[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Questions about Polish and Russian Research

[PnSWork at aol.com]

Hi Bill, Dolly,

> Bieniew, Gem. Ilow, ev. Church = Wyszogrod, KB in Poland:
> ~, oo, + 1826-1895 in: Archiwum Panstwowe w Plocku
>                        ul. Wieczorka 11
>                        PL 09-400 PLOCK

My interpretation is as follows:

Bieniew is a village which belonged to the parish of Ilow, which belonged to 
the larger Lutheran Church organization (diocese?) headquartered at 
Wyszogrod.  Church records for christenings (baptisms), marriages and deaths 
for the years 1826-1895 are stored in the Regional Archives in Plock, Poland 
at the address given.  The abbreviation "ul." stands for the Polish word 
"ulica" which means "street".  The Polish put the word "ulica" in front of 
the street name and the street number at the very end.  The code immediately 
in front of the city name of Plock (PL 09-400) is the Polish post code for 
that section of the city.  To send a letter to this archive, address the 
front of your letter as follows:

Archiwum Panstwowe w Plocku
ul. Wieczorka 11
PL 09-400 Plock
POLAND

> Wischehnen, Kreis Fischhausen/Ostpreu_en; heute Ru_land, ev. K. +
> Standesamt = Medenau. KB vorhanden ~, oo, + 1676-1875 in Leipzig:

> Saechsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig
> Abt. Deutsche Zentralstelle fuer Genealogie
> Schongauer Str. 1
> D-04329 Leipzig

Wischehnen is a village in the district (similar to our counties) of 
Fischhausen in the former province of East Prussia, but which today belongs 
to Russia.  Lutheran records and records from the office of vital statistics 
in the town of Medenau are held at the archives in Leipzig.  They contain 
christenings, marriages, and deaths for the years 1676-1875.  The address for 
the archive is given immediately below.  To send a letter to this archive, 
address your envelope as follows:

Saechsisches Staatsarchiv Leipzig
Abt. Deutsche Zentralstelle fuer Genealogie
Schongauer Str. 1
D-04329 Leipzig
GERMANY

The German word "strasse" means street, and the street number is given last.  
The code D-04329 is the German equivalent of a post code.

    If you are seeking records for these villages which fall between these 
dates, you can write to the addresses given for more information.  I should 
also tell you that many of the records held in the Plock archive have been 
microfilmed and are available at Family History Centers throughout the world. 
 Some records have not been microfilmed, and I would encourage you to check 
out what's available locally before writing to one of the archives directly.  
You can expect to pay for any information that they send you, and it will not 
be cheap.  The German archives typically charge by the hour with a minimum 
fee of one hour's time (up to $20 per hour).  The Polish archives will be 
even more expensive.  Good luck!

    -Paul