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The history of Baden-Württemberg covers the area included in the historical state of , the former Prussian , and , part of the region of since the 9th century.

In the 1st century AD, Württemberg was occupied by the , who defended their control of the territory by constructing a (fortified boundary zone). Early in the 3rd century, the drove the Romans beyond the and the , but they in turn succumbed to the under , the decisive battle taking place in 496. The area later became part of the .

The history of Baden as a state began in the 12th century, as a of the . As a fairly inconsequential that was divided between various branches of the ruling family for much of its history, it gained both status and territory during the era, when it was also raised to the status of . In 1871, it became one of the founder states of the . The monarchy came to an end with the end of the First World War, but Baden itself continued in existence as a state of Germany until the end of the Second World War.

Württemberg, often spelled "Wirtemberg" or "Wurtemberg" in English, developed as a political entity in southwest Germany, with the core established around by (died 1110). His descendants expanded Württemberg while surviving Germany's , changes in policy, and invasions from France. The state had a basic parliamentary system that changed to in the 18th century. Recognised as a kingdom in 1806–1918, its territory now forms part of the of , one of the 16 states of Germany, a relatively young that has only existed since 1952. The coat of arms represents the state's several historical component parts, of which Baden and Württemberg are the most important.
Neither the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg nor the Grand Duchy of Baden were part of Prussia, but the kings of Prussia were all from Hohenzollern.

Research Aids
The records available for this region are primarily church which start about 1550 (both Catholic and  Evangelishe (Lutheran)). The Thirty Years War (!618-1648) caused many of the records to be destroyed, so some records start about 1650.  Many have been indexed by the LDS and are viewable at FamilySearch.org (registration required - no fee). Digitized images of many of the records are also available there, but most are only viewable by LDS church members or at an LDS Family History Center (or associated library). (Note: Some LDS FHC librarians will logon with their ID to allow non-LDS patrons to view the images.)
In addition, some Protestant church records have been digitized and are available for viewing online for free at Landesarchiv Baden-Wuerttemberg -
Many of the Evangelische church record images are now viewable at Archion (https://www.archion.de/en/) for a fee. Archion is a cooperative project among the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the majority of regional protestant churches in Germany. Archion is also open to municipal, communal, and other church archives. The core philosophy behind Archion is simple: participating archives digitize their historical sources and present them to the public through a common web portal, with the goal of making family research and genealogical research as comfortable for users as possible. €19.90/month €178.80/year

Family religion is very important when researching in the B-W region. In smaller towns and villages there was usually only one church that serviced all in the area covered by that village. The old Kingdom of Wuerttemberg was ecumenical and contained Catholic, Evangelishe (Lutheran), Evangelische Reformed (Calvinist), Huguenot (French protestant), and Waldensian (Italian protestant) churches. Baden at one time was two distinctly different duchies: Baden-Durlach (north region) and Baden-Baden (south region). The Duchy of Baden-Durlach was primarily Evangelische and the Duchy of Baden-Baden was primarily Catholic. The region of Hohenzollern consisted of two principalities, and and was primarily Catholic.

Emigration Lists
Many church books contain notes indicating when families left Germany. These data are available in Emigration from SouthWest Germany -
People were required to register for permission to leave (to insure there were no debts or sons of conscription age). However, many simply disappeared in the night and appeared somewhere else in the world. In addition, there is documented proof that some were given one-way tickets and escorted to the train or boat for places like America. These data are available in the microfilms of the main offices (county seats), and have been published in books
Wuerttemberg Emigration Index - The Württemberg Emigration Index (compiled by Trudy Schenk),was originally published in book form as 8 volumes, The WEI  can now be searched on the Internet at Ancestry's website (as part of their subscription-based collection of world genealogy records). - The actual documents that these data came from have been microfilmed and digitized by the LDS and are available at FamilySearch. Enter "Württemberg" in the FamilySearch Catatog place search and then click on "The individual cities were the documents are located are then shown.

Baden Emigration Index -

Genealogy in Germany's Black Forest Region - http://www.websters.net/blackforest/

A series of books (one for each year) have been published of the immigrants from Germany into New York starting in 1850: Germans to America -

Finding your village location, if known
If you have the name of the village (actual or phonetic) you can use JewishGen ShtetlSeeker to locate the village and the other points of interest near it - Another source that also lists the local church where the records can be found is Meyers Gazetteer -

Ortssipenbuecher (OSB) and ortsfamilienbucher (OFB) - Area family books
Many villages and regions have Ortssippenbuecher (OSB) or Ortsfamilienbuecher  (OFB). -  regional family books. If your village has one it is a gold mile. Look here to see a list of those available - . or . Typically the cost is very reasonable to purchase one.

Local Family History Societies
A local genealogy or family history society (also called homeland society) is an excellent source. Many can be found by simply entering "Town name genealogy" into a search engine. Otherwise start by contacting the regional society. Here is the link to all the regional societies in Germany - . The B-W society is in Stuttgart and is reachable at https://www.vfkbw.de/ but unfortunately is in German (Google may translate). Here are some of the known major genealogy societies, but almost every major village has a local group of researchers.
Verein für Familienkunde in Baden-Württemberg -
Stuttgart -
Biberach - https://www.vfkbw.de/index.php/biberach 
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Freiburg -
Herrenberg -
Ostalb-Aalen -


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Ulm alb Donau -

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