This 665-page work is designed to help genealogical researchers find and understand German-language records that will tell them about the lives of their ancestors and relatives. The book’s features include:

* 25 documents drawn up in America and 70 drawn up in Europe, reproduced, analyzed, and translated, most with the handwritten parts repeated in modern Roman-style typeface to facilitate comparison. The sample documents include numerous formats of birth, marriage, and death records, as well as a variety of other documents that may provide genealogical information;

* a section on German grammar, phonetics, and spelling;

* an 80-page chapter on using gazetteers and other sources to help locate ancestral towns and villages, as well as contact information for state and regional archives in countries where large numbers of Germans lived (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Luxemburg, Poland, and Switzerland), including maps showing the modern administrative divisions of those countries;

* a German letter-writing guide, to help you write to archives in German-speaking lands;

* a 210-page vocabulary section, emphasizing archaic terms seen in old records. Every German word is given in Fraktur (the old Gothic blackletter typeface), Kurrentschrift, the old German handwriting) and modern italics, to help you get used to dealing with those old forms and recognize them more easily;

* a 32-page chapter listing common German given names and their equivalents in other European languages;

* a 19-page index designed to help you find information on any subject covered within the book..

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1. German’s Phonetics and Structure

Das deutsche Alphabet – The German Alphabet

Document 1–1: Army Volunteers from Bavaria

Phonetics and Orthographics: The Sounds of Hochdeutsch

Vowels

Diphthongs

Consonants and Consonant Combinations

Grammar

Definition of Terms

German Declensions

Declension of the Definite Article, der

Declension of the Demonstrative Pronoun dieser

Declension of the Indefinite Article, ein

Adjectives

Strong Declension of Adjectives

Weak Declension of Adjectives

Mixed Declension of Adjectives

Nouns

Masculine Nouns

Feminine Nouns

Neuter Nouns

The Chopping Block

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

Declension of the Relative Pronoun der

Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

Demonstrative Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Verbs

Present Tense

Past Tense

Auxiliary Verbs

Future Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Indicative, Imperative, and Subjunctive Moods

Participles

Passive Voice

Prepositions

Adverbs

German Word Order

Nouns and Adjectival Phrases

Verb Components

Numbers

German Numerals

Days of the Week

Months

Dates

Punctuation

Summary

2. Locating Records in America That Lead Back to Europe

A. Church Records

Document 2-1: Page from a Marriage Register for a German Roman Catholic Parish in Chicago, Illinois

B. Civil Vital Records

C. Naturalization Records

D. Passenger Lists

E. Social Security

F. Probate Records

G. Fraternal Organizations and Clubs

H. Parish or Congregation Histories

I. Obituaries and Cemetery Inscriptions

J. Enemy Alien Files

K. Consular Records: Passport Applications

L. Military Records

M. Insurance and Fraternal Organization Death Claim Records

3. German Documents Created in North America

Birth and Baptismal Records

Document 3-1: Sacramental Register for Trinity Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio

Document 3-1a: An Index to a Parish Register

Document 3-1b: An Index of Names Appearing in the Register

Document 3-1c: An Excerpt from Page 50 of the Register

Document 3-2: Baptismal Records from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in New York City

Document 3-3: Baptismal Certificate from a Lutheran Church in Newark, New Jersey

Document 3-4: Newspaper Lists

Marriage Records

Document 3-5: Marriage Entries in the Trinity Lutheran Church Register, Cleveland, Ohio

Document 3-6: Marriage Register Entries from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York City

Document 3-6a: An 1863 Entry from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York City

Document 3-6b: An 1864 Marriage Entry from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church

Document 3-6c: An 1892 Entry from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church

Document 3-7: An Entry in a Roman Catholic Register with Information in German

Document 3-8: A Lutheran Marriage Certificate

Death Records

Document 3-9: Death Entries from Trinity Lutheran Church, Cleveland, Ohio

Document 3-10: From the Death Register of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, New York City

Document 3-10a: Name Index for Deaths from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church

Document 3-10b: 1871 Excerpts from St. Peter’s Death Register

Document 3-10c: 1888 Excerpt from St. Peter’s Death Register

Document 3-11: A Newspaper Obituary – 1853 Excerpt from a New Orleans Newspaper, Die deutsche Zeitung

Document 3-12: 1912 Death Notices from Pittsburgh’s Volksblatt und Freiheits-Freund

Document 3-13: 1914 Death Notices from the Providencer Anzeiger

Other Sources of Information

Document 3-14: List of Confirmations from Trinity Lutheran Church, Cleveland, Ohio

Document 3-15: A Certificate Commemorating Confirmation

Document 3-16: A Card Used to Recruit German Immigrants to Wisconsin

Document 3-16a: Front Side of a Card Recruiting Immigrants

Document 3-16b: The Back Side of the Card Recruiting Immigrants

Document 3-17: Various Newspaper Announcements

Document 3-18: A Membership Certificate in the Order of the Sons of Hermann

Document 3-19: A German-Language Will from Clinton County, Pennsylvania

Document 3-19a: The First Paragraph of the Will

Document 3-19b: The Will Itself

Document 3-20 through 3-25: Tombstone Inscriptions

Document 3-20: A Lutheran Tombstone

Document 3-21: Another Lutheran Tombstone

Document 3-22: Another Lutheran Tombstone in English and German

Document 3-23: A Catholic Tombstone

Document 3-24: Another Catholic Grave in St. Mary’s Cemetery

Document 3-25: One Last Tombstone for a Catholic

4. Finding the Right Place, and Writing the Found Place

I’ve Found It—Where Is It?

