Thanks for replying to my problems. Yes I have his US naturalization papers. I recd. them from the Swift County Historical Society. In 1900 he lived in Danvers Village MN. I have the land papers from there and they moved her in spring of 1904. On all his papers he states Germany or Prussia as home. I don't know names of his family but I believe he joined them when he came to US just not sure where. Minnesota is the only place I can put him.
I am reserching my grandfathers family who were Germans from Russia. They were from the Odessa area. I am interested in finding info on when they lived in Russia and where they came from prior to moving. The last name is Fritchel. I am sure there has been changes in the spelling but his first name was Gottlieb. they came to US in early 1900's and settled in Colorado. Any help or tips would be great thanks..
Looking for KRUSE Families from KIEL,Schleswig-Holstein, 1800s,Lutheran Church descendants of Johann Hinrich Kruse and wife Freiderika Georgine Elsabe Schultz, occpuation Farmer. Son Johann Heinrich Lorenz Kruse migrated to Port Phillip, Melbourne Australia 1854. Have some Kruse Families photos taken in the Alfred Lewitz Studio in Hamburg.
Further to my comment 18 minutes ago - My GGGrandfather Johann Heinrich Lorenz KRUSE who migrated to Melbourne Australia in 1854 arrived here on the ship MALVINA VIDAL. He came looking for gold. I wonder if there are descendants from other immigrants arriving in the same year at the same Port who may have mated up together and maybe also went looking for gold. My GGGrandfather went to the Fiery Creek Diggings. It's a stab in the dark.
I'm looking for the following German surnames who migrated to the US
SCHAFFNER from Baden-Baden or Baden-Wurttemberg around 1840-1845 not sure where they came into the US, but my branch settled in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. I found my 3rd Great Grandfather Berhnard Schaffner in the 1860 US Census list of Louisville, Kentucky and lists his birth city as Baden Bernhard is listed as Ren Schaffner he was born in 1834 and died in 1878. I found his wife Katherine Luhr Schaffner in the 1880 and 1900 Census, Kate was born in 1830 and died in 1908. They both died in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
ROTHENHOEFER - migrated from Germany in 1840 and settled in Frederick County, Maryland. Johann Lorentz Rothenhoefer born 1815 in Guntersleben, Wurzburg, Germany and died in 1894 of Maryland, he married Christine Graff she was born 1816 in Germany and died 1887 in Maryland.
Virginia--have you looked for ships' lists to help you determine when your ancestor might have come to the US? You might find something on the Castle Garden website (Castle Gardens was the NY entry point that preceded Ellis Island), although many ships from Germany entered the US at the port of Baltimore. Baltimore ship records are available on ancestry.com. Have you looked on familysearch.org for your surnames? This site is putting more and more records, including German records, online all the time.
Also, regarding the geographic area from which your ancesters came. Baden-Baden means the town of Baden in the old state of Baden. The states of Baden and Wuerttemburg merged after WWII to form the modern state of Baden-Wuerttemburg.
If you don't find records for your family on familysearch.org, you might want to click on "catalog" above the search routine on this site, and then plug in the towns in which you are interested. The catalog will tell you if the LDS has filmed church or civil records for these areas and, if they have, you can rent the films of the records from your local Family History Center. You do not have to be a Mormon to use these films or these Centers.
Liz Richardson - Hi Liz, I was just posting my German surnames that I'm currently working on to try and connect with others researching these families. Thank you for replying.
I'm not sure at what port my Schaffner's entered the US. I will look again at the ships list and see if I can find anything. If I were to write the church in that area of Germany, do you know where I might send the letter? Thank you, the information you wrote does help me.
You can try googling the church, use the town name followed by either evangelischekirche or catholischekirche, depending on whether you want the protestant (lutheran) or catholic church. There might be an address for the church offices there. The website will probably be in German, but you should be able to get a translated version, even if there is no mark on the website for English. Your browser might ask at the top of the page if you want to translate. If not, copy the url, go to googletranslate, set it for German to English, paste the url into the German side; it will reappear exactly the same in the translated box, but if you click on the url in the English box, the website will reopen in English.
There is no guarantee whether you will receive an answer from the church; it often depends on the pastor's feelings about genealogical searches or his feelings about privacy. If you send a letter, you will have to write it in German, although several people on this webpage have said they've used google translate for this, and they have received responses. If you receive a response, it will most likely be written in German, too.
If LDS has the church records for the church you are interested in, and there is a Family History Center near you, I'd start there. The records will be films of the originals, not transcripts, and the staff is likely to be very knowledgeable and helpful. you go, the records will be written in old German script. You can have a copy of the original record this way. A letter from the church may just give you a transcribed version, or perhaps only a few facts and leave out some details you might find if you see the original record for yourself.
You do not have to be a Mormon to use the FHC. Many of us who go there fairly regularly are not affiliated with that church.
I'll try the google search and see what I can find. I went one time to the Morman church in our area, but didn't really know how to search for anything. I'll give it another try later.
