Now and then, in church books, you come across words that you don't find in modern dictionaries. How to understand their meaning? Where...

Remember the story of Arvīds Pūrs, who was conscripted into the Latvian Legion of the Germany Army and ended up in England after the war?...

If you've come across a family member's passport from the interwar period, you may have noticed stamps and records related to their place...

For every serious genealogist, there comes a time when a visit to the archive is necessary. Not all documents are digitized; a significant portion is only available in the archive's reading room. Your first time at the archive—how does it happen? What can you find there? How can you search for something? In this post, we will discuss visiting the Latvian State Historical Archive, but the basic approach applies when visiting other archives as well. Latvian State Historical Arc

If you have decided to research your family roots in Latvia, often the first step will be to request birth, marriage, or death certificates from Latvian institutions. Can anyone request these certificates? And how can you obtain them if you live outside of Latvia? In this blog post, I will guide you how to Request a Birth, Marriage, or Death Certificate from Civil Registry Department of the Ministry of Justice of Latvia. Types of Registers Before we dive into the process, it'

Have you got German-Baltic ancestors? In such situations, it's quite possible that some family members moved away from the Baltics and...

Have your ancestors been Russians, Belarusians, or Lithuanians living in Latvia? If so, there might be records in the archives detailing...

Exploring one's family history becomes truly special when it leads to discovering more about ancestors through dry birth, marriage, and...

During this summer, I had several research projects with an aim to prepare a family tree as wedding gift. It's truly a beautiful and...

Summer is the time for travel, and perhaps you, as Latvian descendants, are planning to visit Latvia. How can you quickly find the first...

If you are looking for information about family members who participated in the Second World War, there are several memory institutions...

What are soul revision transfer lists and how to read them? What do the German column headings mean?