Ancient to Modern period – Historical Dictionary
Source: Truhart, Peter. Historical Dictionary of States. States and State-like Communities from Their Origins to the Present. (K. G. Saur, 1996). Contains principalities, duchies, provinces and their leaders.
Ancient to Modern – City Histories
Source: Deutsches Städtebuch: Handbuch städtischer Geschichte [Book of German Cities: A Handbook of Municipal History].[1]
Early to 1800s – Guild Records
Source: "Guild Records in Germany" and "Johann Christof Gerber, Journeyman, Saxony – Switzerland – Pennsylvania" in German Genealogical Digest [10:4].
1481 – Church Parish Registers
In general, church or parish registers were established to record official acts performed by clergymen. The keeping of Catholic baptismal records became ecclesiastical law at the Synod of Tournai in 1481 and baptism and marriage books were ordered at the Synod of Alcala in 1497. The Synod of Augsburg in Dillingen in 1548 prescribed the maintenance of baptism, marriage, and burial books as well as the recording of Easter communions. And in 1563 at the Council of Trent it was made strictly obligatory for all clergymen to keep baptism and marriage records. The Rituale Romanum (June 16, 1614) required death records to be recorded. Few church records are extant for these early time periods. Church records generally are more likely to be preserved following the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648.
On March 28, 1534, Breslau reformer, Johann Hess, proposed that an ecclesiastical organization be established and that part of this organization should include the registering baptism, deaths, and marriages. Some registers from the late 1500s are available, but the majority of Lutheran and Reformed registers are only extant following the Thirty Years' War in 1648.
Source: "German Church Records" in German Genealogical Digest [11:1:6].
1484 – Plague in Berlin
1490 – Church records
One of the oldest surviving German church books is recorded in St. Theodor parish in Basel, Switzerland.
1494 – Oath of Allegiance
Oath of allegiance records [Huldigungslisten] usually include all men over age 16 who took the oath of allegiance to a new ruler.
Source: Kilian, Rolf, Franz Neumer, Oskar Poller. Untertanenverzeichnisse des Kürpfälzischen Oberamtes Alzey. 1494, 1576, 1698. [Family History Library2 hereafter abbreviated as FHL 943.43 B4sb v. 1, 1995].
1500s – Historical Summary[3]
1500s – 1800s – Serf Records
Serf records (Leibeigenenbücher) list names of bonded serfs. These are often published in regional historical periodicals. Discharge from serfdom (Manumission records) were required prior to emigrating.
1500s – 1800s – Funeral Sermons
Funeral sermons of the 17th and 18th century are productive genealogical sources.
Source: German Genealogical Digest
1517 (October 31) Reformation
Luther posts his 95 Theses in Wittenberg, Germany.
1524
Peasants' War[4]
1530 – Augsburg Confession[5]
1534 (August 15) – Jesuits
Founding of the Jesuits in Paris.
1536 (March) - Reformed Church
John Calvin (1509-1564) publishes the Institutes of the Christian Religion, a type of handbook for Protestants. Calvin became the unofficial leader of the Reformed faith.
1545-1563 Council of Trent
Catholic clergymen were required to keep baptism and marriage books.
1555 (Sept. 25) – Peace of Augsburg[6]
1576 – Oath of Allegiance
Source: Kilian, Rolf, Franz Neumer, Oskar Poller. Untertanenverzeichnisse des Kürpfälzischen Oberamtes Alzey. 1494, 1576, 1698. [FHL 943.43 B4sb v. 1, 1995].
1582 (4./15. October)
Gregorian Reformed Calendar established by Pope Gregory XIII. When it was enforced, the 4th October became the 15th of October. The Reformed Calendar was not recognized in the areas where the Lutherans were predominant. These areas continued to use the Julian Calendar until 1700.
Source: BYU History 422 class.
1587 – Oath of Allegiance
Source: Anthes, Guenther F. Pfälzische Untertanen-, Huldigungs- und Musterungslisten aus den Jahren 1587 – 1609 – 1612 – 1624 –1731 –1776. [FHL 943.43 B4sb no. 9].
1598 (April 13) - Edict of Nantes [7]
(Brittany, France) Henry IV (1589-1610) issued Decree of Toleration to the Huguenots in France.
1609, 1612, 1624– Oath of Allegiance
Source: Pfälzische Untertanen-, Huldigungs- und Musterungslisten aus den Jahren 1587 – 1609 – 1612 – 1624 –1731 –1776 by Guenther F. Anthes. [FHL 943.43 B4sb no. 9].
1618-1648 – Thirty Years' War
Conflict fueled by religious differences soon became a power-political struggle. Large numbers of German parish churches and their records were destroyed.
1621 – 1793 – Strasbourg University Records
Source: Die Alten Matrikeln der Universität Strassburg. [FHL 1070231].
1622 – Hessen-Darmstadt (Population)
Source: "Die Hessen-Darmstädtische Bevölkerung im Jahr 1622 nach den sogennanten Mansfelder Kriegsschadenverzeichnissen" in Mitteilungen der Hessischen Familiengeschichtlichen Vereinigung in Darmstadt. Over 12,000 names of head of household appear in this list. Description of this source and places included in "Hessen Records in Print, Part I" in German Genealogical Digest 12:3:85.
1638 – Fort Christina established[8]
1643-1648 – Peace of Westphalia
Peace that terminated the Thirty Years' War concluded on October 24, 1648.
1652 - 1707 – Oath of Allegiance
Source: Die Untertanen in den Amtern Kreuznach, Kirchberg, Naumburg und Koppenstein der Vorderen Grafschaft Sponheim. [FHL CCF 771890].
