Germany Compiled Genealogies
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The term genealogy is used in this outline to describe records that contain family information gathered by individuals, societies, or archives. These records may include pedigree charts, compiled family information, correspondence, ancestor lists, research exchange files, record abstracts, and collections of original or copied documents. These excellent sources of information can save you time. However, because they are compiled from other sources, they may contain inaccuracies. You should verify the information found in them when possible.
See, also:
- Collecting Previous Research by Others Part One: Home and Relative Sources
- Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Two: Online Family Tree Collections
- Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Three: Digitized Books
- Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Four: FamilySearch Wiki Tools
Major Online Collections and Databases[edit | edit source]
The Family History Library has several sources that contain previous research or that can lead you to other people who are interested in sharing family information. These sources include many ancestral lines that extend into Germany:
- International Genealogical Index: This index provides names and vital information for over 25 million deceased persons who lived in Germany. This valuable research tool lists birth, baptism, or marriage dates. The index for Germany includes names extracted from parish registers by volunteers and names submitted by other researchers. You can filter on one of eight German states and filter Germany, Miscellaneous:
- Alsace-Lorraine
- Baden
- Bayern
- Hesse-Darmstadt
- Prussia
- Sachsen
- Thuringen
- Wuerttemberg
- Filtering on Germany, Miscellaeous.includes only the small states and free cities of:
- Anhalt
- Braunschweig
- Bremen
- Hamburg
- Lippe
- Lübeck
- Mecklenburg
- Oldenburg
- Schaumburg-Lippe
- Waldeck
- GEDBAS and the Metasearch at Compgen.de have searchable links to many genealogical collections.
Microfilmed Collections[edit | edit source]
Some of these collections are currently available on microfilm. However, FamilySearch is gradually digitizing all their microfilms, so check back frequently.
- German Pedigree Charts, about 1750-1937. This collection contains over 5,200 pedigrees on fifteen microfilms. The film numbers for the index and pedigrees are found on FHL films 417525-39.
- Familiengeschichtliche Quellen. Zeitschrift familiengeschichtlicher Quellennachweise (Family history sources: periodical of family history source references). 17 Volumes. Neustadt/Aisch, Germany: Degener, 1926-. (FHL book 943B2fq; films 496,680-82; fiche 6,000,817.) This index totals over 6,400 pages, citing over 2,300 sources and listing over 2.5 million surname citations. The first few pages of each volume are a numbered bibliography of genealogy periodicals and books. Most of each volume is a separate index of surnames cited in the sources at the beginning. You will need to check each volume's surname index for the surname you seek.
- Institut zur Erforschung Historischer Führungsgeschichten Bensheim. Führende Persönlichkeiten (Leading personalities). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1980-1983.[Collection of articles, manuscripts, pamphlets, pedigrees, and notes pertaining to the history and genealogy of individuals and families throughout Germany. On 388 FHL films.
Books and Periodicals[edit | edit source]
- Many German families have produced family histories or newsletters. These often contain genealogical information about several generations of the family, and they may include biographies, photographs, and pedigrees. The Family History Library has many German family histories and newsletters listed in the Surname Search of the catalog. However, only the major surnames discussed in a family history are listed in the catalog.
- German Genealogists Directory. Use directories to find others working on your lines. A directory with about 34,000 indexed surnames and a list of 1,900 genealogists (mostly German), their addresses, and their ancestors is listed below:
- Glenzdorf, Johann. Glenzdorfs internationales Genealogen-Lexikon (Glenzdorf's international directory of genealogists). Three Volumes. Bad Münder/Deister: Wilhelm Rost Verlag,1977-1984. (FHL book 943 D27gi.) This source is not completely up-to-date, but it is still useful.
- Der Schlüssel (The Key):, Germany: Gesamtinhaltsverzeichnisse für genealogische, heraldische und historische Zeitschriftenreihen mit Orts-, Sach-, und Namenregistern (The key: comprehensive index of genealogical, heraldic, and historical serials with place, subject, and name indexes). Nine Volumes.
- Many German family histories are listed in the following 400-page bibliography:
- Heinzmann, Franz, and Christoph Lenhartz. Bibliographie gedruckter Familiengeschichten, 1946-1960 (Bibliography of printed family histories, 1946-1960). Düsseldorf, Germany: Heinzmann, 1990. (FHL book 943 D23he.) This bibliography cites 6,486 titles alphabetically by the main family discussed in each history. It also contains indexes of collateral lines, authors, and localities mentioned in the titles.
- The Family History Library also has several statewide bibliographies of family history, such as the following:
- Spruth, Herbert. Landes- und familiengeschichtliche Bibliographie fürPommern: Drucke und Handschriften (State and family history bibliography for Pomerania: Printed and Manuscripts). Neustadt/Aisch, Germany: Degener, 1962-1965. (FHL book 943.81 D23s.)
