As you may have noticed, a “goodly portion” (to quote my father-in-law) portion of both sides of the Henss & Rabideau families have roots in Amish/ Mennonite/ Anabaptist traditions. Out of curiosity, actually out of a desire to find church building photos, I did a little web research on our families’ past church homes. As you might have guessed, nothing identifiable remains of our Prussian/ Poland Mennonite congregations, the Second World War took care of that. However, I have stumbled across a number of our families’ Alsatian congregations on the Internet.
It is wonderful to see that many of our predecessors’ beliefs and traditions live on and that our family’s work is continued by those who remained in the home country (Heimatland/ Patrie). The links below provide information to those Mennonite congregations today:
If any of our readers have information or photos regarding the history for any of these faith communities, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you. Please use our Contact us page, we’d love to share information.
One of the great challenges in researching areas like the former German Eastern Provinces
is that they are all gone- governments, people, Churches, libraries, Universities, and yes, in many cases, houses and villages as well. In an effort to help me, and perhaps others, identify place names, I am creating this document with its eclectic cross reference materials.
Hopefully these documents, websites, etc. will prove useful to those of us who have difficulty in finding ‘our family’s’ former German places and locations.
Former Prussian Places & Locations
(Westpreußen u. mehr/ West Prussia & more)
Should you have any additional pointers or corrections you’d like to contribute, please either leave a comment on this post or send me a note via our Contact form.
This page contains information regarding source materials I am using from across the Internet to conduct Henss/ Rich family research. These links and pages will change ‘automagically’, over time, as I add, change, and delete materials in Mendeley.
If you wish, you may also join the group and contribute to the research library.
For those interested in following my Anabaptist information gathering process/ results, I will publish my Mennonite Mendeley related folder contents on this page. Because of the rather extensive listings, over time I will create numerous sub-pages that will be accessible from here. These links and pages will change ‘automagically’, over time, as I add, change, and delete materials in Mendeley.
If you wish, you may also join the group and contribute to the research library.
Based on email traffic I have seen lately, it seems to me that all too many people think they are doomed to failure with their German genealogical research simply because they are unfamiliar with the German language (dialects) or unaware of German speaking peoples’ histories. Knowing something about German and “the history of German speaking people” can certainly be very useful in conducting research. But in all honesty, there are simply not that many folks out there, no matter their daily language skills or history knowledge, who are familiar with everything about ‘old Germany’. The Germans, like most European ethnic groups, have a long and complex history, one which is well matched to their handwriting, alphabet, short hand, and past-dated terminology.
Truth be told, almost everyone, at one time or another, needs help. It makes little difference whether they need help deciphering old documents, be they German, French, English, Latin or in figuring out what documentation might be available for genealogical and historical research. As my Oma (grandmother) used to tell me, “Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache” (The German language is a difficult language.) And so it is. Germany’s history is long, varied and complicated as well, encompassing many turns and nuances. There is simply a lot to learn.
As with many knowledge challenges, there are quite a few excellent tools available on the Internet, these days, to aid in solving language and other knowledge deficiencies or difficulties. When you are in need of help with your German research, I highly recommend the following documents and sites. Whether you are a expert or novice, remember almost everyone needs help at one time or another.
Obviously, there are many more content expertise providers. If you use other tools, sites, or help that are “freely” available to those of us poor folk, please let me know and I’ll augment this document with your pointers.
We all have languages we do not understand or read. Some of us struggle along in our native tongue only; others have a small or large suite of languages with which they are able to work. In the end though, we all hit a language wall and need to rely on tools other than our personal skills.
And… that’s where the challenge begins.
Today, I was translating a small German paragraph for use here on ManyRoads. So for grins and laziness reasons, I thought I’d attempt to use Google Translate to help speed up my effort. Boy was I surprised! Let me explain what happened.