1655 – Prussian Military
Establishment of a Generalkriegskommissariat which marked the beginning of a unified military and financial administration. Beginning in 1655, the Prussian army perfected a system of colors, numbers, stripes, weapons and helmets that permitted instant identification of the military unit of its wearer. Thus, an old picture, [drawing or photo] may be the genealogist's means of identifying an ex-soldier's unit. Such identification is the pre-requisite for learning more about the soldier. The 196-page book Preussisch-Deutsche Uniformen von 1640-1918 by Georg Ortenburg and Ingo Prömper, Orbis Verlag, Munich, 1991, contains many colored plates and tables showing uniform components. (Reschke, Horst; Military Records in Germany).
1655-1660– Swedish-Polish War
In 1656 Prussian Elector Frederick William joins with Sweden to attack Poles outside Warsaw; then turns against Swedes to help with their defeat.
1661 – Huguenots in Berlin
Huguenot families from France begin to enter Berlin.
Source: "From France to Prussia; Huguenot Refugees in Brandenburg and Berlin in German Genealogical Digest [20:3:70].
1670-1679 – Dutch Wars
1673-1679 – War of German Empire against France
France invades and destroys many places, especially in the Palatinate.
1678 – Tax List – Braunschweig
This tax record gives the population of the former principality of Braunschweig household by household, approximately 58,000 persons. All persons over the age of 12 years were taxed. Missing is the town of Braunschweig.
Source: "Braunschweig 1678 tax record" in German Genealogical Digest [18:3].
1683- Turkish invasion of Austria.
Many church records destroyed by the Turks in eastern Austria. Turks defeated near Vienna.
1685 – Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
Source: "Chronology of Brandenburg-Prussia. Emphasis on Wars, Leaders, and Territorial Changes" in German Genealogical Digest [15:1:6].
1685 – Edict of Potsdam
The declaration of the Edict of Potsdam by Prussian Elector Frederick William opened to the Huguenot refugees a safe asylum in the states of the Elector.
Source: "Huguenot Refugees in Brandenburg and Berlin" in German Genealogical Digest [20:3].
1688-1697 – French invade Palatinate
French troops under King Louis XIV invade and destroy areas of the Palatinate. Protestants migrate from the area.
1698 – Oath of Allegiance
Source: Kilian, Rolf, Franz Neumer, Oskar Poller. Untertanenverzeichnisse des Kürpfälzischen Oberamtes Alzey. 1494, 1576, 1698. [FHL 943.43 B4sb v. 1, 1995].
Pre-1700 to 1780 – Marriage Dispensations
Source: Kölner Generalvikariats Protokolle.[8]
1700s
Schubert, Franz. Early published marriage records. Berlin [FHL 943 K28s v. 1-5]. Niedersachsen [FHL 943.59 K22s].
1700 - 1721 – Outbreak of the Nordic War
Prussia enters Nordic War against Sweden in 1715. At the Peace of Nystad, Prussia receives Stettin and Hither Pomerania to the Peine. Sweden cedes Bremen and Verden to Hannover.
18th Century – U. S. Emigration Sources[9]
Sources compiled for 18th German emigration – immigration include:
Source: Auswanderungen aus Baden und dem Breisgau (Emigration from Baden and the Breisgau), 1980 [FHL 943.46 W29h].
Source: Auswanderungen aus Rheinpfalz und Saarland im 18. Jahrhundert (Emigration from the Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland in the 18th Century. [FHL 943 W29h].
Source: Auswandererkartei (Darmstadt) 1800-1900. [FHL 1124278 and others].
Source: Bell, Raymond Martin. Emigrants from the Wolfersweiler region of Germany to Pennsylvania 1730-1750. [FHL 974.8 Al no. 198 or fiche 6088813].
Source: Burgert, Annette K. Pennsylvania Pioneers from Wolfersweiler Parish, Saarland, Germany. [FHL 974.8 A1 no. 57].
Source, Burgert, Annette K. and Henry Z Jones. Westerwald to America. [FHL 943.42 W2b].
Source: Burgert, Annette K. Eighteenth Century Emigrants from German-Speaking Lands to North America.
Vol. 1 The Northern Kraichgau. [FHL 974.8 B4pgp vol. 16]
Vol. 2. The Western Palatinate. [FHL 974.8 B4pgp vol. 19].
Source: Burgert, Annette K. Palatine Origins of Some Pennsylvania Pioneers. (Includes immigrants from Niederhochstadt, Oberhochstadt, Hassloch, Böhl, Mutterstadt, Friedelsheim, Goennheim, Lachen, Speyerdorf, Freinsheim, Dannstadt, Heuchelheim, Kleinniedersheim, Oggersheim, Friesenheim, Maudach, Ruchheim, Weisenheim am Sand, Oberlustadt, Niederlustadt, Erpolzheim, Kallstadt, Freisbach, Gommersheim, Klein Schifferstadt, Iggelheim, Böblingen, Duttweiler, Lambsheim, Kleinfischlingen, Assenheim, Wachenheim, Bad Dürkheim, Ungstein, Grosskarlbach, Schwegenheim, and Leinsweiler. [German Genealogical Digest Library].
Source: Burkett, Brigitte. Baden and Württemberg, Emigrants from, in the 18th century; Volume 1: Baden Durlach and vicinity. Picton Press, 1996.
Source: Eighteenth Century Register of Emigrants from Southwest Germany to America and Other Countries. Closson Press, 1994. [FHL 943 W2eh].
Source: Davis, Richard Warren. Emigrants, refugees, and prisoners: an aid to Mennonite famiy research. [FHL 949.4 W2d v. 1-3]. Reviewed in German Genealogical Digest 20:1:3.
Source: Ferguson, Laraine K. "East or West – Which way is best? German Migration – Emigration Sources" in German Genealogical Digest [17:4]. Bibliography lists over 177 emigration sources.
Source: Hacker, Werner. Auswanderungen aus Baden und dem Breisgau. (Emigration from Baden and the Breisgau). [FHL 943.46 W29h].
