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Understanding and perspective
Obtaining good genealogical insight requires an open mind. As in the old saying: “Minds are like parachutes – they only function when open.” Thomas Dewar Getting good genealogical data and information requires a lot of work. But perhaps the most challenging work involves developing a relevant, contextually accurate, frame of reference to help find and interpret any data you might find. Based on what I see floating around the Internet, I worry that too many people ‘out there’ are attempting to gather data/ information about their family past without developing an adequate understanding of time, place, or circumstance. The questions/comments, I see, seem to indicate a preference to having…
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Researching “Lost” Eastern German Provinces
Many people get confused when conducting searches for their Eastern German forebears; this is especially true if those forebears purport to have been from Prussia (Preussen), Pomerania (Pommern), Silesia (Schlesien). Note: I have written a detailed article on helping you determine whether or not your family was Prussian and if so, what type. It might not surprise you that I encounter a lot of people having trouble doing, or trying to do, ‘their’ Prussian research. Given I have fairly extensive research experience in those regions of Europe, I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial, or key, for identifying and finding clues to those Eastern German ancestors ‘of ours’ who…
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Old German Terms, Occupations, etc.
Terms, occupations, and more change over time. If you are in the business of tracking down your German (Germanic) ancestors the following links may be of help to you. These links include old terms for professions, diseases, occupations, and more. Many of these terms and abbreviations are not in common use today… so hopefully these lists will help ‘clear’ some confusion. A note of caution, many (most) of these linked pages are in German; put on your German language ‘hat’ or use Google Translate! If you have any links you would like added, please use our contact page to let me know. These links also appear on our links page…
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