Our Croatia genealogists research on location. The lands comprising today’s Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. In 1991 Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia.
Our researchers will find and analyze the best records available to further your family history research. They can search the archives and libraries in Croatia, including:
- Croatia State Archives
There are 13 historical state archives containing records from the tenth to the twentieth century - Libraries
City and University Library in Osijek, Library of the Friars Minor in Dubrovnik, National and University Library in Zagreb, and city libraries in Rijeka, Karlovac, Split, and Zadar - Record centers and private archives
- Ecclesiastical archives
Maintain records of the christenings, marriages, deaths, or other information about their members - University archives
University of Osijek, University of Rijeka, University of Split, and University of Zagreb - Museums
Including the national museums in Zadar, Dubrovnik, Osijek, and Zagreb - Austrian State Archive in Vienna
Our genealogists can do research projects of many sizes and for many budgets. We customize the amount of research provided according to your needs.
If you would like to learn how our genealogists can further your research, request a research quote.
Some of the major records sources that can be used for genealogy research in Croatia include:
- Birth, marriage, and death records were kept by some towns as early as 1516
- Civil transcripts of registers were mandated during the 19th century.
- Military and civil census records. The first military census was carried out in 1785. A civil census was conducted in 1804/05. Regular censuses were conducted in 1857, 1869, and every 10 years from 1880 to 1910.
- Church directories. Roman Catholic parishes kept registers earlier than Orthodox parishes which were required to keep them only after 1777. Croats are almost exclusively Roman Catholic and Serbs are Orthodox.
- Emigration records were kept as early as 1904.
- Land records were kept by the towns and counties from the time they were settled
- Probate records were kept by the local courts from 1500s to the present
- Newspapers were written in many areas and time periods that contain information such as notices of marriages, notices of death, and obituaries
- Military records
- Town and county histories about the settlers and their families
- Naturalization and citizenship records were recorded since early 1900s
- Ship passenger lists, tax lists, and town records were recorded for many areas
