German church registers - Archion website

[kiterunner]

https://www.archion.de/

Apparently the site has been open since the 20th of March but I only just found out, although I had signed up for their newsletter and was keeping an eye on their beta test site (unfortunately I didn't manage to register to take part in the beta test itself.)

I don't think I'll have time to do anything on it tonight but will definitely be having a go tomorrow!

Edit - I think it is mostly browse only with just a few registers having been indexed so far.

[kiterunner]

I've registered with the site but not had my email through yet, so I can't log in. I am rather concerned by one of the clauses in the terms and conditions which says that a subscription will only allow you to access the content on one device! What year are they living in? (Edit - they mean one device at a time, phew.) I haven't managed to find info on the price of subscriptions yet or managed to view anything - presumably I need to log in to be able to do that.

Edit - found my registration email in my spam folder!

[kiterunner]

These are the available packages:

1 month private users 19.90 Euros - lasts 1 month, 50 downloads. (Apparently a month is defined as 30 days.)
1 year private users 178.80 Euros - lasts 12 months, 600 downloads.
20 day quota private users 59.90 Euros - use any 20 separate days within 12 months, 50 downloads.
1 month professional users 199.00 Euros - lasts 1 month, 500 downloads.
1 year professional users 1,788.00 Euros - lasts 12 months, 6000 downloads.

19.90 Euros converts to 14.37 GBP at the moment, and 178.80 Euros to 129.15 GBP, according to a currency converter website. If I actually manage to find anything on there I would expect to need a lot more than 50 downloads (especially considering that most registers aren't indexed but have to be browsed), but I don't want to take out an annual sub and find there is nothing of any use on there! I think I will have to start with 1 month and maybe take out a 1 year sub when it expires if it seems worth it. I like the idea of the 20 day quota sub but the price looks like a rip-off as you still only get 50 downloads.

I can't find anything in the terms and conditions saying whether or not there is automatic subscription renewal, but I have been using Google Translate. I will just have to wait and see whether it is automatically renewed next month! I like Google Translate's rendering of my username on there as "hangover ever" but it doesn't seem to bode well...

Edit - I have bought a one month sub but it doesn't seem to have gone through yet. *twiddles thumbs* Now it is showing on my account.

[kiterunner]

Okay, one point to note is that if you use the "Browse" facility, it will include registers which have not yet been digitised in the list that comes up. I presume that one of the icons next to the register description indicates "digitised" but I am scared to click on one in case it deducts it from my 50 downloads! If you use the "Search" facility, you can specify digitised registers only.

(Edit - it seems that "downloads" doesn't mean the number of images you view, it is only if you click the "download" button. So should be o.k.)

[kiterunner]

None of the places I want to look at seem to have been digitised, but most of them don't even seem to be listed in the "browse" facility showing registers that haven't been digitised.

For instance, I wanted to look at Bayreuth, Bayern, but browsing for Bayern - Bayreuth, it only comes up with a list of other places within the Bayreuth district (Bindlach, Eckersdorf, Gesees, Mistelbach, Mistelgau, Obernsees, Plankenfels.) Surely this doesn't mean that no records for Bayreuth itself have survived?

I can find absolutely nothing to look at on there at the moment; hoping more is added within the next month!

[Lindsay]

Thanks for posting, Kite

I'm interested in Ustka (Stolpmunde) but I can't see that there are any records from there at the mo. I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep checking it.

[kiterunner]

I've been using Google translate on their forum and it seems that Bayreuth is unlikely to turn up on there because there is already another site providing the Bayreuth church registers although only up to the 1870's and at an extremely exorbitant price, while Bavarian towns and cities such as Nurnberg and Furth are unlikely to turn up on there because you can apparently access their records as PDF's at the StadtArchiv. Which is not much help to those of us who don't live in Germany and would not be able to decipher the handwriting in a hurry if we did take a trip there and book a couple of hours on a computer at the archives. Seems a shame.

[Merry]

Which is not much help to those of us who don't live in Germany and would not be able to decipher the handwriting in a hurry if we did take a trip there and book a couple of hours on a computer at the archives. Seems a shame.

It would probably be cheaper to hire a researcher like OH and I did, to try and get somewhere with OH's Spanish ancestry.

[kiterunner]

I did hire a researcher to look at one line, Merry, but there are so many different towns and cities to look at that it would cost a fortune!

But I did find a free site today called Matricula which has some church registers from the Passau area and looked through them to try to confirm some of the info about one branch which is on some public trees on ancestry. I got nowhere, though.

[kiterunner]

Ooh, I have managed to find my 3xg-grandparents' marriage on the free site (Matricula)! Deciphering German handwriting tomorrow...