I am looking for the Fritchell or Fritchele name and where abouts. They went to Odessa Russia prior to 1870. But I have no idea of where in Germany they came from. Any tips would be great thanks
Thank you so much Micheal. Gottlieb b 1865 is my gg grandfather. I have a lot of info on the family from when they came to America and setteled in Colorado, but nothing in Russia and Germany. If you have a tip to get me started over the ocean that would be great. Thanks again. Connie
LDS has filmed many German records but to use the films you first need to know a town name. But, they have also indexed many records (they just added a large group from Germany to what was already out there) at familysearch.org. If you haven't already done this, you can search the database by person's name. There are digital images of some records attached to the index, but it always tells you the film # from which the info came, so you can get to the original record on film if you find an ancestor in the index.
American death records may give the name of the town of birthplace. On the other hand, they may just say "Germany," but it is always worth a look. Look for death records for all your ancestors because families often lived near each other and it may be a third cousin, twice removed who gives you the lead to the town.
Geneanet.com is a European site where people put their family trees. The family tree part is free to use. You might get a lead here if someone researching your family.
It will be somewhat tedious to do, but you could work through all the different links on https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany#New_portal_for_G.... Some of these links on this page will lead to other links, some of which are searchable databases of state records, etc.
As far as I know, Germany as a nation--as opposed to the individual state databases that are listed on the above familysearch website--has no major search sites, although there is a site currently being built that may have church records in the future. I haven't spent enough time trying to translate it so am not sure if it will eventually give individual records or just be a list of the types of records each church has, but I think it says that digital images of individual records will eventually be available for a cost. http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de/inhalt.htm
You can also try looking in some of the online German phone directories to find if your surnames tend to hover around a certain area or areas. If so, these might be places to start since it may indicate that a family has been in an area for a long time. You might also want to contact one of the people you find in the phone book to see if they might know of the family for whom you are searching. Just type German phone directories into your brower's search routine.
I am looking for information on Dr. Julius F Reinhardt. I know he graduated from Julius Maximilian University in Wurzburg, Bavaria (Germany) in 1849. This is the 1st lead I have gotten on him for Germany. On the US Censuses, he lists Bavaria as his place of birth. He was born around 1825. His wife's name was Pauline. He married in Germany, but came to the US In the early 1860's. I have located him in Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. I would like to find his parents names, the maiden name of his wife and any other relatives he may have had.
Kathryn, according to familysearch.org, Washington DC death info for a Julius F A Reihardt (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7RR-5TY) does not give parents' names but the actual death certificate might. You can order the film from a family history center to see the death certificate. Also do you know if he had a daughter Marie m. to Otto Stadtler? There is a marriage record of a Marie, father __Reinhardt, mother Pauline in Michigan in 1890 (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12115-115193-44?cc=145...)
If anyone can help point me in the right direction...I am trying to find any ONLINE services for Catholic Church records for Bavaria or Baden. I am also looking for ONLINE services for Census records for those areas. I am looking for 1870 backwards. Danke!
Peter, see the familysearch.org page on Germany. https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany. This has probably the most concentrated list of links to online German records. Beyond that, go to the homepage of familysearch.org and plug in the persons' names for whom you are looking. LDS has the most comprehensive availability of church records anywhere. They have some Catholic church records and whether the church you need is out there depends on whether the individual church priest was willing to let the LDS microfilm; there is no official Catholic Church policy on this. Or check cyndislist.com for Germany. Or just try googling "Bavarian church records" or "Bavarian genealogy" and see what pops up.
Beyond these resources, you are not going to find much online. There is NO master German database anywhere for a couple of reasons. First, because of the horrible ways that the Nazis made use of private data, the current Germany has very strict privacy rules. Secondly, there was no Germany, per se, before 1850. What is now Germany was, at best, a confederation of individual states before 1850, and, in earliest days the states were independent individual kingdoms or dukedoms. That individuality, combined with the more recent fear of what a government can do with records, means that personal information such as bmds were and are still maintained at the city (stadtarchiv) or state level (staatarchiv) only.
To locate German records, you pretty much need to know the town name and rely on microfilms available through a Family History Center in your area. You need not be Mormon to use these centers. They are open to all comers. You will be charged a small fee per film ($5-6) to cover the two-way postage to and from the main library in Salt Lake City.
Hi, anyone looking into the Cords family - I THINK from Hamburg. And no, it is not Cordes which is a different group. We have a photo of my g-grandmother's (August Wilhelmina Wendt Cords) tombstone which clearly shows Cords as the last name. G-grandfather was Heinrich Wilhelm Cords, died before 1895, but that's all I know about him. familysearch.org has filmed many of the lutheran church records for Baden. I'm going through one microfilm reel at the library and the info I've found on the Oberdorfs is mind-boggling. There are so many that I'll spend quite a while figuring out who are direct ancestors and who are the branches!
Audrey--have you found this family in the US so you have a starting place to look for records? Also, I wouldn't rule out Cordes as a possible spelling. Or Corts or Cordts, either. Not only is it possible that a name or date can be carved incorrectly on a tombstone, it is only recently that spelling of names has become constant. Our ancestors often used various spellings, and in fact, as you go further back in time, they may not even have had a clue how to spell their name because they couldn't read or write. So, often, the spelling in records was at the whim of the clerk who wrote the record. In German records, I've often found that d, t, and dt are used fairly interchangeably.
Sharp/Scharfenstein of the Long Valley) German Valley) NJ.
