Parish registers tell you about individual events. Censuses and civil registers show the household and the village around it, and they can confirm relationships, occupations and places of birth. This guide explains the Czech censuses of 1857 to 1921, where they are held, what they list, how Slovak civil registration fits in and what to expect. We checked these details in October 2026, and archive portals, access rules and online collections change, so confirm them before you rely on them.
Who kept the records
In the Czech lands, for the vast majority of the population, the local parish priest acted as the official registrar for the state, according to a guide to Czech vital records, so the parish registers served as the vital records. In Slovakia, civil registration began on 1 October 1895 under the Kingdom of Hungary. See our Czech parish registers guide and our Slovak guide.
The Czech censuses
| Census | What it adds |
|---|---|
| 1857 | The first comprehensive census of the Austro-Hungarian crown lands |
| 1869 | Forms written in German, with name, sex, year of birth, religion, status, occupation, place of birth and citizenship. Place of birth is an important element. |
| 1880 | Adds literacy, primary language and physical and mental disabilities |
| 1890, 1900, 1910 | Layout varies but categories are nearly identical to 1880 |
| 1921 | Taken by the new Czechoslovak Republic in February 1921 |
My Czech Roots notes that many of the earlier censuses were destroyed over time, that from 1921 to the present the census sheets are essentially complete, and that a 1939 census exists only for the Sudeten region. Check which years survive for your village.
Where the censuses are held
- District archives. An older blog from the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International notes that census records in the Czech Republic are stored at the district level, in the smaller district archives, not the regional ones.
- City archives. Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Ústí nad Labem have their own.
- Online. FamilySearch lists census collections from the archives of Brno, Litoměřice, Opava, Plzeň (partially), Prague City and Třeboň, mostly for 1857 to 1921, and a FamilySearch collection of Czech censuses and inhabitant registers covers 1800 to 1990.
- Later censuses. The 1930 and later records are kept in the National Archives.
What a census can tell you
- The household. Parents, children, servants and boarders, with house number.
- Occupation and religion. Useful for telling men of the same name apart.
- Place of birth. The 1869 census records it, which can point you to the right parish.
- Language. From 1880, the primary language.
- Emigration notes. The Genzer family in an 1869 census has a margin note giving a passport number issued in 1880 for America, and the same blog says the wife left with her children after her husband died.
Slovak civil registers and censuses
- Civil registers from 1895 were written in Hungarian until about 1920, then in Slovak or Czech, and records less than 100 years old are kept locally by the village registrar.
- The 1869 census of Slovakia is on FamilySearch.
- Later censuses. A 2011 research update on FamilySearch’s Slovak filming described the modern census records as spread across 40 to 70 district archives and a slow, complex process, so check what is available for your area.
A research routine
- Identify the parish and the village. See how to find the village of origin.
- Find the 1869 census for the village, which gives place of birth.
- Compare it with 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910 and 1921, where they survive, to follow the household.
- Use the house number to link the census to the parish registers.
- Read the margins for notes about emigration or death.
- For Slovakia, look at the 1895 civil registers and remember local access limits.
Illustrative composite (not a real family): A reader finds her Moravian great-grandfather in the 1900 census with his wife, five children and a servant, living in house number 14. The 1880 census shows him as a child in his father’s household at the same house number, and the house number leads her to the baptisms in the parish register.
When your village’s census is missing
My Czech Roots prepared a database showing which census years are available for each town and the name of the district archive that holds them. If a year is missing for your village, check the other years, because the censuses are separate documents and some survive where others do not. The 1921 census and later are essentially complete, according to that site.
Reading the German forms
The 1869 census forms, called Aufnahmsbogen, were written in German, with headings for the successive number of the person, name and surname, sex, year of birth, religion, status, occupation, place of birth and citizenship. Later censuses use Czech and German together in some archives, so learn the headings once with a word list. See our guide to reading Latin, German and Hungarian records.
How to cite a census entry
Note the year, the village, the house number, the archive that holds the census and the sheet or page. Because censuses are held in district or city archives, include the archive’s name, so that you or another researcher can find the same entry again.
Why censuses matter even when you have the registers
A census shows the family as a group on one date, and it can resolve questions that registers leave open: who lived in the household, which children survived, what the family’s language and literacy were from 1880 onward, and which house they lived in. Use it to test the family group you built from the registers.
Common mistakes
- Expecting every census to survive. Many earlier ones were destroyed.
- Looking in the regional archive. Censuses are usually in district archives.
- Ignoring the house number. It links records.
- Skipping the margins. They may note emigration.
- Assuming Slovak civil records are online. Recent ones are kept locally.
Continue with the complete tracing guide and our websites comparison, and browse Genealogy Research. Sources include the FamilySearch wiki on Czech censuses, My Czech Roots on census records, a blog on emigration notes in Czech census records and a guide to Czech vital records.
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