R E S E A R C H   G U I D A N C E

A GENEALOGICAL
HANDBOOK OF GERMAN RESEARCH
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Acknowldegements
Chapter 1 Historical And Geographical
Chapter 2 Emigration Before 1800
Chapter 3 Emigration After 1800
Chapter 4 Determining The Place Of Origin L.d.s. Sources
Chapter 5 Determining The Place Of Origin U.S. Sources
Chapter 6 Determining The Place Of Origin European Sources
Chapter 7 Analyzing Surnames And Place Names
Chapter 8 Locating The Parish
Chapter 9 Determining The Present Name Of Localities
Chapter 10 Conducting An Area Search
Chapter 11 Record Repositories
Chapter 12 Naming Practices (patronymics And Occupational)
Chapter 13 Naming Practices (farm And Locality)
Chapter 14 Handwriting And Terminology Beginning
Chapter 15 Handwriting And Terminology Intermediate
Chapter 16 Handwriting And Terminology Advanced
Chapter 17 Feast Days And Calendars
Chapter 18 Finding A Birth Record
Chapter 19 Finding A Marriage Record
Chapter 20 Finding A Death Record
Chapter 21 Corresponding For Records
Chapter 22 German Genealogical And Family Organizations
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Index




Chapter 6 Determining the Place of Origin European Sources


Passenger Lists

In Germany there were two main ports of embarkation. These were the ports of Bremen and Hamburg. Except for a few isolated extracts from part of it, the Bremen passenger list was destroyed during World War II.

The Hamburg passenger list, on the other hand, was left intact. This list began in 1850 and copies of it are available at the genealogical library from this date up to 1934. There is a small gap from August 1914 through 1919 of the index and from September 1914 through 1919 of the passenger list because the lists were not kept during World War II.

There were actually two separate passenger lists for Hamburg. One was the direct list and the other was an indirect list. The difference between the two was that in the direct list emigrants left Hamburg and traveled directly to their place of destination. With the indirect list the emigrants left Hamburg and traveled first to another port, usually in England, and then they went on to their place of destination.

Both the direct and the indirect lists had separate indexes which were alphabetically arranged according to the first letter of the emigrant's last name. In this way all the A’s were listed together and the B's were all together, etc.; but they were not in alphabetical order except for the first letter, in the direct list from 1850 through 1854 the passenger list itself was arranged in this manner.

To use the index in conjunction with the passenger list, the following things should be kept in mind:

  1. In the index each letter was allowed a certain number of pages for names beginning with that letter. If the pages for a letter were all used up, which happened frequently, the rest of the names beginning with those letters would be continued under letters used less frequently such as the letter “Q” and the letter “X.” Two things that indicate that this has happened are: First, the dates for that letter fall short of the dates of that particular volume of the passenger list; and second, if the names beginning with a particular letter stop at the bottom of one page and names beginning with the next letter begin at the top of the following page, it indicates that they ran out of pages. In either case you should begin looking under less-used letters for a continuation of the letter you are searching.

Albers Birtha 1031 Andrzan Josef 1074
v. Amsberg Marie 1033 Cimbria Capt. Ludwig  
Adolem Stephan 1035 No. 67 3/10 80 New York  
Adriosky Andr. " Ahrens Franz 1081
Ramses Capt. J.A. Wilson Aber Wolff 1083
No. 63 25/9 80 Westküste Süd.   Alka Rajan 1085
America via Antwerpen   " Marie "
Anwandter Carl 1037    
Fig. 6A

  1. Once the name is found, there are two things that are needed from the index in order to locate the entry in the passenger list as indicated in Fig. 6A. The first thing that is needed from this index is the passenger list page number, which is given directly after the name. If there is no number directly after the emigrant's name, then move up the column to the page number immediately above. The second thing that is needed is the entry date. This is because in later years there may be a number of rolls of microfilm covering one year, and the date will help to determine which roll to use. The entry dates as indicated in Fig. 6A are given directly above the surnames. Again, if there is no date given above the emigrant's name, then move up the column to the next entry date that is given. This may require going down to the bottom of the previous column or the bottom of the previous page. With this information, all that is needed is for you to obtain the microfilm on the passenger list for the corresponding date, turn to that particular page number, and locate the name on that page.

Fig. 6B: actual page

Using the name “Franz Ahrens” which is listed under entry number 67 in Fig. 6A (name is underlined), you would obtain the microfilm copy of the passenger list which would correspond with the date in the index “3 October 1880” and turn to page 1081. After locating the page you would search it until you found the name listed, see Fig. 6B for an example from the passenger list. This entry shows that Franz Ahrens was male, age 35 and his former residence was Hamburg. As years passed, the information given in the passenger lists did change a little. Essentially, however, the following information was included in all of them:

Zuname, Familienname = surname, family name
Vornamen = given name
Geschlect, Mannlich, Weiblich = sex, male, female
Alter = Age
Bisheriger Wohnort = former residence
Im staate oder in der provinz = kingdom or province
Bisheriger stand Oder Beruf = former standing or occupation
Ziel der Auswanderung = destination of emigration

Later in the 1900s an English translation was provided in the passenger list itself.

There were other ports of embarkation in Europe such as le Havre, Antwerp, and Rotterdam to mention the major ones used by German emigrants. The genealogical library has no records from Rotterdam. It does have the Antwerpen, Belgium passenger lists from 1854 through 1.855 (Film Nos. 392,910 to 392,912). For information concerning shipping lists, sojourn registers, and police registration, write to the following address.

Stadsarchief - Antwerpen
Venusstraat 11
2000 Antwerpen, Belgium

For information on the Le Havre, France passenger lists, write to the following address:

Monsieur le Directeur des Services d'Archives
Archives Departmentales
Prefecture
76 Seine-Maritime = Court Clemenceau
Rouen, France

When the German emigrants passed through Alsace-Lorraine on their way to the le Havre port, many of them established records which gave their place of origin, the genealogical library has some of these records dating from 1817 to 1866. These have been completely indexed (see example in Fig. 6C) and are available on the following microfilms:

A-C 1,125,002 H-K 1,125,004 Q-S 1,125,006
D-G 1,125,003 L-P 1,125,005 T-Z 1,125,007
Other records on emigration may be found in the city or state archives and genealogical societies of former German kingdoms. Among these are the Wüerttemberg emigration records, which have been microfilmed by the Genealogical Library, covering the 1700s and 1800s primarily and even earlier in some instances.

These records were kept by the Oberamt (District Office) of which there were over 60 for all of Wüerttemberg, with the exception of a few of these, there were no indexes to these records. You would have to know the name of the place to begin with before you could determine which Oberamt to search. If you were lucky enough to find your emigrant ancestor listed in one of the few indexes and in turn find him in the passenger list, you would probably find the following information on him: Date of emigration registration, name, age, residence, occupation, religion, family status, place of destination, reason for emigrating, amount of property and other remarks.

Fig. 6C

The Genealogical Library has acquired some of the emigration indexes from Baden. These indexes provide the place of origin from this former German kingdom. Some emigration information from other areas has been printed such as the Auswandererlisten des Ehemaligen Herzogtums Braunschweig, 1846 - 1871. (Emigration lists of the former duchy of Braunschweig) by Fritz Gruhne. (943.59 H2q Vol. 20) (Film 1,045,468 item 10)

A list of emigrants from the Prussian province of Westfalen giving name and place of origin is found in the German periodical:

Beitrage zur Westfalischen Familienforschung. Vol. 22-24 Münster: Verlag Aschendorff, 1966. (943.55 B5bf)
In some cases where a U.S. source gives the name of a kingdom or province, you could use the Deutsches Geschlechterbucher (German lineage books). (943 D2dg Vol. 1-183) these books contain compiled genealogies based on certain geographical areas such as Baden, Hessen, Mecklenburg, Pfalz, Posen, and Thüringen. Each volume (there are presently over 183 volumes) contains its own index to the surnames found in it. If your ancestor is not listed but the surname is somewhat unusual, it may be possible to determine the exact places where that name appears.

Another source that can be used to determine the areas where certain surnames occur is the following:

Spohr, Oswald (comp.) Familaengeschichtliche Quellen. Vol. 1-13
Neustadt/Aisch, Germany: Degner and Co., 1927-1959. (943 B2fg)
Vol.1 Film No. 547,171 item 3
Vol.2 Film No. 496,630 item 1
Vol.3 Film No. 496,680 item 1
Vol. 4 Film No. 496,680 item1
Vol. 5 Film No. 496,680 item 2
Vol. 6 Film No. 496,680 item 3
Vol. 7 Film No. 496,680 item 4
Vol. 8 Film No. 496,680 item 5
Vol. 9 Film No. 496,681 item 1
Vol. 10 Film No. 496,631 item 2
Vol. 11 Film No. 496,681 item 3
Vol. 12 Film No. 496,682 item 1
Vol. 13 Film No. 496,682 item 2

A complete index of surnames taken from various German publications is given with a number(s) following the surname (see Fig. 6D under the name Bocholt).

71. die Bochen 71. du Bochet 93 (124).
71. v. B' 92 (26). Bochinger 88. Bochius
Bochold 99 (29). Bocholt 46. de Bocholte
(97). v. b' Asseburg 98 (180). Bocholz 99
44 (317). 89. Bochs 68. Bochsen 71. v. B
Fig. 6D
The number(s) refer to a list of sources at the front of the book. See Fig. 6E under number 46.

46.Dr. Ernst Hovel, das Burgerbuch der Stadt Munster 1538-1660.
Another source, too often neglected by researchers, is the German periodical. Most geographical areas in Germany had them. Most of them have surname indexes to them. Many of them date back prior to World War II and some before World War I. Their value lies in the fact that contained in them are often complete extracts of such records as parish, land, tax, and guild records. In many cases the original record no longer exists due to wars and fires.

There may be many other sources available that can help to identify an ancestor's place of origin. In most instances it is impossible to tell which source is going to provide it.

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Copyright 1996, by Larry O. Jensen. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be translated or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the author. Printed in the U.S.A.
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