Follow your family tree back to its roots in Bavaria, Baden, Prussia, Hesse, Saxony, Wurttemburg and beyond. This in-depth genealogy guide will walk you step by step through the exciting journey of researching your German heritage, whether your ancestors came from lands now in modern-day Germany or other German-speaking areas of Europe, including Austria, Switzerland, and enclaves across Eastern Europe.

Explore your Germanic heritage from the comfort of your own computer! Trace your German roots online highlights important German resources on popular genealogy websites including Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, as well as lesser known resources such as Archion.de. With helpful illustrated step by step instructions, you'll learn how to use each site to its fullest potential for German genealogy, including how to get around language barriers and navigate the various German states that have existed throughout the centuries. In addition, this book contains links to the best websites to consult when answering key German genealogy questions, from unpuzzling place names to locating living relatives in the old country. The book features trips to find and use German databases, records, and research tools on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and other popular genealogy websites. Guidance for helpful German-focused research websites, including how to translate using foreign language sites. Recommended websites for accomplishing key German research tasks, worksheets to log research progress and at a glance guides to help you identify important terms and resources.

People who are serious about exploring their German roots will find that sooner or later they need to turn to German archives, and this book was designed to help. It is one result of the German Immigrant Ancestors Project launched at Brigham Young University in 1996 to survey and catalog all the relevant public and private records in the Federal Republic of Germany. - Booklist Review

If you are researching your German family history, this book is a must-read. The book should help you answer the questions, why did our German ancestors immigrate; when did they leave; how did they get here; where did they settle? It includes descriptions of many aspects of German history that effected immigration to America, and the material should give you vital insights into your ancestors' immigration. Remember that each immigrant has a unique story, and it is our challenge to dig out as many details of their immigration saga as we can when doing our family history research. I am sure this book will help point the way to many exciting stories about your family history. The stories will help your ancestors come alive. Our immigrant ancestors are the foundation of our roots in the United States. Our lives would be much different if they did not endure the challenges of emigration from Germany. Do not underestimate their contributions. They played a critical role in factories and farms in the United States. Their lives were building blocks in the growth of their new country.

Finding Your German Ancestors is a brief but thorough introduction to German research. It presents the most up-to-date sources and resources for successful German research. Many German archives are accessible via the Internet, and Finding Your German Ancestors is the first reference work to include these vital contacts. And because identifying documents is key to German research, it contains sample illustrations of typical German documents, as well as contact sample information for major repositories of German records. With its straightforward approach and easy-to-read style, this book is sure to become a standard reference work for beginning German researchers.

This hands-on guide addresses virtually every aspect of tracing Germanic lineage. Written for beginners, it covers the basics of genealogy, clearly explaining how to plan, organize and begin searching. Also addressed are the unique challenges associated with Germanic ancestral research and proven ways to overcome them -- including how to locate and interpret vital emigration records. Also provided is a history of Germanic countries and their changing boundaries to help researchers determine the events that led their ancestors to emigrate.

This book is designed to help you trace your German ancestry, not only in Germany but in all the German-speaking areas of Europe, from the Baltic to the Crimea, from the Czech Republic to Belgium. It shows you how to conduct your research from your own home--at your computer, using a variety of online resources-and also points you to the most useful repositories of records abroad. The fifth edition of the book highlights all of the recent developments--new facilities, new websites, newly available records--that have made German family history research immeasurably easier. Completely revised and updated, the Fifth Edition is now the most current and comprehensive guide to German roots available.

Beginning your search -- Using United States records to find your ancestor's place of origin -- computers and genealogy -- Family history library and its centers -- Passenger departure and arrival lists -- Personal and place names -- Political and physical geography -- History of German-speaking people in Europe -- History, migration and genealogy of various religious denominations -- Genealogical resources for German Jewish ancestry -- Germanic migration to non-European countries -- Researching Germanic ancestors in Canada -- Researching Germanic ancestors in Latin America and the Caribbean -- Researching Germanic ancestors in Africa -- Researching Germanic ancestors in Asia -- Researching Germanic ancestors in Australia and the South Pacific -- Researching Germanic ancestors in Europe -- Corresponding with European sources -- Reading the records -- Annotated bibliography -- Useful addresses -- Appendix A. dateline of Germanic history -- Appendix B. maps.

Your German genealogy research will not be complete until you have thoroughly examined all of the resources available--and that includes a search of German-language newspapers. Astonishingly, there are more than 2,000 historic German-language newspapers online at numerous public, private, and commercial websites. The combined newspapers comprise billions of pages and refer to millions of individuals. This book will help you discover all digitally available German-language newspapers 50 years or older, search them by location and title, and narrow down the dates for which they are available online. The genealogical information you can find in these newspapers includes notices of births, marriages, and deaths from civil registrations; baptisms and wedding announcements from churches; intentions to emigrate; trade news; lists of pupils; appointments to office; promotions, transfers, and retirements; deaths and estate sales; lists of hotel guests; and a multitude of everyday notices. Whether you are a genealogist, family historian, demographer, migration researcher, or social historian, you'll find that these newspapers are extremely useful resources.

Delve into your German heritage! This carefully curated collection of beautiful historical maps of Germany will help you sort out the tangle of German history. With these 100-plus full-color maps, you can view German border changes throughout the centuries, allowing you to find your German hometown and records of your ancestors.