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Germany Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
German Search Strategies
Records At The Family History Library
Familysearch™
The Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Directories
Church History
Church Records
General Historical Background
Information Recorded In Church Records
Locating Church Records
Search Strategies
Civil Registration
General Historical Background
Regional Differences
Information Recorded In Civil Registers
Locating Civil Registration Records
Court Records
Directories
Dwellings
Emigration And Immigration
Finding The Emigrant's Town Of Origin
Emigration From Germany
Records Of German Emigrants In Their Destination Countries
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Handwriting
Heraldry
Historical Geography
History
Jewish Records
Land And Property
Language And Languages
Maps
Military Records
Types Of Military Records
Foreign Military Service
Locating Military Records
Military History
Names, Personal
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Nobility
Obituaries
Occupations
Periodicals
Population
Probate Records
Schools
Societies
Other Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
LAND AND PROPERTY Land records often provide a chain of land ownership from father to son (or to daughters and sons-in-law) over several generations. This information can be very useful, especially when other records do not exist or fail to give needed information. However, German land records are seldom used for research since they tend to be about the nobility or wealthy. Better sources, such as church records and civil registration records, are available.
German land records are not easily accessible. Where available, land records are found at state archives. You might be able to use land records for your research if you can visit the German archives in person or hire a local research agent.
The Family History Library has few German land records. They are found in the Locality Search of the catalog under the name of the locality and the subject LAND AND PROPERTY. House owner books are explained under the “Dwellings” section of this outline.
Most materials used in German research are written in German. However, you do not need to speak or read German to do research in German records. You will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records.
Because of Germany's history, you may also find several other languages in German records. Latin was frequently used in Roman Catholic church records. French was often used in Elsaß-Lothringen and during the French domination of the area west of the Rhein river (1806-1815). Danish was used in much of Schleswig-Holstein until Preußen annexed that area in 1864.
German grammar may affect the way names appear in genealogical records, so your ancestor's name in German may vary from record to record. For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section of this outline.
The Family History Library has genealogical word lists for German, Latin, French, Danish, and Polish. The German Genealogical Word List includes symbols commonly used in German genealogical sources. For more information about reading German writing, see the "Handwriting" section of this outline.
The following books and English-German dictionaries can help in your research. You can find these and similar materials at many research libraries.
Thode, Ernest. German-English Genealogical Dictionary. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1992. (FHL book 433.21 T352g 1992; computer number 211632.)
Langenscheidts German-English, English-German Dictionary = Langenscheidts Deutsch-Englisches, Englisch-Deutches Wörterbuch. New York: Pocket Books, 1952, 1993. (FHL book 433.21 L262g; computer number 264735.)
Other language aids, including dictionaries of various dialects and time periods, are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:
Also check the Subject Search of the catalog under:
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LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES
Language Aids
GERMANY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES
GERMAN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES
[FamilySearchTM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 6/8/2001]