Source: Hacker, Werner. Auswanderungen aus Rheinpfalz und Saarland im 18. Jahrhundert. [FHL 943 W29h].
Source: Hinke, William J. ed. Pennsylvania German Pioneers [FHL 974.8 B4pg v. 42-44].
Source: Horlacher, Gary T. "They Can be Found! 18th Century Palatine Research" in German Genealogical Digest 12:4:102.
Source: Jones, Henry Z. The Palatine Families of New York [FHL 974.7 D2j].
Source: Jones, Henry Z. More Palatine Families. Some Immigrants to the Middle Colonies 1717 to 1776 and their European origins plus new discoveries of German families who arrived in colonial New York in 1710. Picton Press, 2000 (1991).
Source: Jones, Henry Z. Even More Palatine Families: 18th Century Immigrants to the American Colonies and their German, Swiss, and Austrian Origins. 3 vols. Vol. 1 contains a multitude of new discoveries 1717-1776. The second volume is devoted to the first comprehensive study of the 1710 Swiss and German settlers of New Bern, North Carolina. The 3rd volume includes: the entire 1709 Rotterdam Departure Lists for all eight parties; the entire 1709-1717 Returnee lists of all five Palatine Parties returned to Europe; additional 1710 discoveries; the famed Hunter Lists of New York 1710-1713 transcribed by Marlene A. Grove; the entire Nova Scotia Passenger Lists 1750-1752, new discovered by Friedrich Wollsmershäuser including Salzburger Refugees 1750-1758, and a newly discovered passenger list of 1725. Picton Press, 2002.
Source: Muggenthaler, Cornelia Schrader. Baden Emigration Book. [Ref. 943.46 W2s].
Source: Muggenthaler, Cornelia Schrader. The Alsace Emigration Book. [FHL 944.38 W2s].
Source: Muggenthaler, Cornelia Schrader. Swiss Emigration Book [FHL 973 W2smc].
Source: Schmahl, Helmut. Die Auswanderung aus Rheinhessen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. [FHL 943.41 W2sh].
Source: Schrader-Muggenthaler, Cornelia. The Alsace Emigration Book. [FHL 944.38 W2s vol. 1 & 2].
Source: Smith, Clifford N. Cumulative Surname Soundex to German-American Genealogical Record Monographs. [FHL 973 W2snb No. 26].
Source: Strassburger, Ralph Beaver; ed. By William John Hinke. Pennsylvania German Pioneers. The Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808. [German Genealogical Digest Library]
Source: Yoder, Don. Pennsylvania German Immigrants. [German Genealogical Library] [FHL 974.8 F2pg].
18th Century – Pennsylvania German Sources
Source: Dull, Keith A. Early German Settlers of York County Pennsylvania. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1997. [FHL 974.841 D2du].
Church Records:
Source: Glatfelter, Charles H. Pastors and People: German Lutheran and Reformed Churches in the Pennsylvania Field, 1717-1793. Vol. 2 The History.
Source: Hess, Robert L. and F. Edward Wright. 18th Century Records of the German Lutheran Church of Philadelphia (St. Michael's and Zion). Pastoral records of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials of the German Lutheran congregation at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Translated and transcribed from the original German. [FHL 974.811 K29hr v. 1-].
Source: Horlacher, Gary. Waldboro, Maine. [German Genealogical Digest Library.
Source: Levan. Early immigrants from Germany and Switzerland to eastern Pennsylvania. [FHL 974.8 D2L].
Source: Pennsylvania German Church Records of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, etc. from The Pennsylvania German Society Proceedings and Addresses. 3 vols. Clearfield Company Inc., 2001.
Source: Weiser, Frederick S. and Debra D. Smith.Vol. 1 St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church Germantown (now part of Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. Vol. 1 Baptisms 1741-1841. Vol. 2 Marriages,Burials, Confirmands and a few Communicants 1745-1841. Picton Press, 1998.
Source: Weiser, Frederick S. and Debra D. Smith. (Hannover) St. Matthew's Evangelical Church 1741-1831. Picton Press, 1994.
Source: Weiser, Frederick S. and Debra D. Smith. Trinity Lutheran Church Records, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Vol. 4 1797-1810. Closson Press, 2006. [FHL 974.815/L1 K2s v. 4].
Source: Weiser, Frederick S. Pastoral Acts at Zion Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania 1795-1827. Picton Press, 1985.
Land Records:
Source: Digges Choice 1724-1800: a history of land transactions in York and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania by Jan Bankert. Foreword by Rev. Frederick S. Weiser. Origins of almost all parcels of land within a tract of 10,500 acres originally called Digges Choice. This area became a melting pot of Catholic, Reformed, Mennonite, and Lutheran settlers. Appendices of baptismal records 1730s-1740s and of tax lists. (Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1999).
Source: ARIAS digital archives http://digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp includes Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File; Militia Officers Index Cards (1775-1800), Civil War, Mexican Border Campaign Veterans' Card File. Warrant Registers 1733-1957 are on site: www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-88WarrantRegisters/r17-88All-CountiesInterface.htm. (1)
18th century – Canadian Emigration[10]
1700 – 1870 – Marriages, Strasbourg, France
Marriage extracts of Strasbourg city are included in the Bernard Andriveau card index. [FHL 1297082 and additional rolls].
Source: Ferguson, Laraine K. "Cities Along the Rhine and Their Records" in German Genealogical Digest 12:1:14.
1709 – Baden-Durlach Oath of Allegiance[11]
Source: Einwohnerbuch der Markgrafschaft-Baden-Durlach im Jahre 1709. (Book of the inhabitants of the Margravite Baden-Durlach in the year 1709. [FHL 1183617]. "They can be found! 18th Century Palatine Research" by Gary T. Horlacher in German Genealogical Digest [12:4:109].
1709, 1710 – Emigration
Source: see Jones, Hank in 18th century emigration above.