The paragraph I wanted to translate involves a particularly new, and what will be hugely difficult, branch of my mother’s family- the Szczepanskis. For the record, I had obtained this, for me significant, paragraph from the Sczepanski Family Archives (in Germany). Here’s what the “German” paragraph reads:
Vorbemerkungen: 1. Mennonitenfamilie. Nach der mündlichen Familienüberlieferung war der Stammvater ein katholischer Knecht namens Szczepanski (Szepansky), der bei einem mennonitischen Bauern von der Mennonitengemeinde Plauschwarren, Kreis Gumbinnen (Ostpreußen, auch “Preußisch-Litauen” genannt) arbeitete. Dieser Knecht ließ sich mennonitisch taufen und heiratete eine Mennonitin. Als später einige Familien aus der Mennonitengemeinde Plauschwarren ins Weichseldelta nach Polen übersiedelten, schloß Szepansky sich ihnen an und kam etwa 1730 nach Thiensdorf im Kreis Marienburg, wo er einen Bauernhof erwarb. Thiensdorf im späteren Westpreußen gehörte zur Mennonitengemeinde Markushof, Kreis Marienburg.
So with that text in hand, off I marched to Google Translate. I entered my text into the handy translate box and Voila! Here’s what I was given:
Preliminary remarks: 1 Mennonite family. After the oral family tradition, was the progenitor of a Catholic servant named Szczepanski (Szepansky), the (called East Prussia, also called “Prussian Lithuania”) at a Mennonite farmer from the Mennonite community chat Warren, district Gumbinnen worked. This servant was baptized and married a Mennonite Mennonite. Later, when some families from the Mennonite community in the Vistula Delta chat Warren moved to Poland, joined Szepansky on them, and came about after 1730 Thien village in the district of Marienburg, where he purchased a farm. Thien village in West Prussia, later belonged to the Mennonite community Markushof, Kreis of Marienburg.
Unimpressed with that translation (and honestly quite curious), I next went to Babelfish. In someways Babelfish is better, but in truth it is just as funny and inaccurate. Anyway here are the Babelfish results:
Prefaces: 1. Mennonitenfamilie. After the verbal family excessive quantity the master father was a catholic farmhand named Szczepanski (Szepansky), which worked at a mennonitischen farmer of the Mennonitengemeinde Plauschwarren, circle Gumbinnen (East Prussia, also “Prussian Lithuania” mentioned). This farmhand let itself baptize mennonitisch and married a Mennonitin. When some families from the Mennonitengemeinde Plauschwarren in the Weichseldelta to Poland moved later, Szepansky attached them and came themselves about 1730 to Thiensdorf in the circle Marienburg, where he acquired a farm. Thiensdorf in later west Prussia belonged to the Mennonitengemeinde Markushof, circle Marienburg.
Please understand, I do not think my German is perfect and certainly there are readers out there who can and should correct my translation. But here’s more what I think the paragraph is trying to tell us.
Introduction: First Mennonite Family.
Family oral history maintains that the family’s progenitor was a Catholic servant by the name of Szczepanski (Szepanky) who worked for a Mennonite farmer in the Mennonite community of Plauschwarren in Gumbinnen County (East Prussia, also known as Prussian-Lithuania). This servant was baptized into the Mennonite Church and married a Mennonite woman. Later when some of the Plauschwarren families emigrated to the Vistula delta region in Poland, Szczepanski joined them, arriving in Thiensdorf, Marienburg County about 1730. Once there, he acquired a farm. Thiensdorf later became part of the Marcushof Mennonite community in Marienburg County, West Prussia.
Now understand I am not picking on Google Translate or Babelfish, at all. But, these tools are a long way from perfection. In many ways, these tools actually seem a bit closer to comedic perfection rather than translational perfection. Certainly though they are good enough to give you the gist of a foreign document, especially when more than one automated translation tool is employed.
So by all means use the tools… but just don’t expect that complex translations or terms will be very precise, or accurate the first time.
Searching for missing or lost family members from the former German Eastern Provinces can be quite a challenge. As you may already know, following the WW2 defeat of Germany by the allies, almost all ethnic Germans were ‘cleansed’ from their former homes in East/ West Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia, etc. (as well as much of Eastern Europe). In both the Expulsion process and the bombardments that preceded the Expulsions much was destroyed. Churches, City and Governmental records, family bibles, photographs, keepsakes, books, notes, were almost all gone.
