You can surely imagine that this means that research on such families can be quite complicated after it is not seldom that one Catholic and two or three Lutheran parish registers have to be checked for a Lutheran family, which stayed in one village for their whole life.

 

Parish

Baptism

Marriage

Burial

People who received Lord`s Supper

Confirmation

Remarks

Arenshorst

1752 -

1753 -

1811 -

1753 -

1752 -

entries before 1752 and a lot of entries of the 1752-1806/1811 period in the parish registers of the Catholic churches Ostercappeln or Bohmte

 

 

 

 

 

(missed 1775-1880)

 

Barkhausen

1712 -

1712 -

1712 -

1812 -

1876 -

 

 

(incomplete 1764-1769, 1777; missed 1770- 1775)

(incomplete 1763-1765; missed 1764, 1766-Oct. 1777)

(missed 1764, 1769-Oct. 1777; incomplete 1766-1768)

 

 

Confirmation see also Rabber

Buer

1711 -

1671 -

1671 -

1822 -

1876 -

 

 

(incomplete 1711; missed Dec. 1808- Nov. 1813)

(missed 1712, 1809-Nov. 1813)

(missed Dec. 1808-Nov. 1813)

 

(incomplete)

 

Essen (Bad Essen)

1690 -

1690 -

1690 -

1815 -

1801 -

 

 

 

 

 

(missed 1818- 1821)

since 1921 “Zahlenregister”

see also Ibbenburg 

Hoyel

1740 -

1763 -

1763 -

1822 -

1765 -

 

Hunteburg

1815 -

1815 -

1815 -

1816 -

1888 -

 

 

 

 

 

1822-1875 in the parish registers of Meyerhöfen.

 

entries before 1815 in the parish registers of the Catholic church Hunteburg

Ippenburg (parish Essen)

1723 - 1808

1723 - 1806

1723 - 1808

1757 – 1808

 

 

Lintorf

1699 -

1703 -

1699 -

1739 -

1883 -

 

 

(missed 1712, 1713, 1718, 1782, 1783, 1795, 1796)

(missed 1712, 1713, 1781-1785, 1788, 1789, 1796)

(missed 1782, 1783, 1787-1792, 1794-1796)

(incomlpete 1739; missed 1777, 1778, 1790-1813)

 

 

Melle

1720 -

1720 -

1720 -

1721 -

1873 -

 

 

(incomplete 1748, 1749)

(incomplete 1748, 1749; missed 1764-Jun.1768, 1809-Sept.1811)

(missed Mar.1748-1749, Jun.1764-Jun.1768)

(missed 1748-1821)

 

 

Meyerhöfen (parish Hunteburg)

1829 - 1897

1829 – 1897

1829 - 1897

1829 - 1875

 

On 01.11.1897 transferred from the Dielingen parish (Westfalen) to Hunteburg. Earlier entries are in the parish registers of Dielingen. Lord´s supper and confirmation 1876-1897 in the parish registers of Dielingen and in Hunteburg. Since 1898 all entries in Hunteburg.

Neuenkirchen

1691 -

1691 -

1691 -

1744 -

1876 -

 

 

 

 

(incomplete 1714; missed Aug. 1766-1767)

(missed 1750-1811)

“Zahlenregister” since 1895

 

Oldendorf

1718 -

1717 -

1718 -

1718 -

1808 -

 

 

(incomplete 1721, 1722, 1767, 1776, 177; missed Oct. 1768-1770, 1775, 1778, 1779, 1781-1796)

(missed Jul. 1765-1767, Frb. 1769-1770, 1772-1776, 1778-1796)

(missed May 1764-1765, Feb. 1766-1767, Apr. 1768-1770, 1772-1796)

(missed 1723, 1736, 1765-1796)

(missed 1811-1825, 1841-1875)

 

Rabber (parish Barkhausen)

 

 

 

 

 

“Lebendigen- und Totenbuch” 1663-1744 (missed 1675-1699) all other entries in the parish registers of Barkhausen 

Venne

1630 -

1630 -

1630 -

1794 -

1876 -

 

 

(missed 1635-1698)

(missed 1635-1671, 1681-1698; incomplete 1725, 1726)

(missed 1634-1671, 1681-1698; incomplete 1727- 1729)

 

“adelige Beichtkinder (nobleness confession) 1699-1730

 

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