1710 – Ireland - Palatine immigrants
Source: Ireland, The Palatine Families of Ireland by Henry Z. Jones, Jr. Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1990.
1723-1740 – Colonists from Ansbach to East Prussia
Source: Quellen, Materialien und Sammlungen (QMS) Vol. 6. [FHL].
1723 – 1806 – Land Tax Lists (West Prussia and East Prussia)
Frederick II (the Great) ordered land tax lists prepared for West Prussia (beginning in 1774) and East Prussia (beginning in 1723). They were done periodically until 1806 and then continued again from 1819 to about 1850. They list land tenants on royal domaine lands (crownland) only, giving names and land size. The year 1787 is especially detailed. Many of these lists have been published by German societies and some have been filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are available in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Source: Genealogical Guide to East and West Prussia (Ost- und Westpreussen) Records, Sources, Publications & Events by Edward R. Brandt and Adalbert Goertz. [German Genealogical Digest Library].
1731– Oath of Allegiance
Source: Pfälzische Untertanen-, Huldigungs- und Musterungslisten aus den Jahren 1587 – 1609 – 1612 – 1624 –1731 –1776 by Guenther F. Anthes. [FHL 943.43 B4sb no. 9].
1731 – Salzburg, Austria Expulsion Lists
Source: Rohrbach, Lewis Bunker, editor. The Salzburger Expulsion Lists. English translation of Die Salzburger Emigranten by Herbert and Manfred Nolde. Four separate, complete lists of all 22,000 Lutherans expelled from Salzburg (Austria) in 1731. Picton Press, 1999.
1740-1742 – First Silesian War
1744-1745 – Second Silesian War
1747-1748 Migration of Families of Pomerania
Approximately 700 families from southwest Germany settle areas of Pomerania and Brandenburg. Source: "From the Palatine to Prussia. Colonies and Colonists in Pomerania directed by Frederick II [the Great] in German Genealogical Digest [18:1:6].
1749/1750 – Tye of Census
(Westfalen, Hannover, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe)
Source: "Residents of Münster in 1749/1750. Der Status Animarum" in German Genealogical Digest [15:2:38].
1756-1763 – Seven Years' War (3rd Silesian War)
1763 – Treaty of Hubertusburg
1763 – Germans invited to Russia by Catherine II
1764 – Germans from Russia – Volga
Source: Pleve. Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet 1764-1767. [FHL 947 W2p v. 1-3.] List of Germans in Russia, many with German places of origin.
1764 - Nobility
Printed genealogies of the nobility have been published and compiled from early times. Beginning in 1764 the Gothaische genealogische Hofkalender, (Gotha genealogical court calendar) was published in both German and French (the latter edition was titled the Almanach de Gotha. This is the unquestioned backbone of research into German nobility. Similar publications followed. Circa a dozen nobility encyclopedia were published over a period of nearly two and a half centuries. One of the best-known of these was the nine-volume set Neues allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon (new general German lexicon of the nobility) by Ernst Heinrich Kneschke (reprinted unaltered in the 1930s). [Reschke: Nobility]
Source: German Genealogical Digest 1:4:241 (1985) Nobly Speaking, "The Gotha Books" by Dorothy Behling, and "The Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility" by Horst A. Reschke in German Genealogical Digest 12:4:111 (1996).
Source: Thomas, Baron von Fritsch, Die Gothaischen Taschenbücher, Hofkalender and Almanach [FHL Ref 943 4da Vol. 2]. This book indexes the Gotha series.
1772 – First Partition of Poland
West Prussia (Pomerelia and Kulmerland) and Netze region and Bishoprics of Ermland (East Prussia) acquired by Prussia. [See Map 4 in German Genealogical Digest 15:1:15].
1772-1773 – West Prussian Land Survey [Landesaufnahme]
Frederick II (the Great) ordered a land survey (known by various names: Contributions-Kataster or General-Consignation) of the new West Prussian province listing all family heads by name. Much of this survey is on the internet. See Digest links. A similar survey was prepared for Warmia (Ermland).
Source: Genealogical Guide to East and West Prussia (Ost- und Westpreussen) Records, Sources, Publications & Events by Edward R. Brandt and Adalbert Goertz. [German Genealogical Digest Library].
See Digest links.
1775 – U.S. Migration
March 16, 1775: Daniel Boone sets out to blaze the Wilderness Road from the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky. April 1: Boonesborough in Kentucky is founded.
1775-1783 – U. S. American Revolution
Men born between 1720-1774 could have served in the war. Look for pension records.
1776 – Oath of Allegiance
Source: Untertanenlisten des Herzogtums Pfalz-Zweibrücken aus den Huldigungsprotokollen des Jahres 1776 by Karl Schaaff. Ludwigshafen, 1977 [FHL 943.42 B4sb No. 6].
1776 – Oath of Allegiance
Source: Pfälzische Untertanen-, Huldigungs- und Musterungslisten aus den Jahren 1587 – 1609 – 1612 – 1624 –1731 –1776 by Guenther F. Anthes. [FHL 943.43 B4sb no. 9].
1778-1779 – War of Bavarian Succession
Austria acquires Innviertel from Bavaria in Peace of Teschen.
1783- U. S.War
The Revolutionary War ends. Britain and the United States sign a peace treaty that gives the United States all territory east of the Mississippi River.
1791 – 1925 – U. S. Passport Records
Especially valuable after 1906 when each applicant was required to include name, date of birth and place of birth of applicant and spouse and children (when applicable), residence, occupation, physical description, and photograph. Passports were not required of U.S. citizens traveling abroad before World War I, however, they were an added protection to citizens traveling abroad. Some years have indexes.
Source: Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives. [German Genealogical Digest Library (1983 edition)].
