Where and what is Galicia?
Galicia was an area of the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire that encompassed an area in today’s Southern Poland and Western Ukraine. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was run by the Habsburg Dynasty, since 1773. This Empire was dissipated at the end of World War I in 1918 and today makes up many different countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
From the above image, the pink line in the middle represents today’s boundary between Poland and Ukraine. Galicia-Gen.com represents the Polish portion of Galicia and therefore, the majority of traditions, culture and records talked about will be orientated to the Roman Catholic religion.
There are many sites that provide in depth coverage and research on the areas in today’s Ukraine as well as to the Jewish population in Galicia. Galicia was a melting pot of religions, cultures and beliefs. Poles were traditionally Roman Catholic, Ruthenians/Rusyns (Ukrainians for the easiest simplification) were Uniate or Greek Orthodox, Jews practiced Judaism, and there was a small but thriving German Protestant and Catholic population as well.
Who are you?
Thanks for stopping by – I’m Heather. My Polish great-grandparents hailed from the Galician partition of Poland, specifically from today’s Tarnobrzeg and Kolbuszowa counties in Podkarpackie.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in History and have been working on my genealogy for over 15 years. I know from personal experience the difficulties there are to find your ancestors in Poland – it took me over 10 years. Join me as a I share what I have learned.
If you’re appreciative of my work, a donation goes a long way to help keep the site running, more content coming, and new indexes. You may make a donation on the right side of the page.
Additionally, I am available for hire for your genealogy needs.