Understanding Nachträge

In German paleography and archival practice, there is a general term for later-added notes to an ortiginal record of a ceremony: they are called "Nachträge" (singular: Nachtrag), which translates to "addenda" or "later additions."

In the context of Kirchenbücher (church books), a Nachtrag might include:

  • A death date added to a baptism or marriage entry (often prefaced with “†” or “gest.” for gestorben)

  • A confirmation date added to a baptism record

  • A marriage note added to a baptism record

  • a baptism date and, when the individual dies, a death date

  • An emigration note, especially in 19th-century records

TODO: include examples.

Notes about illegitimacy, legitimization, name changes, etc.

These entries were often added by the same or a later pastor, typically in smaller or different handwriting, as you noted.

Related terms:

  • Randvermerk – marginal note (if the note appears in the margin, which is common)

  • Vermerk – annotation or remark

  • Hinweis – indication or note (more generic)

So, if you’re describing the inserted death date in genealogical notes or research, you could write:

"Der Todestag wurde später als Nachtrag in kleinerer Schrift hinzugefügt, mit dem Vermerk 'gest.'." ("The death date was later added as an addendum in smaller handwriting, with the note 'gest.'.")

Their Significance

These later addenda or Nachträge inserted in smaller handwriting into an original record of a church ceremony provide extra confirmation of precisely who an individual is. They tells us, say, when an individual was born and baptized, or when they were confirmed, married or died. One doesn’t have to infer such dates by carefully looking for other occuranmce of their name in the vast corpus of recorded ceremonies. One is also freed from the effort of comparing other identifying attributes of an individual, their residence or their parent’s name, in other records. Instead the pastor (or perhaps church sexton), who personally knew them, supplies this infornation free of charge as it were.

This is especially important in the social and religous milieu of the time when there wasn’t much variety among given names, where the same given names repeat over and over throughout the church register. If the surname is also very common, you risk becoming easily confused ("which Johann Heinrich Meyer is it?").

The Nachträge-supplied dates, then, provide a short cut that allows us to immediately confirm other life events of an individual and harvest the information contained in them.

What if a church event is not found on the date given in a Nachtrag? If, for example, a death date is later inserted into a marriage record, but…​