Saaga: how to grow your family tree
Dave Kiil
Sagas are medieval Nordic stories of battles, social customs, family histories and legends. Thus the selection of the word Saaga as a name of the Estonian family history website is appropriate.
My interest in family history research blossomed in the 1990s following several trips to Estonia. Having found the headstones of early ancestors in the Kihelkonna Cemetery on Saaremaa, I returned home and visited the Family History Centre of the Mormon Church in Edmonton. Unexpectedly, I discovered that records of the Lutheran Church and other information about my ancestors was stored on microfilm in Salt Lake City and available for viewing. Over a few years and many hours in front of a microfilm reader, a computer monitor and personal contact with many relatives and researchers, I have accumulated valuable information about my ancestors.
A new era for genealogists opened up during the first few years of the 21 st Century with the launch of the Saaga website by the Estonian Historical Archives (EHA). The first digital records, based on material stored at the EHA in Tartu, became available in 2004, and the data base continues to grow.
All of this research can now be done in the comfort of one’s home by logging on to www.eha.ee/saaga/. Before gaining access to the parish registries, census records (hinge loengud), and other related information, the user must complete a straightforward registration procedure with User Name and Password. Once you‘ve gained access to the searchable database, you can familiarize yourself with the website Content, the Saaga Project, Source Categories and Search procedures in Estonian and/or help-text in English. The Source Categories section provides a list of record titles in both Estonian and English.
The same page lists the three primary categories of information by source categories, namely:
1) Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELK),
2) Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAÕK),
3) Wacka-books
By clicking on any of these categories, new pages will open to reveal lists of over 120 Parishes under each of the first two Categories. The Parishes are listed in numerical order, followed by the name of the congregation.
Selected Congregational listings:
236 Tallinna Oleviste kogudus
1253 EELK Tartu Jaani kogudus
1270 EELK Urvaste kogudus
3134 EELK Kihelkonna kogudus
Examples of Congregational listings
Search aides can help you find the name of a Parish provided you know the name of the municipality where your ancestors lived. Once the user opens the information page for a specific Parish, it is possible to click on numerous options, usually listed by the type of archival record and the period covered by each. The resulting pages of images can also be viewed in PDF format and printed for your records. The downloading of each page is slow but doable from the comfort of your home or library.
Familiarization with website contents, the terminology used, and appreciation of basic research techniques will prove helpful in navigating the searchable data base. In some instances a rudimentary knowledge of Gothic Script, Russian and Estonian would be an asset. The layout and format of the basic records and forms are quite similar, and most search-related difficulties can be overcome with dedication and recognition of recurring headings.
The following list under Source Categories in the “Sitemap” gives some basic English titles and their corresponding meaning in Estonian.
List of Record Titles
Parish register of births - Sünnimetrika
Parish register. Births, engagements, banns, marriages, deaths, communicants, confirmands- Kirikuraamat. Sünnid, kihlad, mahakuulutused, abiellumised, surmad, armulaualised, leerilapsed.
List of confirmands -Leerilaste nimekiri
Parish register of marriages -Abielumeetrika
Parish register of deaths -Surmameetrika
Parish member list, German congregation -Personaalraamat, Saksa pihtkond pihtkond
Parish member list, Estonian congregation -Personaalraamat, Eesti Pihtkond
Selected listing of bilingual record titles