Hi all, The Scharfensteins immigrated to NJ around 1720-1730 from Neuwied German. I've got the USA line completely but am looking for pointers on locating early German Records. I know that these records are extremely hard to find but any help would be appreciated. Thx Christina
I have a difficult topic to discuss. I'm sure most of you know about the family trees the Nazi party did. I have one from my step-grandmother. I know these trees were used for terrible reasons. However, are they accurate?
Hi Catherine, yes, I have the family Cords in the US, it was my mother's maiden name. My grandfather, William Cords, came here in1898, also two uncles were emigrants to the US. It's entirely possible that as I (hopefully) get further back in the family, the spelling will change, but I have found Cords in German history going back to the 1500s. Several of my aunts and uncles corresponded with Grandpa's siblings in Germany but no-one ever thought to ask about the family. I found his parents named on his social security application. We had neighbors named Cordes and I remember asking him if they were relatives. That's when he told me Cordes' are not Cords! I'll keep searching through records - it took me about 10 years to finally find something on the Oberdorfs (another branch of my family tree), so I have hopes of finding the Cords! Audrey
hello My name is Nellie Reed (Daniel) my maiden last name, but the german surnames I have been looking for are Eisiminger(Eisimonger) and Drucker
I am not to sure of the towns my family came from all I can tell us is the my Andres Eisimonger(Eisiminger) was from there, the surname Drucker was a off branch of the Mooney/Eisiminger family.
Nellie, what time period are we talking about? Do you know any other names than just Andres? Also, is there any possibility that the name was originally spelled Eisenmenger and changed? I looked on ancestry.com and the only Andres/Andrew Eisimingers (Eisimongers) seemed to be born in the US. I also checked familysearch.org and searching for Eisiminger brought up only Eisenmengers, and they seemed to be from several different places in Germany. Have you checked a US death record or citizenship record for Andres? They sometimes will give a town name as well as just the country.
Has anyone here ever requested German records from Poland? I'm having issues and would love to "talk" to someone who has successfully gone through the process for advice.
Amy - what time period are you seeking German records from Poland? If you are talking the 1800s, and know the village, you can look up what microfilms are available at familysearch.org. I'm in the process of viewing films for what was Marienau, Germany in the 1800s, but is Gdansk, Poland now.
I'm looking for records on the Heppner family who lived in Pfaffendorf, Germany, County of Landeshut in Silesia. It is now Szarocin, Kamienna Gora, Poland. The period of time I am interested in is 1830 - 1950. When my grandmother arrived in America with her sister in 1902 they had a letter from the Lutheran Church in the parish of Happelbach or Haselbach. Any information about where I can find these records would be greatly appreciated. I would also be interested in the name of an English speaking genealogist who researches in this area.
Sheila, Although I have done German research, I haven't done any German-Polish research, so am probably not a real help to you, but I've found the following info on the web. First, there is no such place as Happelbach, but in German script, s often looks like p and there are three Hasselbachs in Germany, but none of them is in Silesia. There is a Hasselbach in Baden, which is on the southwest side of Germany and two (in different districts) in Hessen-Nassau (now Hessen) which is just north of Baden, so still on the west side of the country, so it looks like your family may have moved at some point.
According to the catalog at familysearch.org, the Family History Centers have films for only the Catholic church of Hasselbach (Kr. Usingen) in Hesse but they have Lutheran records for Hasselbach (Oberlahnkreis) in Hesse and for Hasselbach in Baden. They also have church records for two districts of Pfaffendorf in Silesia. Those for Kr. Lauban are very early church records (pre 1779) and civil records after 1874, nothing in between. For Kr. Reichenbach, they have only the post 1874 civil records. You may want to go to a FHC and rent the films for some of these places. The records will be in old German, which is a bit tricky to read but not impossible. I've found the handwriting section (p39) of the research guide at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/RG/images/34061_Germany05.pdf and the German genealogy word list at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/guide/WLGerman.ASP to be helpful in reading and translating German records. You can also google German handwriting guide to find other "helps" to reading the old script.
However, you will be much more successful if you know the village as it was when Germany ruled over part of Poland (such as Marienau for my family). The film I'm looking at now for Catholic baptisms goes up to 1944. Most of these records also have a set for "Evalengische" (Lutheran) in different microfilms.
What religion did your relatives practice? Do you have any records from here in the U.S. that mention the town/village they were from (I have U.S. baptism records that asked where the parents were originally from, which is where I found Marienau). How about naturalization papers, alien registration records, passenger lists?
In Poland they have government archives in some areas/regions. I don't have the URLs to them, but if you do a search, you might find them. Doing Lithuanian genealogy gets interesting because Lithuania and Poland were once united when their royals married. So some parts of old Lithuania are now in Poland...and also perhaps from WWII. You send your questions to the Archives and may get the answers.
Part of the problem is going to be whether the records were destroyed in the wars from bombing or fires.
Do a search for government archives within Poland. You should find them.
I should add that there are fees for using those archives...just like we are charged in the US for the National Archives unless we are looking at microfilm ourselves. They charge for their research time and how many pages you decide you want/need.
