German-speaking settlers have been a part of Louisiana’s history from its earliest days. In the 19th century, more and more immigrants from Germany and other German-speaking countries made New Orleans their home. Until 1828 for Protestants and 1843 for Catholics, there were no churches established solely for their use. From those years on, churches began to be organized to serve New Orleans’ growing German population, both uptown and downtown, as well as in the then independent cities of Lafayette, Jefferson City, and Carrollton.

In the late 19th century, the history of these German-speaking congregations was recorded by J. Hanno Deiler, who used a variety of written sources and personal interviews to prepare a record of their earliest days. This current inventory of the records of the German-language churches of New Orleans is based on the chronology included in J. Hanno Deiler’s indispensable book on this subject, A History of the German Churches of Louisiana (1823-1893). Deiler’s work was originally published in German in 1894. Thankfully, an English translation by Marie Stella Condon was published in 1983 by the Center for Louisiana Studies at what is now University of Louisiana at Lafayette, thus making this important work broadly accessible. The page numbers used here are from that version. Several short-lived churches have not been included.

In nearly all cases, the records of these German-speaking congregations are written in old German script, at least through the end of the 19th century. Given that these records are in many cases over 150 years old, they are fragile and generally not available for public use. The early records of the Catholic churches are held by the Archdiocese of New Orleans - Office of Archives and Records, and can only be accessed according to the policies of the Archives. Indexes to some of the records of several of these churches have been compiled in various issues of New Orleans Genesis and L’Heritage, which are available at libraries in New Orleans and elsewhere. Some of the references to the records listed were obtained from Acadian-Cajun Genealogy & History and are listed using their reference notation system. Many of the records have been microfilmed, and where available, the churches prefer that they be used, rather than the originals. When microfilms are not available, prior arrangements must be made through the church itself, and even then, a church-appointed volunteer or researcher must usually search the records themselves. Few, if any, of the original records are available for photocopying due to their poor condition. Additional materials related to many of these churches are available in the records of the Louisiana Division of the New Orleans Public Library.

This inventory is an attempt to help researchers learn what records still exist and where to find them. It can be assumed that in many cases, the records no longer exist. As Deiler himself wrote:

“. . . not a few churches had no registers whatsoever for their baptismal and wedding records, or else their most important documents had been lost either by fire or the carelessness of earlier administrations. . . .”

Go to: List of German churches in New Orleans and information on their records. 

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