Family History Archival Sources
These archival sources are stored in the Central State Archives, Regional State Archives and County State Archives all over the Czech and Slovak Republics.
Archival documents are written in the old script of the various local languages. Czech documents are written primarily in German and Czech. Slovak documents are written primarily in Hungarian and Slovak.
Books of Land Ownership (Land Records)
Land records were kept for evidentiary purposes and for verification of a serf's (subject's) ownership of his property. This type of record became common in the 16th century. These books record information about the market price and size of the property, changes in ownership, obligations placed on buyers and sellers, and the compensation due. They can shed light on the family relationships of ancestors, changes in their places of residence, their economic status, the conditions in which they lived, and their duties to landlords.
Censuses
Censuses provide a description of all families, each listed in their particular house. The first Bohemian Census was taken in 1651 (Census of Subjects by Religious Denomination). However, they were most commonly conducted in the second half of the 19th century. They list the important basic information on each person (name, birthdate, religion, occupation, native town, domicile), describe the house or dwelling property (particular rooms and outbuildings) and record the kind and number of farm animals.
Cadastres
Cadastres were lists of property for the purpose of valuation and taxation of its holders. Cadastres comprised a list of all peasants living in every village in all dominions who held some land property or pursued some handicraft, as well as a list of yields from their farmsteads and incomes from their handicrafts. The first Bohemian Cadastre was taken in 1654 (The Roll of Assessment). It lists the size of each particular serf’s (subject´s) property (real estate), the trade he pursued, and the number of farm animals he kept.
Cadastral Maps
A cadastral map, or so-called "indication sketch", became the graphical component of the cadastre around the middle of the 19th century. Maps were a result of the first trigonometric allocation. In this, all parcels were marked by topographic numbers and houses by house numbers. Cadastral maps show all houses, parcels, water areas and trails of particular villages.
Land and Duties Registers
Land and Duties Registers were documents created by landlords to record all real property (size of land property) in the possession of serf (subject) peasants, including their duties (compulsory manoral labor, feudal rents and taxes) to be performed or paid to the landlords. The first Land and Duties Registers appeared in the 15th century, and they were in common use by the 16th and 17th centuries.
School Reports
Compulsory school attendance was introduced in 1774. However, elementary and secondary school reports have been preserved only since the end of the 19th century.
Photographs
The first photograph appeared in the Austrian lands around the middle of the 19th century. This invention finally brought forth the ability to preserve the memory of the appearance of the common people, as well as the landscape and objects of their area of residence.