Looking for information on my Greatgrandfather John Sondregger, b. 24 Dec 1853 in Feldkirch Austria, d. 22 Feb 1930 Dillon, Summit Co. Colorado. Married to Marie RUEFF unknown date. Children Edward b. Nov 1891, Minnie b. Mar 1893, Marie b. 23 Feb 1896 (my grandmother) d. 25 Dec 1989, Fred Pete (possibly Fredrick) b. May 1897, John Jr. b. 30 Nov 1899 d. Jul 1982, and Elizabeth b. abt 1901d. abt 1929.
Hello, I am looking for information on my Herbert/Herber/Harber relatives from Obererthal, Bad Kissingen, Bavaria. My great great grandfather was Peter Harber from Obererthal who settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his brother Valentine Herber. Peter was the son of Anna Maria Funck/Funk and Conrad Herbert according to his baptismal record. I cannot locate any information on Anna Maria and the only Conrad Herbert I can find in Germany has a different wife (Anna Maria Bopp).
Any thoughts as to where to look next would be appreciated.
@John Bhend--according to the 1900 census, John and Marie Sondregger were living in Summit, Colorado, had been married 9 years, had had 5 children, all of whom were living in 1900. Birth month and years listed as
John, age 48, saloon proprietor, b. Dec 1851, Germany, immigrated 1867, naturalized
Marie, age 31, b. Mar 1869, Austria, immigrated 1889
Edward, age 8, b. Nov 1891, Colorado
Minnie, age 7 b. Mar 1893, Colorado
Marie, age 5, b. Feb 1895, Colorado
Fred, age 3, b May 1897, Colorado
John, age 6/12, b. Nov 1899, Colorado
In 1910, John was listed alone, living on Blue Road in Dillon, Summit, CO in a home he owned but was mortgaged. This census claimed he was born in Aust-Germ and was a stock farmer. In 1920 and 1930, Marie was also there and in 1920, two children, John, 20, and Elizabeth, 18 were also there, he was born in Austria, Marie in Germany. According to this census, he was a farmer on a hay farm, immigrated 1868 and was naturalized in 1914. Marie immigrated 1888 and was naturalized 1894.
I couldn't find him in the 1870 or 1880 censuses, but in the 1885 Colorado State Census, there is a Jno Sondregger, age 27 (I think--hard to tell final digit), a miner, b. Germany.
You might want to check with the Summit County clerk to see if there is a marriage record for John and Marie and with the county court for naturalization records.
Also, the catalog on familysearch.org shows that LDS has microfilms of several parishes in Feldkirch, Austria. You might want to rent them from a Family History Center.
I found Marie and children in 1910. They are in precinct 6, Summit on Main Street in a rented house. According to the census, she had had 7 children, of whom 5 were living:
Minnie, age 17
Mary, age 15
Peter, age 12
John, age 9
Lizzie, age 7
I wonder if Peter and Fred are the same person, a Peter Frederick or a Frederick Peter, perhaps.
@Michelle, which Konigshutte? There are several in Germany, in different states. If you are looking for the one in Silesia, LDS has protestant church records and Jewish records, which you could rent from a Family History Center. See familysearch.org.
Also on familysearch.org, a people search yields transcriptions of Germany records for many Schades, but it didn't look like any were from Konigshutte.
Helen Pust
Hi all
Thanks for replying to my problems. Yes I have his US naturalization papers. I recd. them from the Swift County Historical Society. In 1900 he lived in Danvers Village MN. I have the land papers from there and they moved her in spring of 1904. On all his papers he states Germany or Prussia as home. I don't know names of his family but I believe he joined them when he came to US just not sure where. Minnesota is the only place I can put him.
Sep 2, 2011
James P. LaLone
Book notice - Beginning German research-
http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=14299
Sep 25, 2011
Connie Underwood
Hello
I am reserching my grandfathers family who were Germans from Russia. They were from the Odessa area. I am interested in finding info on when they lived in Russia and where they came from prior to moving. The last name is Fritchel. I am sure there has been changes in the spelling but his first name was Gottlieb. they came to US in early 1900's and settled in Colorado. Any help or tips would be great thanks..
Sep 28, 2011
Lee Tsakalos
Oct 4, 2011
Lee Tsakalos
Oct 4, 2011
Virginia Barker
I'm looking for the following German surnames who migrated to the US
SCHAFFNER from Baden-Baden or Baden-Wurttemberg around 1840-1845 not sure where they came into the US, but my branch settled in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. I found my 3rd Great Grandfather Berhnard Schaffner in the 1860 US Census list of Louisville, Kentucky and lists his birth city as Baden Bernhard is listed as Ren Schaffner he was born in 1834 and died in 1878. I found his wife Katherine Luhr Schaffner in the 1880 and 1900 Census, Kate was born in 1830 and died in 1908. They both died in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.
ROTHENHOEFER - migrated from Germany in 1840 and settled in Frederick County, Maryland. Johann Lorentz Rothenhoefer born 1815 in Guntersleben, Wurzburg, Germany and died in 1894 of Maryland, he married Christine Graff she was born 1816 in Germany and died 1887 in Maryland.
Oct 5, 2011
Catherine Davis
Virginia--have you looked for ships' lists to help you determine when your ancestor might have come to the US? You might find something on the Castle Garden website (Castle Gardens was the NY entry point that preceded Ellis Island), although many ships from Germany entered the US at the port of Baltimore. Baltimore ship records are available on ancestry.com. Have you looked on familysearch.org for your surnames? This site is putting more and more records, including German records, online all the time.
