How this list was assembled:Every source listed here is free to access (or has a meaningful free tier). Links were verified as working. We've included honest notes on what each resource actually holds — not marketing copy. If something has changed or you want to suggest an addition, email hello@koreni.co.
🌍 Multi-Country Resources
These tools span multiple countries and should be in every Eastern European researcher's toolkit regardless of which country they're searching.
The largest free genealogy database in the world; holds digitized church books, civil registers, and census records across all Eastern European countries — start every search here.
Indispensable for any family with Jewish roots in Eastern Europe; includes the JRI-Poland database, Holocaust records, town databases (ShtetlSeeker), and over 1 billion names from over 40 countries.
German Protestant and Catholic church books with strong coverage of historical regions that are now Poland and Czech Republic — many records searchable free before a subscription is required.
Cross-border gateway to European national and regional archive catalogues — useful for identifying which physical repository holds a collection before requesting access.
Free digitized Catholic parish registers from Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and surrounding regions — search by diocese and find actual scanned pages.
🇵🇱 Poland
Polish records survive across three former partition zones (Russian, Prussian, Austrian). Your first two tools should almost always be Geneteka and Szukaj w Archiwach — together they cover the vast majority of digitized Polish genealogy.
Volunteer-indexed vital records (births, marriages, deaths) from hundreds of Polish parishes — the fastest way to find a specific surname across multiple regions without browsing scans.
Official Polish State Archives portal with digital scans of civil and parish records; browse by archive branch, fond, or series to find the actual document images.
Central state archive holding the oldest Polish records — nobility files, pre-partition documentation, Metrical Books of the Warsaw Governorate, and more; some collections digitized online.
Companion site to Geneteka with direct image viewer for scanned parish and civil register pages linked from indexed entries.
Portal of the Polish Genealogical Society, home of both Geneteka and Metryki; includes discussion forums and guides for navigating Polish archives in each former partition.
🇺🇦 Ukraine
Ukrainian records split between two major historical archives — Kyiv for most of central/eastern Ukraine and Lviv for Galicia (formerly Austrian). Greek Catholic and Orthodox church books are the backbone of 19th-century research.
Holdings catalog for the Central State Historical Archives in Kyiv covering left-bank and central Ukraine; use the catalog to identify fondy before requesting copies.
Online catalog for Galician records in Lviv, including Greek Catholic metrical books, Austrian civil registration, and nobility files from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.
National portal listing all regional state archives in Ukraine with contact details and collection summaries — essential for identifying the correct oblast archive for your research area.
LDS-filmed microfilm scans of Greek Catholic and Orthodox church books, Galician civil records, and revision lists — most accessible outside Ukraine through FamilySearch.
Ukrainian genealogical research portal with guides on navigating Soviet-era records (ZAGS), metrical books, and archive access procedures for foreign researchers.
🇷🇺 Russia
Russian genealogy relies heavily on metrical church books (метрические книги), revision lists (ревизские сказки), and civil registration from 1918 onward. Access to physical archives is restricted, but digitization has expanded considerably.
Includes LDS-filmed Orthodox and other confession church books, revision lists, and civil registration records from many Russian guberniyas — free and fully browsable.
Holds pre-18th century Russian records including early census books (переписные книги) and noble family files; catalog available online, physical access required for most documents.
St. Petersburg-based archive for central imperial-era records including noble genealogies, religious consistory files, and civil service papers; use the online catalog to identify fondy.
Russian genealogy community portal with guides for navigating regional archives, researching specific guberniyas, and understanding Soviet-era documentation.
The largest Russian-language genealogy forum; invaluable for connecting with researchers who have already worked specific villages and archives — post in the regional threads.
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
Czech records use a well-developed digitized portal for vital records. Most Bohemian and Moravian parish registers from the 17th–19th centuries are now online, covering Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed communities.
Free digitized access to Czech Bohemian vital registers (birth, marriage, death) through the National Archives system — browse by region, district, and parish.
The Brno archive holds Moravian church books, land registers, and noble family files; their online catalog and digitized register collection covers most of Moravia.
Top-level Czech National Archives portal linking to all digitized collections and branch archives across the Czech Republic.