[SinglePic not found]In the case of my opa (grandfather), he was able to salvage the bottom half of a coffee can worth of keepsakes and treasures. Not much I know. He made it the west with his life, but no birth certificates, no death certificates, no family bibles, and only two photographs…
Given that my family’s situation was not exceptional, how does one begin a genealogical search in an area where there are few graves or burial records, very few family members (if any), no continuous civil structures, and what was there has been replaced by the needs of new, and often non-indigenous, people and countries? Truth be told, it is not easy. I guess I would have to say it is pretty much analogous to a Kiowa or Comanche family looking for information about their great grandparents in Colorado (where I live).
My point is this…
It is absolutely essential to remember that any search succeeds when and where there is reliable information. But if the information and sources are destroyed or severely dislocated from their ‘logical’ places, where do you go?
Here are a few points we need to remember, as we begin a search:
There are still people alive who can provide remembrances of that time and place. Now, they may not always provide the most accurate memories but their memories can provide decent investigative threads to follow.
Not everything was destroyed. Many church records were filmed by the German government in the 1940s and a lot of that material has found its way into the LDS archives. It is not always easy to read; but it can be a watershed!
Photographs do exist and they often show up in the strangest of locations, like eBay or grandpa’s dresser drawer. I can’t tell you how many clues I have found by staring at a picture, or by reading the margins or back of a photo.
Old letters that were sent to relatives who lived far away from the destruction do exist; and, these contain return addresses (potentially telling us the names of the towns where our families lived).
Oral family history (even given its inaccuracies) can inform us about our past. But remember to attempt to match the stories within the context of actual history for verification purposes- by that I mean to say, truth test.
Don’t just look for your direct family, search more broadly than your paternal or maternal lines. Look for cousins, uncles, spread your net wide.
When you find a record, read as many words as you can. Don’t limit yourself to the highlights. I found my 2G-Grandparents family by reading the names of the attendees to my great aunt’s baptism.
Think out of the box.
In the areas I research like West Prussia, I find that knowledge of the family’s religious past is most helpful. More Church records exist than anything else. Friends tell me that the same is true across much of Eastern Europe. Look in the academic texts of your family’s faith, be they Mennonites, Jews, Lutherans (Evangelisch), Catholics or something else. You might be surprised with what you find.
Also, be aware that the current custodians of those former German lands are doing exceptional work in archiving and preserving the records that remain. For example, dlibra (a Poznan University effort in Poland) is gathering, scanning, indexing information that survived the conflagration and they are busy making it freely available on-line. Also, the church records that managed to survive continue being filmed and made available through numerous sources, most notably the LDS Church (FamilySearch).
Be encouraged! There is hope that you will be able to find a useful trail. It may not be easy, it may not be quick. But, if you do not gather your clues while you can, the trail may go cold.
For those wishing to gain access to photographic images of the actual Heimatortskartei from the towns, cities & villages which were near what used to be Danzig in West Prussia, they are available on FamilySearch. (LINK to Danziger Gebiet (Area ) Westpreussen (West Prussia) Heimatortskartei).[SinglePic not found]
[SinglePic not found]These represent images of a civil register (handwritten and printed works) of refugees from the former province of Danzig-Westpreußen, Germany, now Gdańsk and Bydgoszcz provinces in Poland. For those of us whose families were expelled from their homes by the allies after World War 2, this represents a set of documentation that could contain the handwriting of ‘our’ family members, from that place and time.
Ich finde es kaum zu glauben das so etwas auf dem Internet ‘liegt’. (I find it hard to believe that something like this is available on the Internet.)
While doing some research for an email response, I came across a body of work related to Die Vertreibung (The Expulsion). These papers are presented on the website of Dr. Stefan Wolff.
Stefan Wolff is Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, England, UK. A political scientist by background, he specialises in the management of contemporary international security challenges, especially in the prevention, management and settlement of ethnic conflicts and in post-conflict stabilisation and state-building in deeply divided and war-torn societies.
Stefan Wolff, “Stefan Wolff,” political research, academic, Stefan Wolff, n.d., http://www.stefanwolff.com/.
Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic: A Comparative Evaluation
Co-authored with Karl Cordell and subsequently published in Nationalities Papers (vol. 33, no. 2, 2005), this paper seeks to analyze the nature of the German minorities in the Czech Republic and Poland. In order to achieve this goal, the relationship between Czechoslovakia/ the Czech Republic and Poland with the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany/FRG) forms an essential intellectual backdrop to our main theme, while reference to the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic/GDR) will be made only as and where appropriate. Although we do consider wartime German occupation policy in both Poland and the Czech lands and the consequent expulsion of ethnic Germans from Poland and Czechoslovakia, due to limitations of space, these themes, which have been exhaustively dealt with elsewhere, do not form part of our main focus of study.
Eventually to be published in Divided Nations and European Integration (ed. by Tristan Mabry, John McGarry, and Brendan O’Leary, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), this paper considers the various causes, consequences, and responses to the ‘German question’. Demographically and geographically complex, the dynamics of the divided German nation are now apparent in the context of European integration.
Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic: A Comparative Evaluation
Co-authored with Karl Cordell and subsequently published in Nationalities Papers (vol. 33, no. 2, 2005), this paper seeks to analyze the nature of the German minorities in the Czech Republic and Poland. In order to achieve this goal, the relationship between Czechoslovakia/ the Czech Republic and Poland with the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany/FRG) forms an essential intellectual backdrop to our main theme, while reference to the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic/GDR) will be made only as and where appropriate. Although we do consider wartime German occupation policy in both Poland and the Czech lands and the consequent expulsion of ethnic Germans from Poland and Czechoslovakia, due to limitations of space, these themes, which have been exhaustively dealt with elsewhere, do not form part of our main focus of study.
A Foreign Policy Analysis of the “German Question”: Ostpolitik Revisited
Co-authored with Karl Cordell and subsequntly published in Foreign Policy Analysis (vol. 3, no. 3, 2007), this paper takes a constructivist approach to foreign policy analysis. Using German policy vis-à-vis Poland and Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic as an example, we examine Ostpolitik since the 1960s as a case of a norm-driven foreign policy. We argue that the content of Ostpolitik, including changes over time, can be explained by reference to a prevailing norm consensus in Germany about the country’s foreign policy towards Central and Eastern Europe, which began to develop in the 1960s.
If you, like me, research and search for family through the area of West Prussia (Westpreussen)- East Prussia (Ostpreussen) and Pomerania (Pommern), these sites will be of interest. I have also listed all these sites on the links page of ManyRoads. (Please Note! the links to external webpages are in the headers themselves and they appear before the individual site descriptions, when one exists.)
If you are looking to find information on missing relatives from the Second World War, these sites are most helpful:
The German Red Cross Tracing Service has always been on the side of those in need and by taking this attitude truly is acting in accordance with the supreme principle guiding the German Red Cross: devotion to humanity.
Inspired by this central idea the German Red Cross Tracing Service has been going to great lengths for a period of time longer than 65 years to throw light on the fate of persons missing as a result of World War II.
In den nahezu lückenlosen Unterlagen des Kirchlichen Suchdienstes sind heute über 20 Millionen Personen nach den früheren Wohnsitzen in den Vertreibungsgebieten im Zeitraum 1939 bis 1945 (Stichtag 01.09.1939) namentlich erfasst. Davon haben die meisten ihre Heimat durch Flucht, Vertreibung, Umsiedlung und Aussiedlung verloren.
To gather additional information about the areas of several former German Eastern Areas, these sites are quite useful:
Danzig, eine der ältesten Handels- und Industriestädte an der Ostsee, liegt fünf Kilometer oberhalb der Weichselmündung in der Danziger Bucht. Das Weichseldelta mit der Danziger Region war im Laufe der Jahrhunderte bis in die Gegenwart Schauplatz wechselvoller geschichtlicher Ereignisse. Die Bedeutung Danzigs entwickelte sich aus der geschützten Handelslage als Flussmündungshafen mit einem sich bis zu den Karpaten erstreckenden Hinterland.
“Es gibt dreierlei Menschen: gute, schlechte und Albinger” – wenn Sie mehr über die Stadt Elbing und ihre Menschen (eben die “Albinger”) erfahren möchten, sind Sie auf meiner Elbing-Seite herzlich willkommen!
Herzlich willkommen auf dem großen Ostpreußen-Portal. Hier finden Sie alles zum Thema Ostpreußen. Geschichte, Gegenwart, Landeskunde, Reise-Hinweise, Informationen für Investoren und vieles mehr.
