# Marriage Records from Poland Source: https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/marriage-records-from-poland/ Last updated: 2026-10-12 Summary: Search Polish marriage records for spouses, parents and places of origin. Compare civil and parish entries to test family connections and find earlier records. Publisher: The Polish Genealogist (professional Polish genealogy research, polishgenealogist.co.uk) --- A marriage entry can connect two Polish families and help test the names recorded in a later British document. Start with the couple’s identities, an approximate date and the locality where the marriage may have taken place. Then compare the entry with the evidence you already hold: similar names alone do not establish that you have found the right couple. Professional record service ### Would you like us to find the marriage record and obtain the right copy? For family history #### Find the marriage entry We locate the relevant civil or religious entry and obtain an available scan or ordinary archival copy. **Single-record searches** For official use #### Obtain an official copy We assess the issuing authority and the document format required for citizenship, probate, marriage documentation or another formal procedure. **Quoted for the authority and purpose** [Start a marriage record request](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-vital-records-search/) ### What a Polish marriage entry records A marriage entry usually names both sets of parents, so one record can take two families back a generation. Most entries also give the couple’s ages, occupations and places of residence, and many name the witnesses. ### Civil and church marriage registers Which register you need depends on where and when the couple married. - In the Duchy of Warsaw and later the Kingdom of Poland (the Russian partition), marriages were recorded from 1808 in civil-religious registers kept by the parish clergy acting as civil registrars, in Polish and from 1868 in Russian. These entries are written as a narrative and give the couple’s ages, birthplaces, parents, residence and witnesses, and the dates of the banns. In the Prussian partition, state registry offices recorded marriages from 1874. In Galicia there was no separate civil register; the parish register was the civil record. - Before civil registration, and in Galicia throughout, the parish marriage register is the record. Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox parishes kept their own, some from the 16th century. Older entries are short, often in Latin, and may give only the couple, the witnesses and sometimes the fathers. ### Where civil marriage registers are kept Marriage registers less than 80 years old are kept by the local civil registry office (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego, USC), which releases copies only to people with a legal interest. Older registers are transferred to the regional State Archives. Part of the State Archives’ (Archiwa Państwowe) holdings has been scanned and can be viewed online. The Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw (Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych) holds parish registers brought after 1945 from the pre-war eastern provinces, now in Ukraine. ### Finding church marriage records Before the 19th century, church registers are usually the only source. They are held in diocesan archives or in the parish itself, where access depends on the diocese or the priest. Some were microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and can be viewed through FamilySearch; the rest have to be requested from the parish or diocesan archive. ### What we need to search The full names of the couple, an approximate year and the parish or town are enough to start. Without a place, the right register cannot be identified. Our vital record search identifies the registry office, archive or parish that holds the register, finds the entry and sends you a digital image. If you need an official copy for a formal procedure, tell us which authority it is for and we quote for it. ### Details to compare When you have an entry, check each detail against what you already know: - the full names of the bride and groom, including the bride’s maiden name - their ages and birthplaces, which point to the baptism entries - the parents’ names, including the mothers’ maiden names - occupations and house numbers - the witnesses, who were often relatives - the date and parish of the marriage ### Languages, borders and missing registers Entries are in Latin, Polish, German or Russian, depending on the period and partition. Registers from the pre-war eastern territories may be in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus or Lithuania. Some registers were destroyed in the wars. Where one copy is missing, a duplicate kept by the civil authorities or the diocese may survive, so a search can cover more than one repository. ### Related guides - [Polish marriage allegata](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/polish-marriage-allegata/) - [Polish marriage banns](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/polish-marriage-banns/) - [Finding Polish birth records](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/finding-a-birth-entry-in-poland/) > **Research service:** Ready for us to search? · For a targeted single-record search · [Start your marriage record request](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-vital-records-search/) --- Research help: The Polish Genealogist researches Polish family history, military service and citizenship evidence in Polish, British and international archives, with reports in English. Services and prices: https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/