10 Top Tips for Beginning German Genealogy

[@lewis7315]

There exists an about 50 volume German American gen resource I came across in the San Diego public library... It is likely found elsewhere as well...

[@GenealogyGems]

Yes, I believe it's called Germans to America and it's widely available in libraries. Great resource!

[@germanologyunlocked]

Thank you for having me - I enjoyed talking with all of you!

[@GenealogyGems]

Thanks so much for joining us!

[@DavidBrown-ej2fj]

Where is the link to the German Atlas book showing changes over time?

[@Rony2453]

Another hint that is very useful is the naming of the children. First boy would be Fathers father, 2nd boy would be mothers father and lastly only the fathers name.

[@rosameryrojas-delcerro1059]

Not necessarily, that is never true on my tree. I do not have any close German heritage, 4th great grandfather is the closest (1800 and before), but none of the branches I have follow that pattern. Normally they have a first name that they don't use, and the first sons middle name (use middle names) is always after his dad. On one branch all the sons have the same first name.

[@LAN13131313]

WOW! I went to the Matricula website, searched my great-great grandmother's town, clicked the church book, and there she is right there on page one of the the book! All I can read right now is her name. But wow. So cool.

[@GenealogyGems]

That's GREAT to hear! Thanks for watching.

[@LAN13131313]

@@GenealogyGems And shortly after that, I found her parents marriage record (I already knew their names), and that gave me four of my 4x Great Grandparents names. Thank you VERY much for this video.

[@patriciayohn6136]

I had a relatively easy time on my Maternal line partly because I am a Pennsylvanian. My Mother's Mother had German background coming from York County, PA and Mother and I were born in Lancaster, County, PA which borders York, County. Traced the family name of my Maternal Great Grandmother 's maiden name Urey back to a Georg Uhrig about Seventeen hundred in York, County, name was changed to Urey by one of his sons. My guess would be that Georg Uhrig emigrated from the Palatinate as I have Cousins from that area in Germany.

[@misiasert1348]

Excellent advice, thankyou 👍 My trouble is ,part of " Germany " my ancestors came from was Poland, Austro-Hungarian, Russia 🇷🇺 😳 😐 Its hard work

[@GenealogyGems]

It is a challenge, but keep up the great work!

[@arminvoneckerberg]

This is a completely normal situation. Germany has always been an immigration country. What is often forgotten historically and at the end of the 19th century in Germany was abused by politics. On the other hand, for these and other reasons, many Germans have left the country. A DNA test will definitely help

[@lbfaith]

My gen stops at my 4th great grandfather. Immigrated to American from hesse- Darmstadt 1867 ( no clue why the docs have it hyphenated) I only have one American census for 1870. But no other census I could find.

[@brooke3312]

I’ve used ancestry for years and I think I have a good amount of information but I’ve only been able to get one record about my grandmothers brothers death and that’s it for the whole of ancestry….so sad.

[@Datacorrupter234]

She is very sweet

[@faganquin6483]

Great tips and vids. Pls a video on - When is it time to engage a professional genealogist?? I'm stunned at how lucky I've been to discover names and dates, professions and such, of ancestors escaping France into Alsace and Switzerland during the great purges of 1534 (Huguenots), and finally ending up in Mutterstadt. This city was obliterated and only about 1400 people survived, a few being my ancestors. I'm guessing it was because he was a baker that he survived (most his family perished) - i'm guessing the armies etc needed bread. Also some in-laws were town officials. I want to go deeper into their daily life and connections. Are there resources I can still tap into from here in the States and online, or is it time to get the help of a professional? And is it better to get one in Germany locally and maybe visit too, or just one that specializes in Germany will suffice? Thanks so much. Now I'm going to binge your channel. Peace.

[@GenealogyGems]

Thanks! Check out episode 18 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGXZiWSgosuAhrM which is about how I turned to a professional genealogist specializing in a particular area that I needed help (in my case Irish research). In that video you get to sit in and see how a consultation with a pro goes. Then watch episode 19 to see how I used what I learned to continue the research on my own (available at lisalouisecooke.com/elevenses/ ) You can apply these same principles to your research as well. Thanks for checking out our channel!

[@faganquin6483]

@@GenealogyGems Awesome. Thanks much - too funny; I have a brick wall Lynch in Antrim, and I have relatives from Dysart, Fife, Scotland - lol

[@s.f.8867]

If you are really lucky you can find a book called "Ortssippenbuch" for the place your ancestors came from. I can recommend this.

[@hustledude]

This was great, thank you!

[@GenealogyGems]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks.

[@Rony2453]

another sound is soft g or hard g.

[@LuisSanchez-cz6op]

How reliable are the Indexing/translation already provided on Family Search and Ancestry? Thanks

[@GenealogyGems]

As reliable as they can be but it's always up to the genealogist to verify.

[@LuisSanchez-cz6op]

Thanks. And in English it’s pretty easy if one can view the original. But having to learn at least some words in German plus the bigger obstacle of Kurrenntschrift ups the game big time. Do you think the people doing the indexing and translation are experts or just us “ordinary folks”? It could be the difference between “pretty darned accurate” and “riddled with errors”.

[@arminvoneckerberg]

Old German handwriting?Oh stop it. That was nothing old. Queen Victoria's daughter wanted a German handwriting and her son Wilhelm King of Germany introduced the Sütterlin font based on the English model. The font existed only from 1911 to 1941. it is totally easy to learn because the font is oriented to children

[@xochxrry6857]

Jeez don’t be so nasty to her lol

[@arminvoneckerberg]

🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