Local family database Hochfranken

click for zooming! Source and authorization: Landratsamt Hof

The approximately 7000 persons in this data bank came from what is by far the largest part of what is now northeast Oberfranken (Upper Franconia), an area sometimes called Hochfranken ("High Franconia") due to its geographical location between the Fichtelgebirge mountains and the Frankenwald forest. In earlier times, before its annexation to Bavaria, this region was (after brief interludes of French and Prussian administration) part of Brandenburg-Bavaria. The population of this region was, and still is, predominantly Lutheran.

This well-defined area includes the current counties of Hof and Wunsiedel, but also encompasses large parts of the counties of Kulmbach and Bayreuth, as well as neighboring areas of the Upper Palatinate, Bohemia, Saxony and Thuringia. Some ancestries reach into areas further north also, and in the direction of northern Hesse.

The data bank is the result of almost 20 years of family history research on the part of the author, who has consulted not only church books but other sources of information in regional, local and private archives. In spite of careful work, the author can assume no responsibility for, nor offer any guarantee of, complete accuracy of all data. Please direct any inquiries, corrections or additional information to thomas.schoerner@t-online.de.

Translated by Christopher Wolter