Daily AncestorStand
Stand in a German record means a person's status: their occupation or social rank, or in Familienstand their marital status.
A column headed Stand, or Stand und Gewerbe, asks for a person's place in society, usually answered with an occupation such as Bauer, Schneider or Tagelöhner. Familienstand asks for marital status: ledig, verheiratet, verwitwet.
The word also names the old social estates, such as the nobility or the burghers. In a register column it is almost always occupation or marital status; the heading tells you which.
As seen in a recordColumns of a German civil death record, 1890s
Stand: Schneidermeister; Familienstand: verheiratet
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How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Stand." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/german/stand. Last checked 2026-10-28.