Also, regarding the geographic area from which your ancesters came. Baden-Baden means the town of Baden in the old state of Baden. The states of Baden and Wuerttemburg merged after WWII to form the modern state of Baden-Wuerttemburg.
If you don't find records for your family on familysearch.org, you might want to click on "catalog" above the search routine on this site, and then plug in the towns in which you are interested. The catalog will tell you if the LDS has filmed church or civil records for these areas and, if they have, you can rent the films of the records from your local Family History Center. You do not have to be a Mormon to use these films or these Centers.
Oct 5, 2011
Virginia Barker
Liz Richardson - Hi Liz, I was just posting my German surnames that I'm currently working on to try and connect with others researching these families. Thank you for replying.
Oct 6, 2011
Virginia Barker
I'm not sure at what port my Schaffner's entered the US. I will look again at the ships list and see if I can find anything. If I were to write the church in that area of Germany, do you know where I might send the letter? Thank you, the information you wrote does help me.
Oct 6, 2011
Catherine Davis
Virginia,
You can try googling the church, use the town name followed by either evangelischekirche or catholischekirche, depending on whether you want the protestant (lutheran) or catholic church. There might be an address for the church offices there. The website will probably be in German, but you should be able to get a translated version, even if there is no mark on the website for English. Your browser might ask at the top of the page if you want to translate. If not, copy the url, go to googletranslate, set it for German to English, paste the url into the German side; it will reappear exactly the same in the translated box, but if you click on the url in the English box, the website will reopen in English.
There is no guarantee whether you will receive an answer from the church; it often depends on the pastor's feelings about genealogical searches or his feelings about privacy. If you send a letter, you will have to write it in German, although several people on this webpage have said they've used google translate for this, and they have received responses. If you receive a response, it will most likely be written in German, too.
If LDS has the church records for the church you are interested in, and there is a Family History Center near you, I'd start there. The records will be films of the originals, not transcripts, and the staff is likely to be very knowledgeable and helpful. you go, the records will be written in old German script. You can have a copy of the original record this way. A letter from the church may just give you a transcribed version, or perhaps only a few facts and leave out some details you might find if you see the original record for yourself.
You do not have to be a Mormon to use the FHC. Many of us who go there fairly regularly are not affiliated with that church.
Oct 7, 2011
Virginia Barker
Hi Catherine,
I'll try the google search and see what I can find. I went one time to the Morman church in our area, but didn't really know how to search for anything. I'll give it another try later.
Thank you
Oct 7, 2011
Stephanie Richardson
Hi Everyone -
I'm looking for Luhmann and Benthin from Todendorf (Germany) circa 1890 and Duensing (or Deunsing) circa 1880-1890s in Illinois/Michigan.
Thanks.
Nov 3, 2011
Connie Underwood
Hello
I am looking for the Fritchell or Fritchele name and where abouts. They went to Odessa Russia prior to 1870. But I have no idea of where in Germany they came from. Any tips would be great thanks
Connie
Nov 21, 2011
Connie Underwood
Thank you so much Micheal. Gottlieb b 1865 is my gg grandfather. I have a lot of info on the family from when they came to America and setteled in Colorado, but nothing in Russia and Germany. If you have a tip to get me started over the ocean that would be great. Thanks again. Connie
Dec 2, 2011
Catherine Davis
Connie,
LDS has filmed many German records but to use the films you first need to know a town name. But, they have also indexed many records (they just added a large group from Germany to what was already out there) at familysearch.org. If you haven't already done this, you can search the database by person's name. There are digital images of some records attached to the index, but it always tells you the film # from which the info came, so you can get to the original record on film if you find an ancestor in the index.
American death records may give the name of the town of birthplace. On the other hand, they may just say "Germany," but it is always worth a look. Look for death records for all your ancestors because families often lived near each other and it may be a third cousin, twice removed who gives you the lead to the town.
Geneanet.com is a European site where people put their family trees. The family tree part is free to use. You might get a lead here if someone researching your family.
It will be somewhat tedious to do, but you could work through all the different links on https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany#New_portal_for_G.... Some of these links on this page will lead to other links, some of which are searchable databases of state records, etc.
As far as I know, Germany as a nation--as opposed to the individual state databases that are listed on the above familysearch website--has no major search sites, although there is a site currently being built that may have church records in the future. I haven't spent enough time trying to translate it so am not sure if it will eventually give individual records or just be a list of the types of records each church has, but I think it says that digital images of individual records will eventually be available for a cost. http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de/inhalt.htm
You can also try looking in some of the online German phone directories to find if your surnames tend to hover around a certain area or areas. If so, these might be places to start since it may indicate that a family has been in an area for a long time. You might also want to contact one of the people you find in the phone book to see if they might know of the family for whom you are searching. Just type German phone directories into your brower's search routine.
Dec 3, 2011
Kathryn Hammond
I am looking for information on Dr. Julius F Reinhardt. I know he graduated from Julius Maximilian University in Wurzburg, Bavaria (Germany) in 1849. This is the 1st lead I have gotten on him for Germany. On the US Censuses, he lists Bavaria as his place of birth. He was born around 1825. His wife's name was Pauline. He married in Germany, but came to the US In the early 1860's. I have located him in Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. I would like to find his parents names, the maiden name of his wife and any other relatives he may have had.
