G2G: Can someone find a German baptism record? [closed]

Question

I'm looking for a baptism record for Franz Bayer, born 4 Mar 1866 in Mannheim. I looked in Matricula, but I can barely make out the handwriting, and I'm not even sure he was a Catholic.

I'm trying to resolve an issue regarding his middle name. The records have Franz Bayer, Franz C. Bayer, Frank E. Bayer, and Franz Xavier Bayer.

Comments

Catholic or Lutheran?

https://wiki.genealogy.net/Mannheim#Standesb.C3.BCcher has a link church book duplicates

Answer 1

I found a family register on ancestry, which is quite like a census record in the US. Posted a link in comments ;)

Comments

A few additional notes:

• That register says that the family was catholic ("kath.")
• There is a note that the wife (Franz's mother) emigrated to America on 10 May 1884. It is very likely that Franz joined her.
• The husband (Franz's father) moved away on 5 July 1878, with unknown destination. I don't know for sure if the family separated, but it looks like it.

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This is a wonderful resource, and I thank you for it. It does not, however, help resolve the issue. I need to find his entry in a Taufenbuch so I can see what his baptismal name was.

In the records, he is mentioned as Franz, Franz C., Franz E, and Franz Xavier. A family member is telling me that his middle name was Xavier. I'm trying to determine if that is accurate.

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Please note that the second name may not be mentioned in his baptismal entry. If it was, it would likely be mentioned in the family register.

This doesn't mean that the second name mentioned in your later documents was wrong. Just that it's not mentioned in the church records.

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It appears both in the family records and in the baptism record. If specifically states Stocke gennant Bayer.

Answer 2

Do you have a church name? There are 21 Evangelische congregations in Mannheim, probably as many more Katholisch.

Comments

I do not. Furthermore, it looks like his surname was Stocke, not Bayer, and somehow became Bayer. So that complicates things even further. They were Catholic.

Answer 3

I found his baptism entry in the catholic church book of Mannheim: http://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/plink/?f=4-1229182-84

This, however, gives his name only as Franz Stocke genannt Bayer, no other given names.

Comments

Btw, his full last name was "Stocke genannt Bayer", which apparently later on was shortened to just Bayer. This is what's called a Genanntname or Vulgoname in German; here's more information on that: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:German_Names#Named_names

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Thank you so much. This is perfect.