1791-1830 – Kurhessen, Waldeck
Trauregister aus Kurhessen und Waldeck. Kassel-Stadt. Bd. 1 Teil 2: Trauungen aus der Casselischen Policey- und Commercien-Zeitung 1791-1830. Kassel, 2005 [FHL 943.41 V2t V. 1 p. 2].
1792 – 1795 – War against France
1793 – Second partition of Poland
Brandenburg-Prussia received Posen, Kalisch, Danzig, and Thorn.
1793 – French Republican Calendar
November 24, 1793 (4 Frimaire, Year II). First of two decrees by which the republican calendar replaced the Gregorian calendar. [Digest 21:1].
1795 – Third Partition of Poland
Prussia extends its territories to the east. Warsaw becomes a Prussian city.
Source: "Prussian Military Records. Chronology of Brandenburg-Prussia, Emphasis on Wars, Leaders, and Territorial Changes" in German Genealogical Digest [15:1:6].
1798 (1 May)– Civil Registration
France introduces the keeping of civil records as part of their occupation government in western German provinces. [Minert: Digest 21:1:6].
1798 Oath of Allegience – Switzerland[12]
Source: Men of Bern: The 1798 Bürgerverzeichnisse of Canton Bern, Switzerland. 3 vol. Set. Rockport, Maine: Picton Press, 1999.
1801 – Treaty of Luneville
1803 – Census of southern part of duchy of Schleswig
Source: AGGSH e.V. (Genealogy-Work Group Schleswig-Holstein) http://www.aggsh.de/myscripts/vz_witt_start_eng.html.
Source: German Genealogical Digest site: https://sites.google.com/site/schleswigholsteincensus
1803 – Napoleon
In March 1803 Napoleon's complex territorial reorganization Reichsdeputationshauptschluss offered German Dukes generous compensation for the land east of the Rhine that Napoleon had taken away from them.
1803 – U.S. – France
President Thomas Jefferson purchases Louisiana from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States.
1806 – 1807 – Prussia declares war on France
Prussia defeated in battles at Jena and Auerstadt by Napoleon.
1807 – Peace of Tilsit
Partitions of Poland since 1772 are revoked and Warsaw restored as a Grand Duchy. Prussia is stripped of territories west of the Elbe and the city of Magdeburg.
1807 – Abolition of Serfdom
The abolition of the hereditary serfdom of the peasants [Aufhebung der Erbuntertänigkeit der Bauern] decreed by King Frederick William III. (Serfs on crown lands were freed in 1799). This was initially fostered as early as 1777 by Prussian King Frederick the Great. "The Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility" by Horst A. Reschke in German Genealogical Digest 12:4:111 (1996).
1812 - 1813 – Wars of Liberation
Prussia and Russia enter an alliance against France and Prussia declares war against France. Napoleon is defeated at Leipzig (1813).
Source: German Genealogical Digest 12:1:17 "Napoleon's conscripts from Hannover who stayed in Russia, in 1812" by Horst A. Reschke.
1812- 1815 – U.S. War of 1812
War declared on Great Britain by U. S. on 18 June 1812. War ended on 24 December 1814 with the Treaty of Ghent. The Treaty was ratified by Congress on 17 Febraury 1815.
Men born between 1762 and 1800 may have served in this war.
1825 - Nobility
In 1825 the Justus Perthes publishing company, in Gotha, Germany, commenced publication of the Genealogisches Taschenbuch der gräflichen Häuser, (genealogical almanac of the lineages of counts). World War II forced the cessation of the publication in 1942. [In 1951 C.A. Starke Verlag, commenced publication of the Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels].
Source: German Genealogical Digest 1:4:241 (1985) Nobly Speaking: "The Gotha Books" by Dorothy L. Behling.
Source: "The Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility. A Guide to German Noble Lineages Past and Present" by Horst A. Reschke in German Genealogical Digest 12:4:111 (1996)
1800 – 1924 – Emigration - Immigration Sources
Immigrants from Germany, 1820 – 1924:
Decade Number Percentage of total immigration.
1820-1830 7,729 5.1%
1831-1840 152,454 25.4%
1841-1850 434.626 25.3%
1851-1860 951,667 36.3%
1861-1870 787,468 34.0%
1871-1880 718,182 25.5%
1881-1890 1,452,970 27.7%
1891-1900 505,152 13.7%
1901-1910 342,498 3.9%
1911-1920 143,945 2.5%
1921-1924 148,102 6.3%
Source: Daniels, Roger, Coming to America, p. 146. [GGD Library].
Emigration sources:
Source: Ancestry.com. This website has an extensive immigration database.
Source: Auswandererkartei (Darmstadt) 1821-1870 [FHL microfilm 1124320].
Source: Ellisisland.com.
Source: Filby, William P. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index.
Source: A supplemental index to passenger lists of vessels arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports (excluding New York) 1820-1874. [FHL 418315 and others].
Source: Index of passenger lists of vessels arriving in New York 1820-1846 [FHL 350289 and others].
Source: Auswanderungsgesuche, 1819-1880. [FHL l442144 and others].
Source: The lower Saxony state archives has a huge index on emigrants from historical Hannover and Westphalia. This index is not on microfilm, but copies are found in various branch archives in Germany. Dr. Minert has seen this index in the Osnabrück archive. [Possibly now on the internet]. [Source: German Genealogical Digest 12:1:27 "Ask the Experts" by Roger Minert].
Source: Boyken, Hans-Georg. Where did they stay? – East Frisians in America. Wo sind sie geblieben? – Ostfriesen In Amerika. Names of immigrants as published in the German-language newspaper Ostfriesische Nachrichten.
Source: Burkett, Brigitte. Emigrants from Baden Württemberg. Vol. 1: The Enzkreis – Illingen, Schützingen, Wiernsheim, Ötisheim, Mühlacker and Dürrmenz. Picton Press, 1997.
