01 How can I start researching my German or German-American family?
Description
This article is from the German Genealogy FAQ, by Jim Eggert EggertJ@crosswinds.net with numerous contributions by others.
01 How can I start researching my German or German-American family?
Beginners should do two things first: interview elderly or infirm
relatives and read a good book on genealogy. The importance of
talking to relatives before they pass away cannot be over-
emphasized. Your local library probably has several books on
genealogy. Check out the ones that seem best to you and read them.
Don't ask how to do two things first, just do them.
Then you should gather and organize all the information you have
from various sources. You may want some genealogical software to
help in organizing your information. Document all your sources.
Organization allows you to develop an overview of what you have so
that you can better direct your research.
Next locate your local LDS (Mormon) FHC (Family History Center(tm)).
The genealogical collection of the LDS Family History Library (FHL)
is unsurpassed, and much of it can be used at your local FHC. You
need not be Mormon. You can probably find the LDS church in your
phone book. A list of FHCs and some of FHL resources are at
<http://www.familysearch.org/>
A partial list of FHCs can also be found at
<http://www.genhomepage.com/FHC/fhc.html>
You should also consult the online documents available on the
German genealogy server at <http://www.genealogy.net/> and may
want to monitor the messages on the Usenet newsgroup
<news:soc.genealogy.german> or its mirrored mail list gen-de-l.
The easiest way to make fast progress is to connect with research
already performed by others. When possible, such information
should always be verified from original sources. To find such
research, go online, go to your local LDS FHC, go to your library,
and join genealogy clubs.
Eventually your major information sources are likely to be German
civil records and German church registers. German civil records
start 1792 in Rheinland, 1803 in Hessen-Nassau, 1808 in Westfalen,
in 1809 in Hannover, 1 Oct 1874 in Prussia, and 1 Jan 1876 in all of
Germany. German church records start as early as the 15th century,
but for many areas extant records start only after the end of the
30 Years' War in 1648, or later. Some older civil records and many
church registers are available through the LDS FHC. Otherwise you
must write to the German Standesamt (civil records office) or parish
of interest or to the appropriate archive.
Other important sources include Ortssippenb"ucher, which list
all the families in a town, typically using church records as
the source; the IGI, which is an index of extracted records;
passenger lists; the ASTAKA, a collection of German genealogies;
German state censuses; and Geschlechterb"ucher, which is a series
of published genealogies.
Further documents are also available in German archives. Examples
of available documents include tax rolls, emigration papers,
land registers, wills, and court cases. Most of these have not
been filmed by the LDS and are available only at the appropriate
archive. Catalogs of the holdings of some archives are available
in printed form in some US research libraries.
Keep in mind a general rule of genealogy is to go from the known
to the unknown, and not the other way around. For example, if
your name is Bauer, you should concentrate on expanding the tree
of Bauers related to you by examining documents that refer to
them. You should probably not research the genealogy of some
other Bauer to see if he is related to you, because the chance
of success is slight. Note that this general rule does not
apply if you are researching a rare surname, or if you can pair
the surname with a town or another surname.
Another general rule is to do as much research as possible
locally. Use your local LDS FHC, library, interlibrary loan,
genealogical society, etc. to their fullest extent before
you write or travel to distant archives or churches. It is
usually cheaper and often more efficient, and it will make
subsequent research more productive.
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