Elsass-Lothringen Timeline

Elsass-Lothringen, German Empire Genealogy

Getting Started
Finding Town of Origin Finding Aids For German Records Research Strategies Record Finder
Major Elsass-Lothringen Record Types
Church Records	Civil Registration
Reading the Records in German
German Word List French Word List	Handwriting Languages Feast Days Script Tutorial
Reading the Records in French
French Word List Latin Word List	Handwriting French Republican Calendar Script Tutorial
Additional Elsass-Lothringen Record Types
Emigration & Immigration	Online Genealogy Records
Elsass-Lothringen Background
Gazetteers History	Maps Timeline
Local Research Resources
Archives and Libraries Societies Metz FamilySearch Center Strasbourg FamilySearch Center

Online Information[edit | edit source]

A simplified historical timeline for Elsass-Lorraine - Any time you see an ethnic German's birthplace in the U.S. censuses flipping back and forth between France and Germany, there's a strong probability the individual was born in Alsace-Lorraine, an ethnic German enclave that is, today, in France, but has at times been ruled by Germany. The history of the region is complex, so for the purposes of genealogy, it might be best to simply consider it a "country" in and of itself, without placing it in either Germany or France. If a formal country must be used, then its current location dictates that it be placed in France, not Germany.