Extensive free access to Catholic and Protestant parish registers from Bohemia and Moravia through the pan-European Matricula platform.
🇸🇰 Slovakia
Slovak records are split between the Slovak National Archives in Bratislava and numerous regional branches. Many registers have been digitized and are accessible via Matricula or the Slovak state archive portal.
Slovak National Archives catalog covering civil and church records from across Slovakia — identifies which branch archive holds records for a given region.
Free digitized Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed parish registers from Slovakia — one of the most convenient interfaces for browsing Slovak vital records.
LDS microfilm collections of Slovak church books and civil registers — especially useful for records not yet available through Slovak archive portals.
Research guides tailored to Slovak diaspora in North America — particularly helpful for identifying original Slovak villages from US immigration records.
🇷🇴 Romania
Romanian records span Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and post-1918 Romanian administration depending on region. Transylvanian records fall under Hungarian archives for the pre-1918 period; Moldavian and Wallachian records use Romanian county archives.
Romanian National Archives homepage with links to all county (județ) archive branches, digitized collections, and research guides for civil registration and church books.
Includes LDS-filmed civil records and church books from across Romania, including Transylvanian collections filmed before the post-2000 digitization drive.
Digital arm of the Romanian National Archives; check here for online access to specific local and county collections before traveling to Romania.
Specialized resource for German-Romanian (Donauschwaben / Banat Swabian) families in the Banat region — includes village databases and emigration records.
🇭🇺 Hungary
Hungarian genealogy requires tracking records across successor states (Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Ukraine, Austria) because the 1920 Treaty of Trianon transferred two-thirds of Hungary's historical territory. Many pre-1895 records are in Latin.
Main Hungarian National Archives portal with guides to county archive branches and online catalog of holdings — the starting point for pre-1895 church book and later civil registration research.
Free online access to digitized Hungarian historical records, newspapers, maps, and archive finding aids — search across multiple collections simultaneously.
Extensive LDS-microfilmed Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, and Jewish congregational records from historical Hungary — indispensable for pre-1895 research.
Free historical topographic map viewer covering the Austro-Hungarian Empire — essential for locating ancestor villages that may now be in a different country.
Hungarian Genealogical Society with research guides, surname databases, and a community forum for questions about specific Hungarian archive branches.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
Bulgarian genealogy covers three distinct eras: Ottoman period (pre-1878, often using millet records or kadı registers), early Bulgarian state (1878–1944), and communist-era civil registration. The Central State Archives in Sofia holds the bulk of national-level material.
National archive portal covering the full range of Bulgarian state records from 1878 onward, including civil registration, emigration, and administrative files.
LDS-microfilmed church and civil records from Bulgaria — most accessible to researchers outside the country through the free FamilySearch interface.
Directory of Bulgaria's 28 regional (oblast) archive branches, each holding local civil registration and church records for that region.
For ancestors from the Ottoman period (pre-1878 Bulgaria), the Ottoman State Archives hold millet community registers and land survey data — partially indexed online.
🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪 Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia)
Baltic genealogy typically means researching through Lutheran and Catholic church books, revision lists under Russian imperial rule, and post-WWI civil registration. All three countries have dedicated national archive portals and significant online digitization.
Holds the core of Lithuania's pre-Soviet records including Catholic metrical books, Lutheran registers, Russian imperial revision lists, and civil records — online catalog available.
Free digitized access to Lithuanian historical documents through the ePaveldas (e-Heritage) portal, including metrical books, historical newspapers, and maps.
Latvian National Archives portal with online catalog and guide to Lutheran, Catholic, and Jewish community records, as well as Russian imperial revision lists for Livonia and Courland.
Latvia's national genealogy portal offering indexed birth, marriage, and death records online — one of the most accessible free genealogy interfaces in the Baltic region.
Holds Lutheran and Orthodox church books, revision lists, and Baltic German nobility records for Estonia — online catalog and partial digitized access.
Free online database from the Estonian National Archives indexing vital records, household lists, and land registers — searchable by name, date, and parish.
LDS-filmed Lutheran and Catholic registers, revision lists, and civil records for Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — often the most accessible source for non-Baltic-based researchers.
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