Die Pommersche Landsmannschaft will den Zusammenhalt aller Pommern, ihrer Vereinigungen und Einrichtungen wahren und fördern und vertritt die Rechte aller aus ihrer pommerschen Heimat vertriebenen, geflüchteten oder ausgesiedelten Deutschen und deren Nachkommen.
I have put this little reminder checklist together to help me and others quickly examine our obvious options when we either are stuck or just getting started.
This list is hardly exhaustive and if you try everything here without success you should not feel like you have to throw your hands up in despair, there are still many avenues to examine. Hopefully though, using these tools will prove useful and productive and fun.
Enjoy!
Have you checked?
For basic name searches try these out. Not all of these tools are genealogy focused but they are all quite robust and helpful.
If, like me, you seek relatives who fought on the German side of a war, you might have experienced difficulty in finding information about these forebears.
One of the most useful online services I have encountered in this area is the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (link below). It is through the wonderful efforts of the Kriegsgräberfürsorge that I have been able to find information about two of my great-uncles, who lost their lives in WW1:
The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. is a humanitarian organization which is charged by the Federal Republic of taking care of registering the German war dead abroad and to ensuring that it is updated and monitored. The German Public Alliance advises relatives of war grave care, supervises public and private sites, supports international cooperation and assists within the sector of war grave care and fostering the engagement of young people in the last resting-place of the war-dead. [...]
Acting within the scope of bilateral agreements, the Volksbund started their work within Europe and Northern Africa, being responsible for 824 war gravesites in 45 countries with about 2.4 million war dead soldiers. More than 9,000 volunteers and 582 salaried employees fulfil the various activities of the organisation today.
After the political revolution within Eastern Europe the countries of the former Eastern Bloc were included in the work of the Volksbund. Approximately three million German soldier’s had lost their lives in the eastern countries in World War II. i.e. more then twice as many as the rest of the war gravesites in the West which brought the Volksbund immense challenges not least that more than 100,000 graves were difficult to find, had been destroyed, had been overbuilt or had been plundered. Regardless the Volksbund took care, repaired and constructed more than 300 cemeteries of World War II and the 190 grounds out of World War I in Eastern, Central and South Europe. There are 54 central cumulative cemeteries. Approximately 673,000 war dead have been reinterred.
Hopefully this organization will be helpful to you in your search(es).
Last evening, my wife and I watched a documentary on Poland, it covered the Gdansk (Danzig)- Szczecin (Stettin) area in particular. Baltic Coasts – Hidden Treasures: Explore the coastline from Vistula Lagoon via Gdansk Bay to the sandy beaches and steep cliffs of Pomerania and West-Pomerania.
The reason for this post involves what I learned from one of the featured individuals, a talented young Photographer; his name- Michal Szlaga. Looking at his name never made me think of German descent or Germanic heritage but then the announcer pronounced his name and it was Michael Schlaeger / Schläger (exactly).
You can imagine my surprise. I certainly would never have pronounced his name Michal Szlaga as Michael Schlaeger. (btw. please enjoy his site.) But there it was, a Germanic sounding name in Polish spelling.
If you are researching the Baltic region, as I do, this little example provides a useful object lesson in spelling and heritage/ research. Be cautious that you are not fooled by spelling.. sound counts, too. If you do not know the pronunciation of particular languages you can and will be fooled.
German Genealogy is not much different from any other genealogy. You really need to have a plan as you begin your research, especially if you are unfamiliar with the region/ area or time period. Never assume that one locale looks like or offers information or data in the same as another. Each area, region or time frame offers its own unique idiosyncrasies, its own information. German research is really no different in this regard from other places; it is not the US or Canada and the available data is different from that commonly available in North America. Having said all that, this posting is more of a concrete example on how to approach Genealogy research; what works for me, may or may not work for you.
