Identifying Place Names in German documents: Difference between revisions

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;What do these place names have in common: ''Geminipontis''? ''Duobus Pontibus''? ''Biponte''? ''Deuxponts''? ''2brücken''? ''Czweynbrucken''? ''Tzweinbrucken''?&nbsp; &nbsp; Each place refers to the locality name ''Zweibrücken ''as found in original German documents.&nbsp; Interpreting place names in German documents can be challenging, even for experienced researchers.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When you find two or three German family researchers huddled in a library around one microfilm reader in animated conversation, with puzzled looks on their faces, they may&nbsp;be trying to determine the correct spelling of a place name [or surname]. Place names as they occur in German documents are not really misspelled. They reflect the language, dialect, the education, and sometimes even the frugality of the scribe. The location or place where the document was written must also be taken into consideration. Researchers should ask these questions?

Has the name been Latinized?  

Was the document written near the boundary of another language area, for example: France&nbsp;? Denmark, or Poland?

 

 

 

 

The answers to these and numerous other questions will help you determine the spelling of a given name so you can locate the place name on modern maps and in modern gazetteers. Luckily, modern resources, like "reverse-sort indexes" and gazetteers available on the Internet, can simplyfy the&nbsp;search.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; German research is first of all "locality" research, then surname research. To begin genealogical research in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and other German-speaking areas in Europe it is necessary to know the exact place of origin. A search in an incorrect locality for someone with the same surname could easily produce a pedigree of incorrect lineage. &nbsp;Verify the location, search for complete family units, analyze the names of associates and witnesses of your ancestor in specific time periods, and search all available records to build a correct pedigree.  

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When a phonetic spelling of a place name is given, it can mislead the researcher to the extent that it is impossible to proceed with the research on a certain ancestral line. Gerhard Jeske, retired reference consultant at the Family History Library once recounted an interesting account of a perplexing place name problem brought to the library by a German patron. It shows how misleading a phonetic spelling can be.  

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some time ago a patron came to the Family History Library with a German research problem and asked a reference consultant for assistance. The problem was to find records of a place in Germany by the name of "Viceneck." When the reference consultant looked at the given spelling of this place name, he knew immediately that this was a phonetic spelling. He was sure that a place with such spelling would not be listed in any of the German gazetteers, but he checked the gazetteers anyway to satisfy the patron.  

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the gazetteers had been searched without being successful in finding this place, the reference consultant began to analyze the problem to determine what the German spelling for this place could be. Viceneck is not a Germany spelling but a phonetic American spelling. The German spelling could be Weisneck, Weissneck, Weisnek, Weissnek, Weisseneck, Weissenek, Weisnick, Weissnick, Weisnik, Weissnik, Weisnich, Weissnich, etc.  

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The reference consultant then check the gazetteers for many different spellings but could not find any of them, and he realized that such place does not exist. He wanted to get a clue and find out what was wrong with the spelling of this place name in order to help the patron with this research problem. The consultant asked the patron how the spelling of this place name was obtained and who had given the name to the patron. He was informed that the name of the place was given by word of mouth by a living relative from Germany who did not speak English too well.<br>When the patron asked this relative where his ancestor was born, the answer given was: "Weiss nicht." The answer had been given in the German language. "Weiss nicht" translated into English means "I don't know." The patron, who didn't know the German language thought that "Weiss nicht" was the place where the ancestor was born, which phonetically spelled would be recorded as "''Viceneck''."