Town Genealogy Books (Ortssippenbücher)[edit | edit source]
An Ortssippenbuch (town lineage book) or Ortsfamilienbuch (town family book) includes birth, marriage, and death data for all persons found in the local records during a specified time period, compiled into families. Sources may include the local parish registers, civil registration records, court and land records, and sometimes published material. In the printed book, this information is then arranged in a standardized format, usually alphabetically by surname and chronologically by marriage date. Family entries are identified by sequential numbers. Town genealogies are known by various names, including “town lineage book,” “local heritage book,” “one-place-studies,” “Ortssippenbuch (OSB),” and “Ortsfamilienbuch (OFB).” This article will use the term “town genealogy” and the abbreviation OFB when referring to compilations that include all or a large part of a town’s population.
- Over 620 online town genealogies are currently accessible at Online Ortsfamilienbücher.
- A list of published Ortssippenbücher is found at:Category: Family Book on the same website.
- 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.
- For more information and online searchable collections of town genealogy books, by region, see Germany Town Genealogies and Parish Register Inventories on the Internet.
- A bibliography of OFBs held by the Central Office for Person and Family History, and available in their archive in Frankfurt am Main-Höchst, is listed here. You can arrange for copied pages to be sent to you for a fee or donation. Use the "Find" function on your keyboard to search the bibliographies, as they are not alphabetical.
- Below is listed an important bibliography of 668 village lineage books in alphabetical order by town name:
- Heinzmann, Franz. Bibliographie der Ortssippenbücher in Deutschland (Bibliography of village lineage books in Germany). Düsseldorf, Germany: Heinzmann, 1991. (FHL book 943 D23h 1991.) This work lists both monographs and village lineages in periodicals.
Bayern[edit | edit source]
The Family History Library has the following collection of records on forty microfilms:
Regensburg (Bayern). Stadtarchiv. Genealogische Sammlung von Familiengeschlechtern Namenskartei, 800-1900 (Card index of genealogical collections, 800-1900). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1986. (FHL films 1,337,855-94.) These records list births, marriages,deaths, professions, parents, spouses, and places of residence. The records are taken from city archives in Amberg, Augsburg, Nürnberg, Würzburg, and Regensburg. Family names are arranged phonetically.
The following sources list two alphabetical card indexes of births, marriages, and deaths from the Pfalz:
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Pfälzisch-Rheinische Familienkunde. Pfälzische Ahnenkartei, 16.-20. Jahrhundert (Palatinate ancestor index, sixteenth to twentieth century). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1979. (On 63 FHL films.)
Raimar, Josef A. Genealogische Quellensammlung-Karteien, 14.-20. Jahrhundert (Index of a collection of genealogical sources, fourteenth to twentieth century). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1980. (FHL films 1,203,923-37 and 1,258,025-26.)
The following is an alphabetical collection of unpublished family group sheets and other miscellaneous material representing 97 parish registers of Kreis Ansbach and other places in Mittelfranken, Bayern, for 1650 to 1969:
Brenner, Tobias. Brenner Collection of Genealogical Records of Mittelfranken, Bayern, Germany, Including Description, List of Card-indexed Parishes, etc., and List of Abbreviations Used for Given Names. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969. (On 764 FHL films.)
Hannover[edit | edit source]
The following sources contain alphabetical genealogies for Hannover:
Pohlsander, Hermann Walter. Genealogische Sammlung von Niedersächsischen Familien, 800-1975 (Genealogical collection of families of Lower Saxony, 800-1975). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1975. (FHL films 1,043,746-851.)
——. Genealogische Sammlung von Niedersächsischen Familien, 1600-1900 (Genealogical collection of families of Lower Saxony, 1600-1900). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1975. (FHL films 1,043,852-73.) This work is especially for the area around the city of Celle.
Lübeck[edit | edit source]
Two alphabetical genealogies for Lübeck are listed below:
Lübische Genealogie (Lübeck genealogies). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1960. (FHL films 492,120-31.)
Genealogisches Register, Lübeck (Lübeck genealogical register). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1960. (FHL films 492,132-40.)
Württemberg[edit | edit source]
The Family History Library has a collection of Württemberg genealogies collected by Max Cramer. The collection is on 72 microfilms and is in two parts:
Cramer, Max. Genealogien - Ahnen (Genealogies ¬ancestors). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969. This section contains an index and genealogies.
——. Familien - Genealogien, 1600-1930 (Family genealogies 1600-1930). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969. This section contains Protestant parish extracts of baptisms, marriages, and deaths in alphabetical order.
These and dozens of other genealogical collections are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under:
GERMANY - GENEALOGY
GERMANY, [STATE] - GENEALOGY
GERMANY, [STATE], [TOWN] - GENEALOGY
If you find your surname in any of the sources described in this section, determine whether the entry actually pertains to your family. All persons with the same surname are not related. You will usually have to do some research before you can connect your ancestry to families listed in these sources.
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