Let me begin by saying that most of my genealogy researches have taken place in the areas of Germany listed below; also, it is important to note that my research is almost exclusively in the timeframe of 1600-1945. Most frequently my family and client information are sourced from the provinces of:
I have provided links to each of the areas I research, as an example; it is important for everyone, me included, to know ‘a little’ about the area and times in which a target population lived. I have provided links to Wikipedia because Wikipedia is easily accessed, reasonably accurate, and readily available. However, do not assume that the histories in Wikipedia are consistent with others you may find or need to find. As a matter of fact, if you can read German, look up a single region (above) in the English version of Wikipedia and then in the German version of Wikipedia; often you will discover significant differences in facts and emphasis. More importantly, once you have researched something in Wikipedia, look up the same time or place in a text book (I have numerous historical texts located on ManyRoads, for you to view.). Again, you will notice variations in the accounts of ‘the same history’.
It is worth noting that historical variations are exacerbated by crucial factors such as the loss of a war. In other words, knowing the American or British account of a battle or war is not the same as knowing a German account. If you are attempting to understand what may have happened to a relative who was’ on the other side’ of an event; you need to understand ‘their’ perspective, not just the one you may have been taught in school.
So what does all of this mean?
Well as you begin your search, learn a bit about the times (from the perspective of those who lived there). A balanced view of what was going on, or survived that time, will provide you with good clues on where to search and what you might expect to find. Do not assume that a single account or family story will provide you with an adequate understanding of who your relatives were and what ’caused’ them to act the way they did (ie. emigrate to the US, join the SS, or help Jews escape).
Remember popular history is always written by the victors; Germans rarely found themselves in that role… in the last century. As a result the history you ‘know’ may not explain the choices your German relatives made or even the options they had. You simply need to dig a little deeper.
So where are the best places to find German Genealogy data?
I hear this question, or something similar, often. Perhaps it is because I am an American that I notice, but it seems most Americans I hear from expect to find German Genealogical record keeping and data ought to mirror that in the US. Unfortunately, they do not. A number of historical factors impact the quality and type of genealogical records to be found in Germany today.
What follows are a few points regarding German history that merit understanding:
A number of fairly destructive wars ran over German lands. These wars not only destroyed people and buildings, but also innumerable records. The big ones were WW1 and WW2 (they made all the newspapers…).
About 30% of German historical lands were ethnically cleansed by the allies following the second World War (some 100,000 square miles of land including West Prussia, East Prussia, Silesia, Suedetenland, Pommerania, etc.). This forceable removal (up rooting) of some 14+/- million people, scattered families (and their histories) to the four corners of the world; additionally some 3+/- million died in the removal. Many who were left had no possessions or historical documentation, of any type. You may read more on this topic here.
Before 1871, Germany did not exist as a single political entity. As a result, pre-1871 records vary greatly in terms of type, style and quality. Each government did ‘their own’ thing.
German governments have historically not maintained the same type of separation between Church and State as was originally promised in the US constitution and their records reflect this different relationship.
So where does one look?
In my experience, the single greatest well of information are German Church records. Nearly all births, deaths, marriages, were recorded by German Churches. All you need to know is the village, town or area, and religion of your family member and you can begin a search. The two primary state supported faiths in Germany were Lutheran (Evangelisch) and Roman Catholic (Katholisch). Here are a couple additional tips on this subject. In small communities Menonnites and Jews were often listed in Lutheran Churches, less often in Catholic. In communities where these smaller faith communities had their own institutions, those should be searched. Most German Church records are available from the LDS Church (You can look them up here.). If the Church you are seeking did not receive a ‘Volltreffer’ (direct hit) from the allies before its records were pulled, the LDS Family History Archives likely have a copy (Note: not all LDS data is available in Germany).
Addressbooks for many communities do exist (they become more frequent as you get nearer to 1900). You may view numerous examples on ManyRoads.
Few civil records exist from the German Eastern provinces, although Poland is making those that remain in their jurisdiction available through dlibra as well as other sources (see links here). I sure hope your Polish is better than mine!
And lastly, if you are very lucky, there are some limited Census records for select regions.
As I get the inclination, I’ll post other thoughts on this subject. In the meantime, feel free to send me any questions you might have and I’ll include them in a future post on this subject.
For those unfamiliar with, or simply wishing to learn more about, conducting German/ Prussian genealogical research this is my second posting in a series on the topic of German-Prussian Genealogy Pointers.
One of the greatest difficulties people have with researching Germanic family members involves name spellings. This is especially true for those English speakers. Over the centuries, Germans who emigrated into English speaking lands have either tried to spell their names in ways that would be pronounced correctly or had assistance with their name spellings upon arrival or ‘later’ in Census takings. This ‘help’ has lead to numerous challenges in finding the right folks in the old homeland (Heimatland).
