Brenig (Bornheim): Do very early records survive, and did people there use surnames or patronyms?

Question

First-time poster, hoping to find some locality-specific advice: I'm trying to identify a man whose patronymic name was Henrik Frericx (Hendrick Fredericks), born about 1597, I believe in Brenig (spelled 'Breny' in a record in Amsterdam, where he married in 1620).

Are there church records, Orts- or Familienbücher, local history books, civil records or other sources that survive for that timeframe? And if so, what location would they be recorded under--Brenig? Bornheim? Cologne? or somewhere else?

Did people in that area at that time use mainly patronyms, surnames, or both?

Thanks for reading!

Answer 1

Because the area around Köln is a Catholic area and Brenig has a Catholic church since the 10th century, he must be catholic. The church records for Brenig are not avaible in matricula. Brenig belongs to the Erzbistum Köln. The way I would go further is to write to the Erzbistum Köln and ask if there are church records avaible from Brenig and for what time period. https://www.erzbistum-koeln.de/kontakt/

Patronymic naming was replaced by family names in Germany in the late Middle Ages (c. mid-13th century to the end of the 15th / beginning of the 16th century.

The patronymic naming continued only in the Duchy of Schleswig until 1771, which at that time belonged to Denmark, and in East Frisia, where it was banned by Napoleon in 1811.

In the rest of today's German territory, patronyms were used as additional given names with different endings. These include the -s, which was widespread throughout the northwest, including Cologne.

Comments

Thank you Dieter, this was helpful and informative! I just emailed the Archdiocese.

Chris

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Thank you, Dieter. Giving you a “best answer” star because your information was useful to me as well. I was wondering were to go after I discovered that Weilerswist’s Catholic church records were not on Matricula and now I know.

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Weilerswist also belongs to the Erzbistum Köln. The best way to get some information about the church books, when they will be put online, where they are stored, etc. is to write to the Erzbistum (address in the above link).

 Maybe that they are also be helpful and give you your needed information out of the concerning book.

Answer 2

Answer from the Archdiocese of Cologne: 

For the Catholic parish in Brenig there are church registers from the year 1698. Previously, no church books were kept there; in general, church books were only introduced at the end of the 16th century.