9. Genealogy

Tracing yours and others' ancestry

9.1 How do I Find Out About my Family Name?

Online info

The world and your family history is at your finger-tips ...

Newsgroups

Read the newsgroups soc.genealogy.*; in particular soc.genealogy.german or get their FAQ list.

German genealogy web sites

Try the German genealogy server in Kerpen and its mirror site in Gießen and in Clovis, California.1999-08

Other web sites

The two biggest world-wide genealogical databases are RootsWeb and GenWeb.

The old fashioned way

Sometimes, very old information can not be found with very new technology. That's when you actually have to get off your butt and leave the house.

In the USA you may want to...

go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS.) and visit one of their Family History Centers (FHC) and run a computer check to see if your family name appears on the International Genealogical Index (IGI.) This may provide you with the general kingdom, duchy, province, (whatever) where your family name appears. It is then up to you to contact the genealogical association from that area. 1995-4

Be sure to check all available U.S. sources: local church records, citizenship papers, census reports, passenger lists, social security files, war records (civil, WWI, WWII, etc) which may list the origin of birth. 1994-11

Deutsche Zentralstelle für Genealogie

Käthe Kollwitzstr. 82
04109 Leibzig
Germany
tel +49(341)401 1113

The Center won't provide you with your family tree, but promises to answer specific questions (the more specific, the better your chances of success!) Their collection includes 100,000 personal documents and 16,000 church registers (dating back to the sixteenth century) and basic information on more than 1.4 million people is available.

The Conference of Americans of Germanic Heritage

P.O. Box 20554
San Jose, CA 95160
tel +1(408)995-6545
fax +1(408)268-9535
email GERMNHERTG@AOL.COM 1994-7

9.2 Where is Famous ... Buried?

For burial sites of famous Europeans pick up a copy of the Handbuch der Grabstätten:

1. Aubert, Joachim; Handbuch der Grabstätten berühmter Deutscher, Österreicher und Schweizer. 2. Ed.; München; Dt. Kunstverlag (1977); ISBN 3-422-00335-5
2. Adler, Josef; Die Grabstätten berühmter Europäer; München, Berlin; Dt. Kunstverlag (1986); ISBN 3-422-00782-2