Source: Burkett, Brigitte. 19th Century Emigrants from Baden. Vol. 2: Graben, Linkenheim, Spöck and Staffort. Picton Press, 2001.
Source: Hofer, Reinhard of Ruhstorf, Germany has a list of over 1233 emigrants from Upper and Lower Bavaria. Hofer-Bavaria@t-online.de. [Digest 15:2:34].
Source: Minert, Roger P. German Immigrants in American Church Records. Volume 1: Indiana Protestant [FHL 973 W23g v. 1 [Additional volumes are now available. See Family History Library catalog.
Source:Müller, Friedrich. Westfälische Auswanderer im 19. Jahrhundert, Auswanderung aus dem Regierungsbezirk Münster. II. Teil (1851-1900). (Includes legal emigrants and those who emigrated without permission) Vol. 60 [includes correction and additions to volume 22-24 in part 1]. (See also volumes 22-24 and Vols. 38/39 (Regierungsbezirk Minden ausgewanderten Personen) 47/48 (Heimliche Auswanderung 1814-1900 aus dem Regierungsbezirk Minden.). [See also www.westfalengen.de [broken link]
Source: Reichmann, Wolfgang. Vivat Amerika, Auswanderung aus dem Kreis Minden 1816-1933. [FHL 943.56/M4 W2r]. This book contains approximately 12,000 names of emigrants from the Minden area from 1800s to 1933.
Source: Holland American Lines. Had offices in Berlin, Leipzig, Mannheim, and Vienna. [949.235/R1 W37g].
Source: Jensen, Larry O. Pommern Immigration and Emigration, [German Genealogical Digest 2:1:15].
Source: Reinhold, Frank. Auswanderer aus Reuss juengerer Linie (Reus-Gera) von 1849-1882. [FHL 943 B4amf v. 36]
1800s – 1900s – Pennsylvania German Sources
Source: Ruff, Paul Miller. The Evangelical Lutheran Church Waynesboro, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, Parish Registers 1818-1919. [FHL 974.844/W1 K2w].
Source: Ruff, Paul Miller. The Professional Journal of Michael John Steck, Lutheran Pastor in Westmoreland and adjacent counties. Pt. 2 1829-1848. The Pennsylvania Years. [FHL 974.881 K2r pt. 2].
Source: Weiser, Frederick S. The Evangelical Lutheran Church Waynesboro, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, Parish Registers, 1818-1919. [FHL 974.844/W1 K2w].
1800s – present – Resident Registration Office
The Meldeamt or Einwohnermeldeamt (citizen registration office) is responsible for recording the arrivals, departures and relocation of residents within the city. Most begin in the mid-1800s, but a few as early as 1790s. They may include vital information for individuals, including births, marriages, and deaths.
Source: "Resident Registration Records" in German Genealogical Digest 17:2:42 and "Leipzig, Saxony, Genealogical Collections and Historical and Cultural Insights" in German Genealogical Digest 12:2:38 and "Microfilm Update – New Collections" in German Genealogical Digest 18:3:69.
1837 – Zillerthal Protestants leave Austria
Families from Tyrol, Austria, settle in Hirschberg district in Silesia.
Source: "Zillerthal Protestant left Austrian Homeland" in German Genealogical Digest [16:2:46].
1839-1865 – Evangelical Newspaper
Source: Koss, David H. "Advertisments for Missing Relatives in Der Christliche Botschafter, 1839-1856", in National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 66 (1978) No. 1, pages 33-41. [Provides places of origins of some individuals].
1844 – Weaver's revolt in Silesia
Source: "Emigrant Weavers from Silesia in German Genealogical Digest [19:3:77].
1844 – Church History
Joseph Smith is killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
1845 - Schleswig-Holstein Census
1847 – Church History
Brigham Young arrives in Great Salt Lake Basin on April 16.
1848 - Nobility
In 1848 the publication Genealogisches Taschenbuch der freiherrlichen Häuser (genealogical almanach of the baronial lineages) commenced. [Reschke].
1848 – U. S. History
January 24: Gold is discovered at Sutter's Creek, located on the American River in California's Sacramento valley.
February 2: U.S. and Mexico sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War. The U.S. gains territories of New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and California.
1848 – Revolution in Germany
Revolution in Baden, Berlin, and scattered German areas. The Forty-Eighters were a group of about 4,000 German political activists who fought to establish a liberal and unified Germany. When defeated, many of them came to the U.S. as refugees. [Clifford Neal Smith:Encyclopedia of German American Research].
Source: Zucker, Adolf Eduard. The Forty-Eighters: Political Refugees of the German Revolution of 1848. (New York: Russel and Russell, 1967)].
Source: Tolzmann, Don Heinrich. The German-American Forty-Eighters 1848-1998. [FHL 973 F2tga].
Source: German refugees arriving in the Bas-Rhin, 1848-1850 [FHL 1071453].
1849 – Vital Records
Various German states began to record birth, marriages, and deaths for all residents, regardless of religion. Previously Protestants and Catholics would not permit mixed marriages (it was particularly difficult for Jews and non-conformists).
1850 - 1934 Emigration – Hamburg[13]
Source: "Hamburg, Germany, Gateway to the Ancestral Home" in German Genealogical Digest, 2:1:10.
1855 - 1890– Castle Garden receiving station
August 1, 1855, Castle Garden opens as a receiving station for immigrants arriving through the New York City port. The last group passes through in 1890. [See web site for lists of immigrants].
1856 – Church History
The first company of Mormon "handcart pioneers" leaves Iowa City for Salt Lake City on June 9.
1861 – Serfdom abolished in Russia
1860-1923 – Germans in Massachusetts
Birth and Baptism Records of Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsfield. Copy of original parish in Pittsfield Athenaeum. [German Genealogical Digest 14:2:36].
1861 – 1865 – Civil War
Men born between the years 1810-1852 (ages 13 to 55) may have served in this war.
