This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/ZVC.2ACE/4102.1 Message Board Post: The state of Prussia introduced the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in 1874. Churches will thus not permit access to records later than 1874. If you are a direct descendant of Fred Siems, you could obtain a copy of his birth record from the local Registry Office (in German: Standesamt), but due to strict German privacy laws, you would have to be a direct descendant. Robert