Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:03 am
Post subject: Polish census records
I am researching my German ancestor with the surname ANDERMANN who originated in Schlesien, Prussia which is now Silesia, Poland.
Are there any census records from the early 1800s that can be utilized to trace back family members?
Are there any current census records that can be utilized to trace possible living relatives?
Thanks in advance 
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SophiaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1574
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:09 am
Post subject: Re: Polish census records
| yapper wrote: | I am researching my German ancestor with the surname ANDERMANN who originated in Schlesien, Prussia which is now Silesia, Poland.
Are there any census records from the early 1800s that can be utilized to trace back family members?
Are there any current census records that can be utilized to trace possible living relatives?
Thanks in advance |
Hi Laurie,
We do kind of get used to the value of searching census records in the U.S. as a way of seeing whole families and what happens to them from one decade to the next. There is a somewhat different way of looking at it in the Prussian partition. You need to look for documents called Seelenlisten. Sometimes it is called a Seelenregister. It is not exactly the same as a census record, because a census is a snapshot of a moment in time. The list (or register) of souls is more of a living document, constantly amended. Think of a large log book. Your family is added, and it will record names, birth dates, and where the family lives. Next year, a child is born, and their name is added to the register. The next year, someone dies, and their death date is added (and their name may be crossed off). The following year, the family moves, so that is recorded. The log book lasts for years and years. You may try searching for such a thing for the specific place and time of interest to you. One example that is particularly easy to search is https://e-kartoteka.net/pl/ which is for the city of Poznań, where it is a series of cards rather than a log book. You might take a look at it, just to see what's there.
Good luck!
Sophia
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SophiaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1574
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2026 6:35 am
Post subject: Re: Polish register/log books
| yapper wrote: | Thanks Sophia!  
On another note, how does one use Matricula online? |
Very interesting! I was not familiar with Matricula, so I took a little tour of it this morning. It seems fairly easy to navigate. From the home page, you can see near the top a choice of "fonds," "map" or "search for places." The easiest, for me, was to go to the map; second easiest was to go to the list of fonds. It contains very little for Poland but if your interest is Germany, there are a lot of records. Also, Austria, Luxemburg, Slovenia and a handful of records from other neighboring countries. Pick a country, choose a town and it shows you the church books available. Each is clearly labelled with what it contains (births, marriages, deaths) and the years it covers. Then you go right to the images of the church books. Nice clear images, easy to magnify, a real pleasure of a website!
Of course, you have to know where you want to look. It does not appear to have a way of searching ancestors by name.
Thanks for pointing out this resource!
All the best,
Sophia
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2026 7:42 am
Post subject: Matricula resource
You are quite welcome - I came across it in a post on this PolishOrigins forum 
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