Record Atlas
5 eras · 1500–2026 · 22 places

Brandenburg, Berlin and the Neumark (Lubusz)

Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt (Oder), Cottbus, Gorzów Wielkopolski. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1500–1815 Margraviate (Electorate) of Brandenburg, including the Neumark east of the Oder FamilySearch · Archion · Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv

The Province of Brandenburg was created in 1815 and lasted until 1947. Cottbus was ceded to Saxony on 9 July 1807.
1815–1918 Kingdom of Prussia — Province of Brandenburg Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv · Landesarchiv Berlin · Evangelisches Landeskirchliches Archiv in Berlin · Archion

From 1822 the province was split into the Potsdam and Frankfurt governorates; Prussian civil registers began on 1 October 1874 and Reich-wide registration on 1 January 1876.
1918–1945 Free State of Prussia — Province of Brandenburg; Greater Berlin from 1920 Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv · Landesarchiv Berlin · Bundesarchiv

The 1920 Greater Berlin Act took Berlin out of the province.
1945–1990 Soviet zone — State of Brandenburg (to 1952); the Neumark under Poland Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv · Szukaj w Archiwach

The Neumark east of the Oder was ceded to Poland in 1945, so records of its towns are now in Polish archives. The remaining state of Brandenburg was dissolved in 1952.
1990–2026 State of Brandenburg and the city-state of Berlin; Lubusz in Poland Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv · Landesarchiv Berlin · Szukaj w Archiwach

Brandenburg was re-established after German reunification in 1990.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1500–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

22 places on this ground

95 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 35 more.

All record regions · The map