What was the Austrian
Heimatschein and Heimatrecht?

Heimatschein of Stefan Sackl from Obergralla, Gemeinde Leibnitz, Steiermark, 1875.
Was Stefan Sackl your ancestor? Please contact us!

Main points about the Austrian Heimatschein:

  • The details on someone’s Heimatschein, represented what was recorded on the Municipal Heimatrolle (see bottom of the page.)

  • The Heimatschein document was not a passport or proof of residency.

  • After 1938, the Heimatschein was replaced with the Austrian citizenship certificate, the Staatsbürgerschaftsnachweis.

  • The Heimatschein was issued by the Municipality in which a person had Heimatrecht, not the place of birth or current residency which means that…

  • There’s no certainty that where a Heimatschein was issued, was the place of birth of that person!

  • The Heimatschein was issued from 1863-1938.

  • Religion was not included.

  • The certificate may have been printed as Heimatschein or two words Heimat Schein.

  • The printed writing on the certificates (see Stefan Sackl’s Heimatschein above) is called Fraktur.

What was the Heimatschein?

Every Austrian citizen had the ‘right of residence’ and ‘right to welfare’ in one municipality. The Heimatschein was governmental proof of that municipality and, therefore, where a person was zuständig and had Heimatrecht. ( You will see zuständig and Heimatrecht on church records.)

In plain English: A Heimatschein showed in which municipality an individual had the right of residency and also the right to receiving welfare in case of poverty.

Heimatrecht = right of residence

Zuständig = responsible to

Geboren in = born in

“Geboren” versus “zuständig”

This concept is a bit tricky for non German speakers. That being said, both terms were commonly recorded on church records and they are important.

Where a person was ‘zuständig’ was often not the same as the place they were born.

  • Children were ‘züstandig’ to the same place as their father.

  • A wife was ‘zuständig’ to the same place as her husband.

  • An illegitimate child was ‘zuständig’ to the same place as their mother.

  • An illegitimate child, who became legitimised through marriage, was ‘zuständig’ to the same place as the father.

Heimatrecht Tip: Military records are usually located where a person had ‘Heimatrecht’. If your ancestor was born in Styria but had Heimatrecht in a village in Carinthia, the record will likely be in found in the Carinthian records. The military Grundbuchblätter for Austrian States (including Steiermark and former Untersteiermark) are viewable on Family Search.

Heimatrolle

A ‘Heimatrolle’ was a register, kept by all municipalities, of all who were zuständig (aka, had a Heimatschein) for that municipality. The registers represented what was recorded on the physical Heimatschein documents.

The historical Heimatrolle may be found in either State or Municipal archives.