Germany Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

*Records of German emigrants in their destination countries

Once you have traced your family back to a German immigrant, you must find the city or town your ancestor came from if you wish to find earlier generations. The records you will need to continue your research, such as birth, marriage, and death records, are kept in local areas. Germany has no nationwide index to these records.  

The Family History Library publication Tracing Immigrant Origins gives more suggestions for finding your ancestor's place of origin.  

Significant numbers of German emigrants can be found on every continent and in many countries around the world. Millions of people left Germany in several waves of migration. Most emigrants left Germany during the following periods:  

*[http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/articles/index.html www.progenealogists.com/germany/articles/index.html]

The earliest German emigrants went down the Rhine River and left Europe from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. As passenger traffic increased, Dutch, Belgian, French, and Danish ports were used. From 1850 to 1891, 41 percent of German and east European emigrants left via the port of Bremen (Germany), 30 percent via Hamburg (Germany), 16 percent via Le Havre (France), 8 percent via Antwerp (Belgium), and 5 percent via several ports in the Netherlands. Only a few Germans emigrated from other European ports. Southern and western Germans tended to emigrate through the ports of Bremen or Le Havre. Northern and eastern Germans tended to leave through Hamburg.  

DENMARK, KØBENHAVN, KØBENHAVN EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

Each state or city had its own laws regarding passports. In many cases, the applications for passports and the supporting documentation have been preserved. These records often give information such as the emigrant's name, birth date or age, birthplace, occupation, last residence, verification of identity, and physical description.  

GERMANY, WÜRTTEMBERG, STUTTGART - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

Germans had to apply for permission to emigrate from most areas. The Family History Library has these application records for several states and cities, including Baden, Rheinland, the Pfalz, and Zwickau. For example, the library has microfilmed the emigration application records of Württemberg. They list the emigrant's birthplace, residence, assets, and indebtedness. Most Württemberg records consist of applications and accompanying documents that were collected by district offices. These records begin in the mid-1700s, with most from the 1800s. Most districts also have handwritten indexes for the mid-1800s. Six published volumes of indexes are available, which so far cover 35 of the 64 districts:  

Dozens of other published emigrant lists are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the town, state, or province from which the emigrants came. A partial bibliography of German emigration sources is in Smith's ''Encyclopedia of German-American Genealogical Research'', pages 207 to 232.  

German police began keeping records of each person's residence in the 1840s. Citizens were required to tell the police when they moved. These records are discussed further in [[Germany Population|Germany Population]].  

The Family History Library has the 1991 edition of the ''Germanic Emigrants Register: Germanic Emigrants Register.'' Diepholz, Germany: [s.n.], 1991. (FHL fiche 6,312,192.) This source consists of 10 microfiche and contains about 118,000 names.  

The Family History Library has emigration records or indexes for almost every German state and various German districts or cities. These are listed in the catalog under the particular state, province, or town in Germany where the records were made. Check the Place Search of the catalog under:  

GERMANY, [STATE], [TOWN] EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

Often the best sources for information about German emigrants are found in the country they immigrated to. Records of German immigrants may list their towns of origin and other valuable information. To learn more about these records, see the research outline for the country where your ancestor settled and the research outline Tracing Immigrant Origins.  

'''Newspapers.''' Arriving German immigrants are occasionally mentioned in newspapers, especially German-language newspapers. See [[Germany Newspapers|Germany Newspapers]] for a bibliography of German-language newspapers.  

Starting in 1722, the Austro-Hungarian monarchs encouraged Germans to settle their lands, especially along the devastated border with the Turks. Colonies developed in what later became Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Initially, twice as many Germans moved to this area as went to America. More references and research tools for locating Germans who emigrated to Southeast Europe are found on-line at:  

{{Place|Germany}}