Dec 22, 2011
Catherine Davis
Kathryn, according to familysearch.org, Washington DC death info for a Julius F A Reihardt (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7RR-5TY) does not give parents' names but the actual death certificate might. You can order the film from a family history center to see the death certificate. Also do you know if he had a daughter Marie m. to Otto Stadtler? There is a marriage record of a Marie, father __Reinhardt, mother Pauline in Michigan in 1890 (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12115-115193-44?cc=145...)
Dec 22, 2011
Kathryn Hammond
Thank you,
Dec 23, 2011
Pete Val
If anyone can help point me in the right direction...I am trying to find any ONLINE services for Catholic Church records for Bavaria or Baden. I am also looking for ONLINE services for Census records for those areas. I am looking for 1870 backwards. Danke!
Dec 23, 2011
Catherine Davis
Peter, see the familysearch.org page on Germany. https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany. This has probably the most concentrated list of links to online German records. Beyond that, go to the homepage of familysearch.org and plug in the persons' names for whom you are looking. LDS has the most comprehensive availability of church records anywhere. They have some Catholic church records and whether the church you need is out there depends on whether the individual church priest was willing to let the LDS microfilm; there is no official Catholic Church policy on this. Or check cyndislist.com for Germany. Or just try googling "Bavarian church records" or "Bavarian genealogy" and see what pops up.
Census records are only available in Germany on a limited basis. See https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany_Census for information.
Beyond these resources, you are not going to find much online. There is NO master German database anywhere for a couple of reasons. First, because of the horrible ways that the Nazis made use of private data, the current Germany has very strict privacy rules. Secondly, there was no Germany, per se, before 1850. What is now Germany was, at best, a confederation of individual states before 1850, and, in earliest days the states were independent individual kingdoms or dukedoms. That individuality, combined with the more recent fear of what a government can do with records, means that personal information such as bmds were and are still maintained at the city (stadtarchiv) or state level (staatarchiv) only.
To locate German records, you pretty much need to know the town name and rely on microfilms available through a Family History Center in your area. You need not be Mormon to use these centers. They are open to all comers. You will be charged a small fee per film ($5-6) to cover the two-way postage to and from the main library in Salt Lake City.
Dec 23, 2011
Audrey Leonard
Hi, anyone looking into the Cords family - I THINK from Hamburg. And no, it is not Cordes which is a different group. We have a photo of my g-grandmother's (August Wilhelmina Wendt Cords) tombstone which clearly shows Cords as the last name. G-grandfather was Heinrich Wilhelm Cords, died before 1895, but that's all I know about him. familysearch.org has filmed many of the lutheran church records for Baden. I'm going through one microfilm reel at the library and the info I've found on the Oberdorfs is mind-boggling. There are so many that I'll spend quite a while figuring out who are direct ancestors and who are the branches!
Audrey
Jan 7, 2012
Catherine Davis
Audrey--have you found this family in the US so you have a starting place to look for records? Also, I wouldn't rule out Cordes as a possible spelling. Or Corts or Cordts, either. Not only is it possible that a name or date can be carved incorrectly on a tombstone, it is only recently that spelling of names has become constant. Our ancestors often used various spellings, and in fact, as you go further back in time, they may not even have had a clue how to spell their name because they couldn't read or write. So, often, the spelling in records was at the whim of the clerk who wrote the record. In German records, I've often found that d, t, and dt are used fairly interchangeably.
Jan 7, 2012
C Sharp
Sharp/Scharfenstein of the Long Valley) German Valley) NJ.
Hi all, The Scharfensteins immigrated to NJ around 1720-1730 from Neuwied German. I've got the USA line completely but am looking for pointers on locating early German Records. I know that these records are extremely hard to find but any help would be appreciated. Thx Christina
Jan 13, 2012
Marianne Szabo
Found one Scharfenstein in FamilySearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org/search/records/index#count=20&quer...
Jan 13, 2012
Catherine Davis
Go to your nearest Family History Center and rent the films for the churches in Niewied. You do not have to be a Mormon to use their libraries. They welcome all researchers. See the catalog of FHC films at https://www.familysearch.org/search/search/library_catalog#searchTy...
Jan 13, 2012
Christine M. Worthington
I have a difficult topic to discuss. I'm sure most of you know about the family trees the Nazi party did. I have one from my step-grandmother. I know these trees were used for terrible reasons. However, are they accurate?
Jan 29, 2012
Audrey Leonard
Hi Catherine, yes, I have the family Cords in the US, it was my mother's maiden name. My grandfather, William Cords, came here in1898, also two uncles were emigrants to the US. It's entirely possible that as I (hopefully) get further back in the family, the spelling will change, but I have found Cords in German history going back to the 1500s. Several of my aunts and uncles corresponded with Grandpa's siblings in Germany but no-one ever thought to ask about the family. I found his parents named on his social security application. We had neighbors named Cordes and I remember asking him if they were relatives. That's when he told me Cordes' are not Cords! I'll keep searching through records - it took me about 10 years to finally find something on the Oberdorfs (another branch of my family tree), so I have hopes of finding the Cords! Audrey
Jan 29, 2012
Catherine Davis
Audrey, if your aunts and uncles corresponded with people in Germany, don't you know the town so you can get films at a Family History Center?