April 9 1865: Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant, ending the Civil War.
Source: Germans in U. S. Civil War. German-speaking officers in the U.S. Colored Troops, 1863-1867 by Martin W. O'fele. [FHL 973 M2og].
1862 – U.S. History
President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act on May 20. This law provides that any citizen who is the head of a family can claim 160 acres of public land after living on it for five years.
1866 – Austro-Prussia War
1869 – U.S. History
May 10: The first transcontinental railroad is completed.
1871 – Maps
A book of maps of Germany, around 1871 (when the second German empire was formed) can be found in Maps of the German Empire of 1871 by Larry O Jensen. [FSL Reference Desk].
1871 Pension Act
Veterans and widows of the War of 1812 could apply for pensions.
1874 (1 October) – Prussia: Civil Registration
Gesetz über die Beurkundung des Personenstandes und die Form der Eheschliessung [the law governing the records to be kept by the civil registry and the act of marriage]. Law dated 1 October 1874 mandated that only those marriages conducted under the hand of the civil registrar would be legally recognized. It also stipulated that birth and death records would be compiled throughout the kingdom.
Princely houses of Germany were exempted from registration of their births, marriages, and deaths in the ordinary Standesamt records. They kept their own records, duly signed by the head of the family (Familienhaupt) and Standesamt officials and maintained in their private dynastic archives.
1882-1901 – Newspaper
1890–1924 – Germans in Missouri
Birth, deaths, and marriages extracted from the Lutheran church in Femme Osage. [German Genealogical Digest Library]. Reviewed in GGD 14:2:60.
1895 - Border Crossings
BORDER CROSSING If the person arrived after 1895 but before 1924, check M1461. Soundex Index 1895-1924.
If the person arrived after 1924, check M1463, Soundex Index 1924-1952. Copy the information then go to M1464. Scroll through the roll until you locate the correct volume, then the correct port, and then the date. Page numbers are difficult to use since the indexers didn't indicate which numbers they used. Line numbers should be used as well as page number.
In this index you won't find anyone born in Canada who arrived before 1906. You won't find U.S. citizens crossing the border before 1906. You won't find anyone staying less than 6 months. You will find European immigrants. And Canadians arriving after 1906.
After 1917 the index is no longer comprehensive, it misses anyone who arrived at a port west of North Dakota.
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/452590?availability=Family%20History%20Library
1905 – Gazetteer
Publication of the 1905 Gazetteer of the kingdom of Prussia. [If your German locality of interest (place name)is a province of the Kingdom of Prussia, use one of the Prussian provincial gazetteers [Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preussen] to check whether a village had its own Protestant or Catholic parish and civil registry, and if not, to which parish or civil registry the village belonged. [A description of this gazetteer and how to use it appears in German Genealogical Digest Vol. Issue No. ].
1912 -Gazetteer
Publication of the standard dictionary of places for the second German Empire Meyers Orts- und Verkehrslexikon, Gazetteer of the German Empire. See this websiste: https://www.meyersgaz.org/
[At FamilySearch Centers on 29 fiche beginning with fiche #6000001]. (also available at Ancetry.com).
1913-1916 – Newspapers, Missouri
Extracts of births, marriages and deaths from the Perry County Republican in Perry County Missouri Newspaper Abstracts, Perry County Republican Newspaper 1913-1916. Vol. VII [FHL 977.8694 V2g v. 7].
1914-1918 – German Military
Grave sites of German soldiers
The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (German War Graves Commission) will research and make available information regarding the grave site of a German soldier. Its findings are predicated upon as much identifying information as can be furnished by the family or the party seeking the grave site. Write to:
Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.
Werner-Hilpert-Strasse 2
34112 Kassel
Germany
Documentation of war injuries and sickness.
The archival material of the former Zentralnachweisamt Berlin (central information office Berlin) with documents and records such as officers' rolls and list of common soldiers and non-commmissioned officers, for both World wars, were destroyed in 1945. However, some records of soldiers on the sick or injured list have survived. They are in a special archive called Krankenbuchlager Berlin, (sick book archive Berlin). This office contains some information regarding military personnel for whom treatment in a military hospital, due to sickness or injury, was indicated. By consulting these documents it is sometimes possible to glean a limited amount of details regarding the individual's commencement of military service, length of service and hospital treatment. The inventory of the archive is comprised of documents for the following periods:
World War I and the time prior to it: for the Prussian army and for Alsace-Lorraine, for the imperial navy, and for the former colonial troops. The archive also has a complete set of the printed German casualty lists of numerous German military units and the navy, including the casualty list 1914-1918 (published in 1919). The period between the wars is only sporadically documented.
World War II: Documents for all units of the German armed forces, also for prisoners of war in England, France and Belgium. In additional there are documents for the former veterans' welfare agencies.
Krankenbuchlager Berlin
Wattstr. 11
13355 Berlin, Germany
Notification of next of kin of war dead.
The Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht (Agency for notification of next of kin of war dead) in Berlin does an outstanding job documenting individual war casualties of German soldiers. Its information will usually include the name, date and place of birth, date of induction into the armed forces, numbers and symbols on the identity disc (dog tag), identification of last unit in which the soldier served, name of place or area where the person last saw combat action, and home address.
The agency has ca. A dozen additional functions and responsibilities. Among these are:
1. Handling of requests for documentation of war deaths in World War I.
2. Notification of families of deceased foreign prisoners of war
3. Ascertaining the identity of unknown deceased persons by decoding the identity discs with the aid of the pertinent indexes.
4. Decoding the field post numbers with the aid of the field post number indexes.
5. Supplying information and issuing certificates to agencies and private persons in Germany and abroad, to document citizenship in a given country, cases of death or missing persons, injuries, sickness, accidents and field hospital stay, prisoner-of-war status, type and length of a combat operation, assignment to a given unit, addresses of former members of the German armed forces, promotions, rank, pay and the awarding of titles and/or medals and decorations.
