Germany Compiled Genealogies: Difference between revisions

For some German towns, a locally compiled genealogy book is available.  Such a book may be called an Ortssippenbuch, a Dorfsippenbuch or an Ortsfamilienbuch.  These lineage books are extracted from parish registers.  They give extensive genealogical information on almost all of the town's inhabitants, linked together as families. They usually begin with the earliest town records in the 1500s or 1600s and continue up to the twentieth century. They typically list families in roughly alphabetical order, with a surname index and place index at the end. They frequently have appendixes listing war casualties, mayors, pastors, refugees, or veterans.  

A village lineage book is perhaps the best secondary genealogical source that can be found. If one's ancestors lived in a parish with a village lineage book, one can probably trace one's family back many generations. Since the books contain compiled information, the information should be verified whenever possible by referring to microfilmed parish records.  

A list of on-line Ortssippenbücher (fully searchable online) available on www.genealogy.net is found at:[http://www.online-ofb.de/ www.online-ofb.de/]  In addition, other websites also host compiled genealogies. Some regional genealogical societies have published town genealogies. For example, ''Die Maus'', the Bremen area genealogical society, includes about thirty town genealogy databases on its website http://www.genealogy.net/vereine/maus/datenbanken/index.php?lang=de .