G2G: Galicia, Austria categorization updates (FYI) [closed]

Question

Hello!  Just an FYI that I will be working on Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria categorization, updating (District) to (Bezirk) on the main page.

I will also be updating the following Districts to Bezirk/German, which will cause a ripple of renaming village categories:

Bezirk Biala = Biała District

Bezirk Jaroslau = Jarosław District

Bezirk Krakau = Kraków District

Bezirk Lemberg = Lwów District

Bezirk Neumarkt = Nowy Targ

District Bezirk Neusandez = Nowy Sącz District

Bezirk Stanislau = Stanisławów District

Bezirk Saybusch = Żywiec District

Why now?  When I worked on creating all the village categories, there was not a categorization protocol for Poland.  After establishing a protocol in Poland recently and working through historical Prussia, it is important that Galicia be changed to keep it consistent across all categorization for Poland.

The mirror for Galicia is set up in "de" due to governing body (Habsburg Monarchy, Austrian Empire & Austro Hungarian Empire).

If a village category is named in German (such as in Biala District, there was a strong German influence due to proximity to Prussia), the present-day Poland category will be created, making it easier to locate via category widget.

It's a lot of work, but if you know me ... that's not an issue. lol Just wanted to give categorization people a heads up.   If you are looking at the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Category and see the change from (District) to (Bezirk), please know the village CIBs inside have been updated ... and as I work in chronological order, the last "Bezirk" is the area where I'm currently working.  Thanks!

Skye

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Project Leader 

Poland Project Coordinator

ETA: I'm noticing as I'm working through Ukraine Wikipedia, that I am finally finding pages and it appears that areas of Ukraine (not sure of the whole or just parts) went through an administrative region change in 2020 ... so the update is very much needed, and consequently I'm seeing that the mirrored Wikipedia Polish page has not always caught up to the changes.  So in the CIB if the village is in Ukraine, I am leaving the English, Polish & Ukrainian description (and translating which ever one is wrong.)

Comments

Great work Skye. I struggle to deal with all the languages. I was comfortable with English and German. I recognise some Polish. The extension to Ukrainian and Cyrillic script is too hard for me.

Answer 1

This seems like a good change to me.

I did not know the word 'Bezirk'. I assume that is the equivalent of the German word 'Kreis'. It is a much clearer description of a local government area than the English word 'District'.

Comments

Yes, back during that time  Galicia was formed into Bezirks or Districts (not necessarily counties, kreis or powiat ... although they are all similar). 

I assume they were Bezirks because there was no province ... the Bezirk acting like a county and a state/province at the same time. 

Most who understand Galicia villages refer to the following list: https://www.geshergalicia.org/galician-town-locator/

---

Thanks Skye. I like this change because the word 'District' is ambiguous. It could either refer to a government division or a general locality. Bezirk is much clearer to me.

I was going to ask whether whether there was a group of Bezirks collected into a larger government division like a county or province. You have answered this question.

Answer 2

Oh what a fun rabbit hole. I got lost down this one a few months back. From what I've been able understand, Galicia went through 6 different revisions in how administration of the territory was divided up, some of which only lasting a few years. I have one ancestral village, that from the time of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth until now, has 14 ways to render the proper administrative hierarchy. I had to build a spreadsheet to keep track of it.

I would imagine that the most important thing for the genealogist to consider is how to record a location so that the documents associated with it can be found. I have one ancestor who was born when the town was part of one bezirk in a kreis, married when it was part of a different kreis but not associated with a bezirk, and died when it was part of a yet another bezirk in a larger administrative district (regierungsbezirke).

Thankfully, the language has been the dominant obstacle with regard to documents in the "old country," so trying to figure out where to find a particular document hasn't really come up.

Comments

What a fun rabbit hole!

I know nothing about Galicia. 
I do like your comment.  "I would imagine that the most important thing for the genealogist to consider is how to record a location so that the documents associated with it can be found".

In this case Skye has nominated: https://www.geshergalicia.org/galician-town-locator/

---

Hi Joel!  The categories for Galicia are based off 1900, because there are several resources available based off the 1900 census.  You are right though, it can be tricky if you aren't aware of all the administrative changes.  The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone researching one village ... is to find all the surrounding villages that had which ever church you are looking for (Roman Catholic or Greek Catholic) and run those locations in Geneteka or research via Polish Archives.

The  Poland Project is only working with historical Poland from year 1900: Prussia, Galicia and Congress Poland (though Congress Poland categories are only for projects.) and connecting these 3 regions to their present day location.

Since the majority of categories are created for Galicia, please let me know if you are adding several profiles to one village and I will gladly create the present day counterpart for you (present day can nest any profile from any point in history, pages, cemetery categories, etc.)  Feel free to send me a message. :)

Answer 3

I  can  help with Tarnów