Jan 29, 2012
Nellie Daniel
hello My name is Nellie Reed (Daniel) my maiden last name, but the german surnames I have been looking for are Eisiminger(Eisimonger) and Drucker
I am not to sure of the towns my family came from all I can tell us is the my Andres Eisimonger(Eisiminger) was from there, the surname Drucker was a off branch of the Mooney/Eisiminger family.
Feb 1, 2012
Nellie Daniel
looking to see if any one can tell me about my Eisiminger (Eisimonger)Andres Eisimonger would be the one that came from Germany and his parents
Feb 1, 2012
Catherine Davis
Nellie, what time period are we talking about? Do you know any other names than just Andres? Also, is there any possibility that the name was originally spelled Eisenmenger and changed? I looked on ancestry.com and the only Andres/Andrew Eisimingers (Eisimongers) seemed to be born in the US. I also checked familysearch.org and searching for Eisiminger brought up only Eisenmengers, and they seemed to be from several different places in Germany. Have you checked a US death record or citizenship record for Andres? They sometimes will give a town name as well as just the country.
Feb 1, 2012
Carole Mary Hughes-Beeler
I am working on the Jacob Maas Line of Spencer County, IN, PA, and Germany, this is my sons line.
Feb 6, 2012
Amy
Has anyone here ever requested German records from Poland? I'm having issues and would love to "talk" to someone who has successfully gone through the process for advice.
Feb 6, 2012
Marianne Szabo
Amy - what time period are you seeking German records from Poland? If you are talking the 1800s, and know the village, you can look up what microfilms are available at familysearch.org. I'm in the process of viewing films for what was Marienau, Germany in the 1800s, but is Gdansk, Poland now.
Feb 6, 2012
Sheila Elaine Edmondson Bowling
I'm looking for records on the Heppner family who lived in Pfaffendorf, Germany, County of Landeshut in Silesia. It is now Szarocin, Kamienna Gora, Poland. The period of time I am interested in is 1830 - 1950. When my grandmother arrived in America with her sister in 1902 they had a letter from the Lutheran Church in the parish of Happelbach or Haselbach. Any information about where I can find these records would be greatly appreciated. I would also be interested in the name of an English speaking genealogist who researches in this area.
Feb 6, 2012
Amy
Marianne, I'm looking for 1930s backwards, also in the Gdansk area.
Feb 6, 2012
Catherine Davis
Sheila, Although I have done German research, I haven't done any German-Polish research, so am probably not a real help to you, but I've found the following info on the web. First, there is no such place as Happelbach, but in German script, s often looks like p and there are three Hasselbachs in Germany, but none of them is in Silesia. There is a Hasselbach in Baden, which is on the southwest side of Germany and two (in different districts) in Hessen-Nassau (now Hessen) which is just north of Baden, so still on the west side of the country, so it looks like your family may have moved at some point.
According to the catalog at familysearch.org, the Family History Centers have films for only the Catholic church of Hasselbach (Kr. Usingen) in Hesse but they have Lutheran records for Hasselbach (Oberlahnkreis) in Hesse and for Hasselbach in Baden. They also have church records for two districts of Pfaffendorf in Silesia. Those for Kr. Lauban are very early church records (pre 1779) and civil records after 1874, nothing in between. For Kr. Reichenbach, they have only the post 1874 civil records. You may want to go to a FHC and rent the films for some of these places. The records will be in old German, which is a bit tricky to read but not impossible. I've found the handwriting section (p39) of the research guide at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/RG/images/34061_Germany05.pdf and the German genealogy word list at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/guide/WLGerman.ASP to be helpful in reading and translating German records. You can also google German handwriting guide to find other "helps" to reading the old script.
Feb 6, 2012
Marianne Szabo
Amy - here is what's at FHL under Gdansk, Poland:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/search/library_catalog#searchTy...
However, you will be much more successful if you know the village as it was when Germany ruled over part of Poland (such as Marienau for my family). The film I'm looking at now for Catholic baptisms goes up to 1944. Most of these records also have a set for "Evalengische" (Lutheran) in different microfilms.
What religion did your relatives practice? Do you have any records from here in the U.S. that mention the town/village they were from (I have U.S. baptism records that asked where the parents were originally from, which is where I found Marienau). How about naturalization papers, alien registration records, passenger lists?
What surnames are you researching? Marianne
Feb 6, 2012
Gloria Weber Baikauskas
In Poland they have government archives in some areas/regions. I don't have the URLs to them, but if you do a search, you might find them. Doing Lithuanian genealogy gets interesting because Lithuania and Poland were once united when their royals married. So some parts of old Lithuania are now in Poland...and also perhaps from WWII. You send your questions to the Archives and may get the answers.
Part of the problem is going to be whether the records were destroyed in the wars from bombing or fires.
Do a search for government archives within Poland. You should find them.
Feb 6, 2012
Gloria Weber Baikauskas
I should add that there are fees for using those archives...just like we are charged in the US for the National Archives unless we are looking at microfilm ourselves. They charge for their research time and how many pages you decide you want/need.
