Germans from Russia Search Strategies: Difference between revisions

Background Information Sources. You may need some geographical and historical information. This can save you time and effort by helping you focus your research in the correct place and time period.  

*Locate the town or place of residence. Examine maps, gazetteers, and other place-finding aids to learn as much as you can about each of the places where your ancestors lived. Identify the major migration routes, nearby cities, county boundaries, other geographical features, and government or ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Place-finding aids are described in the “Maps,” “Gazetteers,” “Historical Geography,” and “History” sections of this outline.  

*Review local history. You will need to understand Russia's and Germany’s history because they have greatly affected the development of records of genealogical value. If possible, study a history of the areas where your ancestors lived. Look for clues about the people, places, religions, and events that may have affected their lives and the records about them. Records with information about migration and settlement patterns, government jurisdictions, and historical events are described in the «???be sure they really are described in these sections, or don't list the section here» [“Church History,”] [“Gazetteers,”] [“History,”] [“Minorities,”] and [“Periodicals,”] sections of this outline.  

*Learn about jurisdictions. You will need to know about how the nations where your ancestor lived are divided into political subdivisions. The United States are divided into states, counties, towns, and townships. Canada is divided into provinces, counties, towns and townships. The Russian Empire is divided into ???true? provinces and counties. See the “Historical Geography” section of this outline, the Germany Research Outline (34061), and the research outline of the nation where your ancestor settled.  

*Use language helps. The records and histories of German from Russia are often written in German. You do not need to speak or read German to search the records, but you will need to learn some key words and phrases. You may also need to use Russian gazetteers to locate some German settlements. A few records were kept in Russian about German settlers. Some helpful sources are described in the “Language and Languages” section of this outline.  

*Understand naming patterns. Many families that moved from German-speaking areas to Russia followed distinct naming patterns. Understanding these customs can help you locate missing ancestors. See the “Names, Personal” section of this outline for more information.

For each record type, the section heading used in this outline is the same as the heading used in the Family History Library Catalog. <!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --> <!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors -->