As one would expect, the most important source of information on the early Bruch families in the Birkenfeld region are the records kept by the churches of births, marriages, burials, and sometimes confirmations.
The Birkenfeld Church Book is one of the oldest in existence, with records starting in 1568, not long after the Reformation was introduced to the region. The early records are not comprehensive, and there are two significant gaps from a period between 1602 and 1604 and between 1655 and 1666. At times, several record keepers were at work, and some had better handwriting than others.
The Achtelsbach Church Book begins in 1574. Like Birkenfeld, it cannot be considered a comprehensive catalog of every baptism, marriage, and death. It contains a significant gap in all types of records from 1590 to 1609, a critical period in which Thomas Bruch settled in Ellweiler and the children of Claus Bruch of Achtelsbach started having children of their own. Understandably, the records then stop completely in 1635 when war came to the region.
The Achtelsbach parish then fell under the jurisdiction of the parish in Wolfersweiler. The Wolfersweiler records begin sporadically around 1641. They are very incomplete and contain significant gaps until the turn of the 18th Century when the comprehensiveness and accuracy improve. Since most of the known descendants of Jacob Bruch eventually end up in villages that were part of the Wolfersweiler parish, the Wolfersweiler records are our almost exclusive source for his family in the 18th Century.
The French occupation during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era brought civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. During the French period, we find civil records in French. Following the wars, the newly formed Principality of Birkenfeld (an exclave of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg) introduced similar records in German.
In addition to the church records of the region around Birkenfeld, the Church Books of other parishes, such as Baumholder, Niederbrombach, Alsenz, Leistadt, and others document the families of Bruchs who settled elsewhere. The records in Alsenz, where Nickel Bruch settled in the 1680s, are exquisite: legible, thorough, and informative. The quality of the records in Leistadt, where Matthes Bruch settled, varies depending on the record keeper. These records only begin in 1700. In Pennsylvania, colonial records are notoriously sporadic, thus the early generations of the family of Matthias Bruch of Northampton County are not as well-documented as those of his cousins in Nohfelden and Richweiler.
The earliest church records tend to be less specific than one would desire. For instance, often the record will only include a first name, or simply an occupation, as in “the shepherd in Ellweiler.” The record keeper no doubt understood the meaning of these references, but we do not. It is possible that there are several references to Bruchs in these early records that we do not recognize as such.
While some, but not all, of these primary sources are indexed (with varying degrees of accuracy), there is no substitute for looking and deciphering the original records. Many individuals are never mentioned in an index, and so much can be learned from the list of baptismal sponsors that is never indexed.
You can most easily view the originals in the Rhineland, Prussia, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1533-1950 collection on Ancestry (membership required). The original Alsenz and Rhodt records can be views on Archion (also requires a paid account).
Please feel free to contact me for more information on sources.
Bruch Family History 