Figure 4-1: Das Deutsche Reich, 1871–1918

Figure 4-2: The German Partition of Poland

Gazetteers

German-Language Gazetteers

Document 4-1: A Sample Page from Meyers Orts-und Verkehrslexikon

Document 4-2: A Sample Page from the Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preußen

Document 4-3: Sample from Barthel’s Gazetteer of ... East and West Prussia

Document 4-4: Sample from the Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego

Other Sources

Gazetteers for Former Austrian Territory

Document 4-5: Page X from the Bukowina Volume of the Gemeindelexikon der im...

Definitions of Terms Indicated by the Symbols

Document 4-6: Pages 2 and 3 from the Bukowina Volume of the Gemeindelexikon der im

Document 4-7: Pages 14 and 15 from the Mähren Volume of the Gemeindelexikon der im

Document 4-8: Sample from Jan Bigo’s Gazetteer of Galicia

Document 4-9: Sample of the Primary Community List in Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia

Document 4-10: Sample of the German Name List in Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia

Regarding German Place Names in Chapter Six

Maps of European Countries That Have or Had Large German Populations, Showing Modern Administrative Divisions

Austria

Czech Republic

Germany

Denmark

Selected German Terms for Administrative Units, Past and Present

Hungary

Poland

Switzerland

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Writing the Found Place

State and Regional Archives of Germany

Archives Outside of Germany

Civil Registration Offices and Town Archives

Church Parish Offices

Historical and Genealogical Societies

“Deutsche Archive im Internet”

Other Archives of Interest in Germany

Ecclesiastical Archives in Germany

Catholic Archives

Archdioceses

Dioceses

Lutheran Archives

Archion – Online Portal

Austrian State Archives

Austrian Diocesan Archives

Swiss State Archives

Polish State Archives

Regional Archives

Ecclesiastical Archives in Poland

Protestant Records in Poland

Jewish Records in Poland

Czech State Archives

German Letter-Writing Guide

5. German Documents Originating in Europe

Parish Registers – Birth and Baptismal Records

I. Columnar-Form Original Entries in Registers

Document 5-1: A 1682 Parish Baptismal Entry from Olomouc, Czech Republic

Document 5-2: 1815 Baptismal Entries from Wiśnicze, Śląskie, Poland (Silesia)

Document 5-3: An 1837 Protestant Baptismal Register from Passau, Bavaria

Document 5-4: Catholic Baptismal Entries from Blansko, Czech Republic

Document 5-5: Jewish Birth Entries from Bernartice near Milevsko, Czech Republic

Note on Terms for Occupations and Social Status

Document 5-6: A Protestant Baptismal Register from Chodzież, Wielkopolskie, Poland

II. Paragraph-Form Original Entries in Baptismal Registers

Document 5-7: A Baptismal Record from Bigonville, Luxembourg

Document 5-8: An 1809 Birth Record from Waldsolms, Hessen, Germany

Document 5-9: An 1860 Birth in Hardheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

III. Certificates Drawn up on the Basis of Original Entries in Registers

Document 5-10: A Transcript from an 1831 Birth Record, Seulberg, Hessen, Germany

Document 5-11: An 1897 Birth/Baptismal Certificate from Kärnten, Austria

Document 5-12: A 1911 Baptismal Certificate, Brzozie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland

Document 5-13: A 1900 Jewish Certificate for an 1899 Birth, Suceava, Romania

Document 5-14: An 1876 Birth Certificate from Wysławice, Wielkopolskie, Poland

Document 5-15: A Baptismal Certificate on a Postcard, Halle (Salle), Germany

Marriage Entries and Certificates

I. Columnar-Form Original Entries in Registers

Document 5-16: An Index to a Protestant Marriage Register from Klagenfurt, Austria

Document 5-17: An 1863 Entry from the Klagenfurt Protestant Marriage Register

Document 5-18: Columnar Entries from the Catholic Parish in Smilov, Czech Republic

Document 5-19: An 1874 Entry from the Catholic Parish Marriage Register in Smilov

Document 5-20: Jewish Marriage Entries from Kozliv, Ukraine (Formerly Galizien)

Document 5-21: Entries from a Handwritten Protestant Register, Northeastern Germany

Document 5-22: An 1870 Columnar Entry from a Czech Military Register

II. Paragraph-Form Original Entries in Registers

Document 5-23: An 1854 Marriage Record from Itzig, Luxembourg

Document 5-24: A Handwritten Entry from Żelazna, Opolskie, Poland

Document 5-25: A Printed Form from Wysławice, Wielkopolskie, Poland

Document 5-26: Notice of Intent to Marry in Municipal Files of Dinkelsbühl, Germany

