Brandenburg Emigration and Immigration

For a comprehensive understanding of emigration and immigration records, study the article Germany Emigration and Immigration.

Immigrants from Switzerland
In 1683 the Elector of Brandenburg offered to take in a few families from the Kanton of Bern. In 1695 fourteen families from Bern with their priest made the way to Brandenburg. They settled around Golmerbruch by Potsdam. A few years later when Switzerland experienced some crop failures, another invitation brought 200 families, mostly people from Bern, into the Havel region close to their compatriots. The settlers formed 6 parishes. Three were lead by priests from Bern and three from Zürich.

Source: Feller, Richard. Geschichte Berns, Bd. III. Verlag Herbert Lang, Bern und Frankfurt/Main, 1974.

Swiss colonists in Mark Brandenburg
A treatise of Swiss colonists in Mark Brandenburg was also rendered by Erich Wentscher in Archiv für Sippenforschung (7. Jahrgang, Heft 7, Juli 1930). The newcomers were very welcomed craftsmen who were given citizenship, land and tax breaks to settle in. Their names, family connections and whereabouts were very well documented. The author starts with 14 families departing from Basel in 1685, arriving in Golm where 4 families settled. Further 4 families settle in Nattwerder and the remaining 6 in Neu-Töplitz. Later settlements were in Ruppin and Lindow. Swiss immigrants are also found in Eberswalde. Over the decades and centuries the Swiss infiltrated other settlements, formerly Dutch, such as Neu-Holland. Swiss citizens are also found in Hohenbruch and Oranienburg.

The above mentioned periodical can be found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake Citý, Utah on the International floor, call number 943. B2as yr. 7

Emigration from Bern in 1691
It is a known fact that the ruler of Brandenburg invited many other nationalities to settle in Brandenburg after the Thirty Years War to repopulate certain areas and to boost the local economy. Such invitations were also followed by Swiss migrants from Bern in 1691. The author Franz Moser identified those immigrants who actually settled in Brandenburg after leaving Switzerland and published his findings in Archiv für Sippenforschung 14. Jahrgang, Heft 2 (1937), starting with page 143. The lists of emigrants can give the researcher details about family situations and often their places of origin. The above mentioned periodical is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, call number 943 B2as on the International Floor.

Swiss immigrants in the reformed parish of Prenzlau
At the end of the 17th century fifteen families of non-French origins assembled in Prenzlau and asked permission to form a new congregation which was granted.

The author Carl Nagel was mainly interested in Swiss immigrants of said congregation. He has combed through parish books, censuses and sacrament lists to establish his list of Swiss residents. Mr.Nagel provided the place of origin, profession and movement of the persons in question. The lists were published inArchiv für Sippenforschung, Jahrgang 18, Heft 8 (1941) and is available through FamilySearch, Family History Library, call number 943 B2as.

The migration of citizens from Kreis Dramburg to Poland in the year 1745
During the Thirty Years War many citizens of the Neumark (cultural area) fled to neighboring Poland for protection from the ravages of war. Most of them returned after the conflicts subsided, but many remained in their new settlements. In the years 1657 and 1674/75, again of wars, the process was repeated and again in 1714. Especially, the people of Kreis Dramburg with the villages Zamzow, Prochnow, Pammin, Klebow, Denzig, Mellen and Karwitz as well as people from the Ämter Sabin and Balster migrated because of high taxes and failed harvests.

The author Erich Utke made a list of all those who escaped in the year 1745 and settled in Poland. The list was published in Archiv für Sippenforschung, Jahrgang 20, Heft 11 (1943), starting with page 225. Mr. Utke provides Names, family members, place of origin and if known, their present place of residence. The periodical is available through FamilySearch, FamilySearch Catalog, call number 943 B2as.

Websites for Brandenburg Emigration/Immigration
Emigrants from Alt Rüdnitz, Neumark, Brandenburg

Germany Nationwide Records Websites

 * German Emigrant Data Base, covers 1820-1939, main source: New York passenger lists beginning in 1820, supplemented by material found in Germany, ($)

U.S. and German Passenger Lists and Indexes

 * The Hamburg Passenger Departure Lists 1850-1934
 * Bremen passenger lists, 1920-1939
 * French Lines
 * Ellis Island Records - New York arrivals 1892-1924, limited search functionality, includes images
 * CastleGarden – passenger arrivals in New York 1820-1913, currently not linked to images
 * One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse for the Ellis Island website and Castle Garden allows searches by various fields, with or without a complete name
 * Emigrants coming through Canada
 * Immigrant Ships Transcribers’ Guild