Feb 6, 2012
Albertus Lang
Hello List, Still trying to get details on death details on Giesen Gerhard ,Born 1806 in Eppinghofen,any details would be nice ,Kind Regards Albertus.
Feb 6, 2012
Sheila Elaine Edmondson Bowling
Thanks for the help with the Heppner family. Armed with my book 'If I Can You can Decipher Germanic Records' I'll head back to the FHL in Los Angeles.
Feb 6, 2012
Frederick george henchell
I think "Google Translate" is very useful. I copied Michael Boscarato's message body which was in Polish. This is what I got:
78-540
Giżyno,
25a
province. West, pow. Drawski, gm. Kalisz Pomorski
Category: Food-stuff - Retail Sales
Tel: 94 361 60 21
The system. Educational company - consulting. Heppner K.
64-730
Wielen,
acacia 8
province. Greater, pow. Czarnkowsko-trzcianecki, gm. Wieleń
78-540
Giżyno,
25a
province. West, pow. Drawski, gm. Kalisz Pomorski
Category: Food-stuff - Retail Sales
Tel: 94 361 60 21
The system. Educational company - consulting. Heppner K.
64-730
Wielen,
acacia 8
province. Greater, pow. Czarnkowsko-trzcianecki, gm. Wieleń
Feb 6, 2012
Albertus Lang
Hello Michael Boscarato,Many thanks for the lookup etc and the site's, will have some checking up to do ,cheers Albertus.
Feb 8, 2012
John C. Bhend
Looking for information on my Greatgrandfather John Sondregger, b. 24 Dec 1853 in Feldkirch Austria, d. 22 Feb 1930 Dillon, Summit Co. Colorado. Married to Marie RUEFF unknown date. Children Edward b. Nov 1891, Minnie b. Mar 1893, Marie b. 23 Feb 1896 (my grandmother) d. 25 Dec 1989, Fred Pete (possibly Fredrick) b. May 1897, John Jr. b. 30 Nov 1899 d. Jul 1982, and Elizabeth b. abt 1901d. abt 1929.
Feb 9, 2012
Michelle McGee
Does anyone know information about the Schade family in Konigshutte before they came to the United States? Before the early 1900s?
Feb 9, 2012
Heather Mitchell Groves
Hello, I am looking for information on my Herbert/Herber/Harber relatives from Obererthal, Bad Kissingen, Bavaria. My great great grandfather was Peter Harber from Obererthal who settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his brother Valentine Herber. Peter was the son of Anna Maria Funck/Funk and Conrad Herbert according to his baptismal record. I cannot locate any information on Anna Maria and the only Conrad Herbert I can find in Germany has a different wife (Anna Maria Bopp).
Any thoughts as to where to look next would be appreciated.
Feb 9, 2012
Catherine Davis
@John Bhend--according to the 1900 census, John and Marie Sondregger were living in Summit, Colorado, had been married 9 years, had had 5 children, all of whom were living in 1900. Birth month and years listed as
John, age 48, saloon proprietor, b. Dec 1851, Germany, immigrated 1867, naturalized
Marie, age 31, b. Mar 1869, Austria, immigrated 1889
Edward, age 8, b. Nov 1891, Colorado
Minnie, age 7 b. Mar 1893, Colorado
Marie, age 5, b. Feb 1895, Colorado
Fred, age 3, b May 1897, Colorado
John, age 6/12, b. Nov 1899, Colorado
In 1910, John was listed alone, living on Blue Road in Dillon, Summit, CO in a home he owned but was mortgaged. This census claimed he was born in Aust-Germ and was a stock farmer. In 1920 and 1930, Marie was also there and in 1920, two children, John, 20, and Elizabeth, 18 were also there, he was born in Austria, Marie in Germany. According to this census, he was a farmer on a hay farm, immigrated 1868 and was naturalized in 1914. Marie immigrated 1888 and was naturalized 1894.
I couldn't find him in the 1870 or 1880 censuses, but in the 1885 Colorado State Census, there is a Jno Sondregger, age 27 (I think--hard to tell final digit), a miner, b. Germany.
You might want to check with the Summit County clerk to see if there is a marriage record for John and Marie and with the county court for naturalization records.
Also, the catalog on familysearch.org shows that LDS has microfilms of several parishes in Feldkirch, Austria. You might want to rent them from a Family History Center.
Feb 9, 2012
Catherine Davis
@John Bhend--continuation of message below.
I found Marie and children in 1910. They are in precinct 6, Summit on Main Street in a rented house. According to the census, she had had 7 children, of whom 5 were living:
Minnie, age 17
Mary, age 15
Peter, age 12
John, age 9
Lizzie, age 7
I wonder if Peter and Fred are the same person, a Peter Frederick or a Frederick Peter, perhaps.
Feb 9, 2012
Catherine Davis
@Michelle, which Konigshutte? There are several in Germany, in different states. If you are looking for the one in Silesia, LDS has protestant church records and Jewish records, which you could rent from a Family History Center. See familysearch.org.
Also on familysearch.org, a people search yields transcriptions of Germany records for many Schades, but it didn't look like any were from Konigshutte.
Feb 9, 2012