Here are a couple of rules of thumb I use when attempting to find ancestors in the old country:
ie- ei: Do you remember the old rule, when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking? If you do remember the rule, be aware that when dealing with German names the reverse is true (assuming you are using American vowel sounds). Imagine if you will your name was Stein… in the states that often is pronounced as Steen so you change the spelling and presto your relatives are now just a bit harder to find.
sh – sch: Or suppose a valued surname was once Schlatter, in the US the name is frequently spelled as either Shlatter or Shlater. Notice, these are all a bit different!
V – F: Another interesting one I have stumbed across is the German surname Vogel, when pronounced using US sounds it is often spelled as Fogel. This places your searches in a whole new location within the alphabet.
W – V: W in German sounds very much like an American ‘v’ and the V sounds like an American F. Just blend this option in with the one immediately above and imagine the permutations you can begin to develop.
ss- sz- ß or plain s: All these sounds in US English pronounce about the same, but not quite so in German. However, your emigrant/ immigrant relatives could easily have changed their names to use ss, s, sz in the English speaking world while the real family name could have been spelled with ss, sz, or ß in the alte Heimat (old home).
AE – Ä – E: In German, Ä and AE offer the same sound which sounds roughly like an American ‘eh’. Depending upon your original surname this can lead to interesting permutations of family names.
If you couple all the above options, with the fact that many immigrants were less than perfect in their spelling and literacy skills, you can begin to find great variations in name spellings within the US and across the pond.
For more on this subject, you might wish to read the following:
Recently, I have received numerous queries on how to get started or better conduct German genealogy research. Rather than simply email folks one at a time, I thought a post on the subject might be useful.
By way of background, I ought to state that almost everyone I hear from tells me that they are:
German (of German descent)
the neither read nor speak German (or just very little)
few are aware of much German history
fewer are aware of their family’s cultural background in Germany
Having provided the little list above likely provides clues as to items researchers need to pay attention to:
If you do not speak the language and decide to use translators, like Google Translate, beware that machine translation can be extremely inaccurate. One small example, Google translate almost always translates Reich to rich rather than to empire. When looking at a record this DOES make a difference.
Learn your history. Germany was not unified until 1871. Before 1871 there were numerous Duchies, Kingdoms, etc. Each region has its own history, governments, records, customs, etc.
Additionally some 30-40% of German lands were cleansed of almost all indigenous German populations after WW2; these lands do not fall under German control today and record searching can be quite interesting.
If your family lives in a non-German speaking country today, your family name may not be spelled in a Germanic fashion. Try to determine more traditional and true spellings for the names you seek. A good example of this is evidenced by a German-Jewish descended friend of mine, today his family surname is Rock; in the old country, it used to be Stein.
Before WW2, Germans used Gothic print and script. Most Americans find German Gothic script to be difficult. The LDS Church provides cheat sheets for these.(You will find a few helpful links listed under Language Tools on our Links page).
As I get the inclination, I’ll post other thoughts on this subject. In the meantime, feel free to send me any questions you might have and I’ll include them in a future post on this subject.
Out of curiosity, actually out of a desire to find church building photos, I did a little web research on our families’ past church homes. As you might have guessed, nothing identifiable remains of our Prussian/ Poland Mennonite congregations, the Second World War took care of that. However, I have stumbled across a number of our families’ Alsatian congregations on the Internet.
For those interested in following my Anabaptist information gathering process/ results, I will publish my Mennonite Mendeley related folder contents on this page. Because of the rather extensive listings, over time I will create numerous sub-pages that will be accessible from here. These links and pages will change ‘automagically’, over time, as I add, change, and delete materials in Mendeley.
Knowing something about German and “the history of German speaking people” can certainly be very useful in conducting research. But in all honesty, there are simply not that many folks out there, no matter their daily language skills or history knowledge, who are familiar with everything about ‘old Germany’. The Germans, like most European ethnic groups, have a long and complex history, one which is well matched to their handwriting, alphabet, short hand, and past-dated terminology.
And… that’s where the challenge begins.
Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic