Hamburg Passenger Lists: Difference between revisions

The Hamburg passenger lists contain the names of millions of Europeans who emigrated through Hamburg between 1850 and 1934 (except 1915–1919). Nearly one-third of the people who emigrated from central and eastern Europe during this time are included on these lists. If you have ancestors who emigrated from these areas, the Hamburg passenger lists could provide important genealogical information about them, including their hometowns. Extensive indexes make these records easier to use than most other passenger lists and emigration records.  

#Search the passenger list. <!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors -->

Before using the index, you need to know the year the emigrant left Germany. The 1900, 1910, and 1920 U.S. censuses are a good place to begin searching for this kind of information. The census provides the year a person arrived in the United States. If possible, find out whether the emigrant traveled directly to his or her destination or stopped at other ports along the way.  

If the emigrant departed between 1850 and 1854, search the alphabetical passenger list for those years. If the emigrant departed between 1856 and 1871, search the fifteen-year index or Klüber Kartei first. If the person is not listed in these, you may still wish to search the regular indexes. <!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors -->  

The Fifteen-year Index arranges all the names on the direct lists from 1856 to 1871 in one alphabetical index. Though it is convenient to use, this index is not complete. After checking the index, you may still need to use the Klüber Kartei or the regular indexes for the same time period. The regular indexes are more complete, but they are more difficult to use.  

The Klüber Kartei, or Klüber Card File, was filmed in 1994. It consists of two separate card indexes that cover both the direct and indirect Hamburg passenger lists for the following years:  

Although the two files overlap in time periods, both are necessary since neither file is complete. These card files are considered more complete than the Fifteen-year Index when card files 1 and 2 are used together.  

Both the Direct Passenger Lists and the Indirect Passenger Lists have regular indexes. The indexes are divided into segments that cover one year or part of a year. The direct indexes begin in 1854 and end in 1934. The indirect indexes begin in 1854 and end in 1910.  

Use the following instructions to search the index you selected in step 1.  

Using the table shown in figure 1, get the film on which your ancestor’s name would appear.  

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When you find a person in an index, use the information in the index to find the person in the actual passenger list. See step 3 to learn how to do this.  

Using the Family History Library Catalog, find the film number of the time period and correct beginning letter for your family name.  

The index cards provide the emigrant’s name, status or occupation, age, names of persons traveling in the same party, and place of origin. It also includes the year of emigration and the page number where the entry will be found. A letter i or d following the year will indicate if the entry was from the indirect or direct index. There are different types of cards used in this file. The figures below show two typical samples of cards from the Klüber Kartei.  

<center>[[Image:HAMBURGFIG3.jpg|center|Figure 3: Index card from Klüber Kartei]]Figure 3: Index card from Klüber Kartei.</center><center>[[Image:HAMBURGFIG3-4.jpg|center|Figure 4: Index card from Klüber Kartei]]Figure 4: Index card from Klüber Kartei.</center>  

Using the Family History Library Catalog to find the film number, locate the index for the time period the emigrant departed.  

=== CAN'T FIND YOUR ANCESTOR IN THE INDEXES?  ===

The emigrant did not sail from Hamburg. He or she may have sailed from one of several other ports in Europe, most of which have few or no records available.  

The person emigrated at a different date. Try other years.  

Once you have found your ancestor in an index, you will want to get the actual passenger list on which that person appears. Film numbers for the passengers lists appear after the regular indexes in the Family History Library Catalog.  

Format and titles may vary by shipping line and year.  

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[[Category:Hamburg,_Germany]]