notarial records in Ostfriesland
Jill Morelli
The good news and the bad: We usually rely on church records for our vital records for our Ostfriesens. However, notarial records can fill some gaps. The US (minus LA) and Great Britain use a precedent approach to law, while most other countries use a "civil law" approach. The latter requires many actions (marriages, rental, purchase, mortgage) to have its own contract. Notaries recorded these contracts.
So I did some digging to try and find out where the notarial records are for Weener. I remember in 2005 they were in the Hiemat museum and Frau Popkes gave me access to one document.
Lin said that the books had been confiscated by the Aurich Arkiv, so I contacted them.
The Good: yes they have them.
The Bad: they are only accessible by court order and only for scientific research.
Here is there response:
Dear Ms. Morelli,
Thank you for your inquiry.
The notarial records of the notary Theodor Wilhelm Cramer are available here (NLA AU Rep. 128 - District Court of Weener) and cover the period from 1825 to 1874.
For the period up to 1805, notarial records of notaries from Weener are also available in NLA AU Rep. 128:
- Notarial records of the notary Heinrich Julius Berndes in Weener, 1773-1777 (one volume)
- Notarial records of the notary Johann Anton Kirchhoff in Weener, 1796-1837 (a total of 105 volumes until 1805).
However, using these documents is difficult due to the mandatory compliance with Section 18a of the Federal Notary Act. This provision stipulates that prior to use, appropriate authorization must be obtained from the responsible state justice administration—in this case, the Leer District Court. Furthermore, use is only possible if the documents are required for the conduct of a scientific research project.
Best regards
M. Hermann