Hello Leonie
I was hoping someone on the list may be living on Rügen Island and may be able to assist. I believe the Evangelical churches of Rügen belong to the "Pommersche Evangelische Kirchenkreis" and this belongs to the "Nordkirche" with a central archive in Schwerin.
My understanding is the church books of Rügen are in the process of digitised and will be published on Archion. I am a subscriber to Archion. I also understand there are 43 churches on Rügen Island and some of their church books are on Ancestry.
Many thanks for your reply however Frederick's marriage to Elizabeth Sternbeck in 1867 is recorded in the Church of England registers for the Macdonald River/St Aubans parish in the Hawkesbury River area which is about 96 KMs from Sydney in New South Wales.
Elizabeth Sternbeck was born in 1846 at Macdonald River.
Elizabeth Bernsdorff died 19 March 1919 at St Albans.
Frederick Bernsdorff was believed to have been born on the Island of Rügen his parents died there in 1842.
Records for the Bernsdorff birth/deaths and marriages here in Australia are all recorded in in the early chuchbooks of the Church of England in the St Albans and Windsor areas of New South Wales.
Frederick Bernsdorff arrived in Australia from Germany in the 1860s he was never naturalized so we do not know the name of the ship he arrived on. No death certificate was issued as his body was never recovered.
I really don't think that the Lutheran archives in South Australia would have any information that would help me locate his baptism record and his parent’s marriage n Rügen.
Many thanks for your interest and time to reply, I am always willing to help researchers with NSW records whenever possible.
Elizabeth