Hello Susi, I have used the wrong words! What I wanted to say is: It is not allowed to research relatives by using the church books and/or the civil registry records in the time frame 1876 until today. I list the law in parts: === A - Civil registry office The right to have issued the documents and/or provision of information from the register is limited to those relatives of direct ascending or descending lineage. Siblings, children of siblings, siblings of parents or grandparents and other distant relatives of the specific person, do not belong to the group of people given access to these documents, unless they can prove to authorities to have a legal interest. If an applicant needs these documents and/or information not for a legal claim, but for private research purposes, then legal interest cannot be implied from article 5 of the Basic Law; the right to free research is limited when it involves third parties. Only with appropriate consent by the individual, the spouse and/or the ancestors or descendants can an applicant, who does not belong to this group of relatives, be issued a document or other information pertaining to this person. B - Church records With the empirical law on registration of births, marriages and deaths the meaning of the church book as official register expired as of 1.Januar 1876. The entries in the church books since then, only record the official religious acts; therefore issue of official documents is exclusively done by the Civil Registrar's Office. Access to thus permitted only if the inquiry refers to religious actions. Additionally, several different criteria must be fulfilled for the use of church books prior to 1876: - The entry refers to the individual, their spouse or ancestor. (para. 9 (1) ArchivG) - or - The person can make a legal and valid claim regarding an entry - or - The use serves a concrete scientific or community service project Because genealogical research serves exclusively personal interests and not documentation of religious acts, the use of church books after 1876 for this reason is not permitted. (Exception: Proof that official Civil Registry documents were lost or destroyed) === A more detailed text to this is online here: http://www.genealogy-sh.de/E/law.htm === Regards, Hans Peter Voss