Death Entries and Certificates

I. Columnar-Form Original Entries in Registers

Document 5-27: Index to a Death Register for Klagenfurt, Austria

Document 5-28: 1863 Entries from the Protestant Death Register for Klagenfurt

Document 5-29: A Jewish Man’s 1881 Coroner’s Record from Rozdil, Ukraine (Galizien)

Document 5-30: 1793–1795 Death Entries from České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Document 5-31: An 1843 Military Death Record from a Czech Parish

Document 5-32: A 1917 Entry from an Austro-Hungarian Military Death Register

II. Paragraph-Form Original Entries in Registers

Document 5-33: 1589 Death Records from the Area of Baden, Germany

Document 5-34: An 1864 Printed Form from Bigonville, Luxembourg

Document 5-35: An 1853 Entry from a Death Register in Landau in der Pfalz, Bavaria

Document 5-36: An 1880 Death Entry from Bolszewo, Pomorskie, Poland

Document 5-37: An 1885 Death Entry from an Asylum in a Suburb of Berlin, Germany

III. Certificates Drawn Up on the Basis of Death Register Entries

Document 5-38: A 1936 Death Certificate from Hamburg, Germany

IV. Other Death-Related Records

Documents 5-39 through 5-41: Medical Examiners’ Certificates from Bukowsko, Podkarpackie, Poland (formerly Galizien)

Document 5-42: An 1858 Death Notice from a Newspaper in Munich, Germany

Other Documents of Genealogical Value

I. Censuses, Revision Lists, Police Registration Records, Etc.

Document 5-43: Records from the 1867 Census in Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Document 5-44: Revision List Entries for Bauska, Latvia (formerly Russian Empire)

Document 5-45: Revision List Entries from Kleinliebenthal, Now in Ukraine

Document 5-46: A 1916 Persons- und Melde-Nachweis from Lviv, Ukraine

Document 5-47: Identification Papers in Nazi-Occupied Poland

II. Papers for Citizenship, Right of Domicile, Etc.

Document 5-48: A Transcription of a 1670 Citizenship Request, Basel, Switzerland

Document 5-49: An 1840 Bürgereid or “Citizen’s Oath,” Bremen, Germany

Document 5-50: A 1906 Request for Heimatrecht, Right of Domicile, in Passau, Bavaria

Document 5-51: A “Homeless” Woman’s Request for Aid in Passau, Bavaria

Document 5-52: An 1845 Hessen Heimathschein or Certificate of Domicile

III. Property Records

Document 5-53: Cadastral Entries for Cheremoshnia, Ukraine (Formerly Galizien)

Document 5-54: Receipts in the Land Records of Český Těšín, Czech Republic

Document 5-55: A Property Transfer and Marriage Contract, Nove Mesto, Slovenia

Document 5-56: Pages from a Probate Record, Schwäbisch Hall, Württemberg, Germany

IV. Military Documents

Document 5-57: A Haupt-Grundbuchblatt, Page from Austrian Military Service Records

Document 5-58: A Pre-World War I German Militärpaß

German Abbreviations

Document 5-59: A Draft Lottery and Muster Certificate

Document 5-60: A Führungs-Attest or Military Good Conduct Certificate

V. Papers Needed by Civilians

Document 5-61: Travel Authorization for a Civilian, Kamen, Germany

Document 5-62: An 1886 Certificate for a Journeyman Smith’s Test, West Prussia

Document 5-63: A Servant’s Employment Booklet from the Krosno, Poland Area

Document 5-64: A Servant’s Employment Booklet from Former West Prussia

Document 5-65: An 1841 Berlin Certificate of Citizenship for a Jewish Man

Document 5-66: An 1833 Request for Schutzgeld from a Jewish Resident

Document 5-67: A 1942 Letter Appealing a Resettlement Order from the Łódź Ghetto

Document 5-68: An 1854 Prussian Reise-Paß or Travel Pass

Document 5-69: An 1821 Austrian Reisepaß or Travel Pass

Document 5-70: A Cieszyn Commandant’s Leave for a Man to Travel to America

Document 5-71: A Prussian Passport Booklet

Document 5-72: A Polish-German-Ukrainian Passport for Livestock

VI. Items Connected with Emigration

Document 5-73: A Brochure Distributed in Prussia to Promote Michigan

Document 5-74: A Shipping Line’s Advertisement in a Jewish Newspaper

Document 5-75: An Abmeldeschein or “Unregistration” Certificate

Document 5-76: A Shipping Contract from Bremen to Suffield, Connecticut

Document 5-77: A Hamburg-America Line Passenger List

VII. Papers Unique to the Nazi Period

Document 5-78: A 1934 Letter Requesting Proof of Aryan Descent

Document 5-79: An Ahnenpaß or “Ancestor Pass”

6. German Vocabulary

Latin Titles Indicating Social Status, and Their Significance

Causes of Death and Other Death-Related Vocabulary

Family Relationships

Numbers, Cardinal and Ordinal

Months of the Year

Days of the Week

Rendering of Dates

Master Vocabulary List

Symbols and Abbreviations Used in This Book

Symbols Seen in Records

7. German Given Names and Equivalents

8. Acknowledgements and Bibliography