MyHeritage updates Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Death Index 1874-1938 

We are pleased to announce an update to the Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Death Index 1874–1938 collection in conjunction with the Landesarchiv Nordrhein Westfalen — the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia. In this update, we have added 4.8 million death records from the district of Arnsberg. The collection was initially published with 2.4 million records from the district of Münster. In future updates, the death indexes from the districts of Detmold, Düsseldorf, and Köln will be added. 

The government district of Arnsberg is the central-eastern district in North Rhine Westphalia that includes the Sauerland hills and part of the Ruhr river valley. In the early 19th century, Arnsberg became one of the regional administrative centers for the new Prussian government. 

Civil death registration records in Germany, called Personenstandsregister, are an excellent source of genealogical information. Kept by the German Civil Registrar, they cover 98% of the population and became mandatory in all German states by 1876.

The collection of civil registration death records includes scanned images of the original records. MyHeritage is the first to index these images with the full support of the Landesarchiv, the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia — making the information in the images more accessible and readily searchable than ever before.

Search Germany, North Rhine Westphalia (Arnsberg and Münster), Death Index 1874–1938

These records contain the deceased person’s first and last name, maiden name, gender, religion, date and place at the time of death, age at death, and date and place of birth, as well as the names of spouses, parents, and descendants. 

In addition, the records include administrative information such as the certificate number, date of registration, and the signature of the person reporting the death as well as the signature of the registrar.

Sample Record

The collection contains the record of Hugo Peus, a German politician and Royal Legal Counsel to the King of Prussia. In this death record you can find many details about his life: place of birth in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; death date and location, July 13, 1898, Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; his residence,  Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; age at death, 88; father’s name, Friedrich Peus; mother’s first name and maiden name, Franziska (born Rensing); wife’s first name and maiden name — Caroline (born Averbeck); and information regarding the record, such as the name of the civil registration office, volume, and entry. 

Death record of Hugo Peus [Credit: MyHeritage Germany, North Rhine Westphalia (Arnsberg and Münster), Death Index 1874-1938]

The Germany, North-Rhine Westphalia, (Arnsberg and Münster), Death Index 1874-1938 collection can offer new details on your German ancestors. Stay tuned for more districts from North Rhine Westphalia to be added soon. 

Searching this collection is free. To view these records or to save records to your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete subscription.

If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, our Record Matching technology will notify you automatically if records from this collection match your relatives. You’ll then be able to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your tree.

Enjoy the collection!