What is 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 reference other church ceremonies, thus cross reference other recorded church ceremonies—​birthn and baptized, confirmation, marraige or funeral. One doesn’t have to infer the indentity of the same individual in other church by carefully looking for other occurances of their name in the vast corpus of recorded ceremonies. One is also freed from the effort of closely comparing other identifying attributes of the individual: their residence, their parent’s name, etc. Instead the pastor (or perhaps Küster, sexton), who personally knew them, supplies and confos this information free of charge.

This is especially helpful when a name is common or repeats often throughout the church book. The Nachträge-supplied dates, then, provide a short cut that allows us to immediately confirm other church events of an individual and harvest the information in them.

But what if the church event is not found on the date given in a Nachtrag? What if, for example, a death date is later inserted into a marriage record, but there is no corresponding death record in the church register? Does that mean a mistake was made?

Not neccesarily. It might mean the individual died elsewhere. They may even have emigrated to the U.S, and their death might hasve been communicated to their original parish in Schaumburg-Lippe (althouhg this fact likely would be noted, too).