The Online Archives of Bas-Rhin

By Brian J. Smith - March, 2018 - Revised June, 2021

Return to The Communities of Alsace A-Z: Tips and Resources for Genealogists.

The Département du Bas-Rhin, which covers the northern half of Alsace, has made many records from its archives available on-line. Their home page is http://archives.bas-rhin.fr. The site is in French.

The on-line records are:

• Adeloch (http://archives.bas-rhin.fr/registres-paroissiaux-et-documents-d-etat-civil)
  • Parish registers from the 16th century to 1792
  • Civil registers of birth, marriage and death from 1793 to 1902, including 10-year indexes
  • Family names’ choice registers by Jews (1808)
• Ellenbach (http://archives.bas-rhin.fr/recensements-population)
  • Census for the years 1819, 1836, 1841, 1846, 1851, 1856, 1861, and 1866

Instructions for Using the Adeloch (Parish and Civil Registers)

Here is an example of how to use the Adeloch. Let's find the 1823 birth record of Joseph Voegele in Soufflenheim.

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer as your web browser (as I usually do), warning messages (in French) will pop up from time to time recommending that you use Chrome or FireFox instead. Other than the irritating frequency that the messages pop up, I have had only a couple minor problems using Microsoft Internet Explorer, which I will mention below.

1. Start on the home page for the Archives of Bas-Rhin:
   • http://archives.bas-rhin.fr
   • This page has a small logo at the top, which says, "Archives Départementales du Bas-Rhin."
2. Scroll down to the picture labeled "Registres paroissiaux et documents d'état civil."
   • Click this picture.
   • This opens a page with a brief introduction to the "les registres paroissiaux et d'état civil."
3. Click the red text link: "L'application Adeloch."
   • This opens the "Adeloch" page.
   • As a shortcut, you can reach also reach this page from its URL:
     http://archives.bas-rhin.fr/registres-paroissiaux-et-documents-d-etat-civil
     
   • If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, a warning will pop up here, which I mentioned above.
4. At this point or at some other point a message like this one might pop up:
   Les informations que nous collectons
   Ce site internet est géré par la Collectivité européenne d?Alsace. Des cookies (traceurs) sont nécessaires ...
   • This message is a notifcation that the site uses cookies,
     and that cookies are necessary for the site to function.
   • There are options that you can toggle on or off for Google Tag Manager and YouTube
     • I left them turned on ("Activé")
   • Click "Sauvegarder" ("Save") to continue.
5. Click into the box under "Saisissez votre commune."
   • Type the name of the town (commune) you are searching for, or select it from the drop-down list.
   • With Microsoft Windows Explorer, the drop-down list does not scroll, so you have to type the name.
   • To follow along with this example, type: Soufflenheim.
   • Click this button: "RECHERCHER".
6. This displays a shelf of books.
   • Scroll across the shelf to see the books.
     • With Microsoft Windows Explorer, the scolling can be clunky.
   • The books are:
     • Parish records:
       • B: Baptisms
       • M: Marriages
       • S: Burials
     • Civil records:
       • TD: Ten-year indexes ("Tables décennales")
         • TN: Ten-year indexes of births
         • TM: Ten-year indexes of marriages
       • N: Births for the year indicated
       • PM: Declarations of marriage for the year indicated
       • M: Marriages for the year indicated
       • D: Deaths for the year indicated
   • Tip: If you don't know the exact date of the event you are looking for, but you do know the community (and if it is after 1792), start with the "TD" books.
7. To follow along with this example (in Soufflenheim), scroll to the book "N 1823" (births for 1823).
8. Click the book twice to open it.
9. When you open a book for the first time, the terms and conditions will appear.
   • To translate the license page (or any web page) from French into English, there are many translation tools available on the internet, such as Google Translate.
   • Scroll down to the bottom of the license text and click the checkbox labeled "Accepte" to accept the conditions and gain entry.
10. This should open the book to the first page. (Or the first two pages, since each image shows two pages.)
    • Buttons are available to scroll, zoom, download, print, etc.
11. If you have been following along with my Soufflenheim example, scroll to image number 7 (of 26). Here, the record # 22 is the birth of Joseph Voegele.
12. To return to the shelf of books for this community, click this link: Retour Adeloch.

Instructions for Using the Ellenbach (Census Records)

Here is an example of how to use the Ellenbach. Let's find the 1836 census of Surbourg.

(I've heard that the Ellenbach does not work well if you attempt to use the English translation feature. So it's best to stick with the French.)

1. Start on the home page for the Archives of Bas-Rhin:
   • http://archives.bas-rhin.fr
   • This page has a small logo at the top, which says, "Archives Départementales du Bas-Rhin."
2. Scroll down to the picture labeled "Recensements de population."
   • Click this picture.
   • This opens a page with a brief introduction to the "recensements de population."
3. Click the red text link: "Ellenbach."
   • This opens the "Ellenbach" page.
   • As a shortcut, you can reach also reach this page from its URL:
     http://archives.bas-rhin.fr/recensements-population
4. Click into the box under "Saisissez votre commune."
   • Type the name of the town (commune) you are searching for, or select it from the drop-down list.
   • With Microsoft Windows Explorer, the drop-down list does not scroll, so you have to type the name.
   • To follow along with this example, type: Surbourg.
   • Click this button: "RECHERCHER".
5. This displays a shelf of books.
   • Each book is labeled with the census year: 1819, 1836, 1841, etc.
6. Click a book twice to open it.
7. When you open a book for the first time, the terms and conditions may appear.
   • To translate the license page (or any web page) from French into English, there are many translation tools available on the internet, such as Google Translate.
   • Scroll down to the bottom of the license text and click the checkbox labeled "Accepte" to accept the conditions and gain entry.
8. This should open the book to the first page. (Or the first two pages, since each image shows two pages.)
   • Buttons are available to scroll, zoom, download, print, etc.
9. To return to the shelf of books for this community, click this link: Retour Ellenbach.