by Governments have been keeping vital records (birth, death, marriage, adoption, divorce records) on their citizens for centuries. This has been done for statistical purposes as well as for genealogical needs. Austria is one country who has vital records that date back centuries. It is possible to access them if a need for them arises. This article will focus on how to find birth records in Austria.
Found in the southern part of central Europe, Austria is a landlocked country in the Eastern Alps. Countries that share borders with Austria are Czech Republic (north), Hungary (east), Germany (north west), Italy (south), Liechtenstein and Switzerland (west).
Austria is estimated to have a population of about 9 million with 57 % of its population living in urban areas. The country’s median age is 43 years.
The number of internet users in Austria is said to be about 8 million people. Internet penetration in the country stands at around 89 %. This shows that the internet is widely utilized in the country. This will make it a simple and smooth experience if you are looking to find the birth records in Austria using the internet.
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Find Date of Birth Details in Austria from Social Media
One way to look up birth information online would be to use social media. There are about 7 million social media users in Austria which makes up to 79 % of the entire population of the country. The most prominent social media platform in Austria is Facebook. About 76 % of all social media users in Austria are on the Facebook. Instagram is the second widely used media network with 7 % users. Twitter is third with about 5 % users.
It would only make sense to start your social media date of birth search on someone who is living in Austria from Facebook. Facebook searches can be perform using the sites search bar. You can look up with a name, username/ nickname or email address. The good thing about Facebook search results is that they come with photos, location, education background and occupation. This makes it easy to locate the person you want.
All this is information you can find with the date of birth on the individual’s profile. Date of birth information is not compulsory on the platform so there are chances that you might not find it.
The alternative would be to find the individual’s post for the past year and go through them. They might have uploaded pictures of themselves celebrating their birthday or received messages from well-wishers.
Searching for Birth Records on Ancestors in Austria
There are also ways to search for the birth records of your ancestors in Austria. Quite a number of sources offer this type of search. A few of them are discussed below.
Family Search
Family Search offers indexes to a number of Austria births and baptisms. Records on recent birth records are not available due to privacy laws.
These records have the following information
Birth records:
- Name of child
- Date of birth
- Location and house number
- Gender/ sex
- Parents’ names
Baptism records:
- Name of the child
- Baptism date
- Location
- Gender/ sex
- Parents’ names
Sources of birth records from Family Searches include:
- Austria, Upper Austria, Catholic Church Records (1581 – 1919)
- Austria – Hungary, Roman Catholic Indexes (1612 – 1966)
- Austria, Upper Austria, Catholic Church Registers (1614 – 1938)
- Austria Births and Baptisms (1651 – 1940)
- Austria Evangelical – Lutheran Church Records (1848 – 1900)
- Matricula Austria
- Church Records Online
To get the best from your search from here you will need to at least have the name of the person you are looking up plus the estimated year the birth took place.
Ancestry
Searching from Ancestry will let you go through record collections, genealogy resources and history which will assist you trace anyone in Austria.
You can search for birth records in Austria from Austria, Select Births and Baptisms (1651 – 1940). Searches from here are possible with full name, date of birth plus any special event in the individual’s life. To further boost your search, you can include any family member of the individual that you know. This can be a father, mother, spouse or children.
Birth records might prove to be hard to come by at times. It is recommended that you try searching for other records such as marriage records and death records. These records in most cases have birth information in them.
State Library of South Australia
There is a guide that is offered by the State Library of Australia which will help you look up ancestors or anyone in Europe and the Mediterranean. There are resources that are offered by the library as well as databases and websites that you can use.
The Austrian State Archives
There is detailed information offered by the Austrian State Archives on how you can obtain birth records or genealogical records in its database. All you have to do is find time to go through all the tips offered as they will help simplify your search from their archives.
For ways on how to find birth records from Austria, you stand a chance with the suggestions mentioned above. Take time to explore them and find out which one works for your situation.
