Finding Croatian Government Records: Visit the Matićni Ured

In Croatia, government records are kept at the Matićni Ured.  This translates as something like "Registry Office".  Historically, when people were born their information was put into a book.  As other life events occurred (e.g., marriages and death), those events were added to the same record.

Kurjak has such a small population, that they do not have their own Matićni Ured.  Udbina is also too small to have one.  The Matićni Ured covering all of greater Udbina is located in Korenica, Croatia (about 22 miles from Kurjak).   With a population of about 1,700, Korenica is the government center for the local area.  Here is a picture of the building in Korenica where all of the government records are located.

Government Building in Korenica

Matični Ured office plaque

The individuals in the office were extremely helpful.  Unfortunately, though all of the records prior to 1900 have been destroyed.  They simply no longer exist.  The oldest records they have for Kurjak are from 1900.  Here's a picture of the book for Kurjak and Srednya Gora for the years 1900-1918 .

Because Jandre was born in 1888, we will not be able to get any civil records on him.   However, his two youngest siblings were born after 1900.  And we do have records on them.