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/4118.1 Message Board Post: Mary Beth, what do you mean by "late 1800s" exactly? The state of Prussia introduced the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in 1874. Churches will thus not release information from their records for events that occurred after 1874. Robert