Location: Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
Eichborndamm 179, Tor 6
13403 Berlin
Germany
Mailing address:
Postfach 51 06 57
13400 Berlin
Germany
Letters to official German agencies should be written in German. (Horst A Rescke, Military records in Germany.)
1914-1918 – U.S. Military
World War I draft registration cards for U.S. places. Over 24 million images at Ancestry.com. Men born between 1871-1899 may have served in this war. [ages 15 to 43?].
1918 – Database of localities
Source: <Kartenmeister.com : http://kartenmeister.com/preview/databaseuwe.asp
This database contains over 68,000 locations with over 35,000 names changes. These locations are EAST of the Oder/Neisse rivers and are based on borders of the eastern provinces in Spring 1918. Included are localities in East Prussia, West Prussia, Brandenburg, Posen, Pomerania, and Silesia. Searches may be made by former German name, Polish, Russian, or Lithuanian name.
1919 - Nobility
In August 1919, Germany's Weimar constitution decreed the revocation of all special privileges based on birth, class or station. Hitherto hereditary titles of nobility, such as "Fürst" (prince), Graf (county), or Freiherr (Baron), etc. were no longer to be passed on from generation to generation, nor were new elevations to noble status permitted. Thus, a system that had been in force for a thousand years, came to, what then seemed, an ignominious end in Germany. With the cessation of the special privileges of the Germany came the end of its official registers, called Adelsmatrikel. Yet, the keeping of records persisted. Most noble families maintained family archives or placed their historical documents in public archives. (Horst A. Rescke, "Genealogy and the German Nobility" in German Genealogical Digest).
1937 – Civil Registration
A new law passed on 3 November 1937 mandated the introduction of a Familienregister (family book) in each civil registry office. The justification for this stated: "Family history research, now increasingly popular among a large sector of the population, is substantially complicated by the absence of connecting entries. Henceforth, when a marriage ceremony was conducted by the civil registrar, a page was established for that couple, and the names of their children added in the order of their arrival. If that family moved from the district, the appropriate page was forwarded to the next town in which the family established residence.
1939-1940 – Germans in Russia
September 28, 1939: Hitler and Stalin agree on a large-scale population exchange between Germany and the Soviet Union. "All persons of German ethnic origin, living in areas that were to be annexed to Russia, were to be permitted, if they desired, to re-settle in Germany or German-controlled territory, with full protection of their property rights… Several groups of Germans who lived in border areas of the old Russia, in provinces that had broken away after the revolution, who had therefore never been subject to the Communist government, now came back into the picture briefly. Such were the Baltic Germans, the Germans in Polish Volhynia and the Bessarabian Germans. As a result of the Hitler-Stalin deal, their homelands were now to return to Russia, but they themselves, if they preferred not to become Soviet citizens could choose to be re-settled in Germany. Almost without exception, they chose to "come home" to the Reich…"
October 15, 1939: a German arrangement with the Estonian government and on October 30 another with the Latvian government (the Soviet government was technically not as yet involved) provided for the transfer of the Baltic Germans to the Reich. . .
November 24: "it was announced to the Germans of Polish Volhynia, now annexed to the Soviet Union, that the German and Soviet governments had reached agreement for their repatriation to the Reich. . . A few months later a third group felt the effects to the Hitler-Stalin deal. This time it was the 90,000 Germans who lived in southern Bessarabia. On June 28, 1940, the Soviet government issued an ultimatum demanding Rumanian evacuation of Bessarabia within four days.
Source: Giesinger, Adam. From Catherine to Khrushchev, the Story of Russia's Germans. Chapter XVI p. 299.
Source: Odessa, a German-Russian Genealogical Library dedicated to the cultural and family history of Germans who emigrated to Russia in the 1800s and their descendants. It contains digitized books and records from church, census, cemetery, and other sources in the U.S. and Russia. <pixel.cs.vt.edu>.[Broken link] See Koblenz Exodus Index on this site.
1933-1945 – Hitler's Third Reich
1945 - Nobility
In 1945, a foundation called Deutsches Adelsarchiv (German archive of nobility) was established at Marburg, in Hessen. Its purpose was to maintain and publish the genealogy of the German nobility.
1939-1945 – World War II
World War II started by Nazi Germany on Sept. 1, 1939, with Russian invasion of Poland on September 17. U. S. men born between 1890-1930 may have served in the war according to Fleming (ages 15 to 50).
Source: "Biographical Collections of the Berlin Document Center & Related World War II Migration Records" in German Genealogical Digest [19:1:].
Source: World War II Draft Registration Cards – available at Ancestry.com.
Taken on 27 April 1942 and registered men who were born on or between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897. (This registration was for men ages 45 to 65).
Source: German Prisoners of War in the United States During World War II. German Research Companion by Shirley Reimer, pp. 581-588.
1940-1945 – Jewish Holocaust
Following the events of World War II, survivors of the Holocaust published books that memorialized the destroyed Jewish communities of Europe. The books called "yizkor" books (yizkor means "memorial" or "remembrance" in Hebrew) commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and the Jewish communities themselves. Approximately 700 of these books have been digitized by the New York Public Library and placed on the internet at http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/yizkorbooks_intro.cfm.Source: Mokotoff, Gary. "Documenting Victims of the Holcaust". BYU Internet.
1951 - Nobility
In 1951 C.A. Starke Verlag, commenced publication of the Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels]. (Reschke: Nobility).
1962
By decree of 1962 Bavarian government recognized the refugees from the Sudentenland as an ethnic group of the Bavarian people. Over 900,000 Sudeten Germans who had been driven out of their homeland established themselves in Bavaria. [Source: Hans F. Noehbauer: Tour of the Landscape and history of Bavaria.].
1962 – U. S. Social Security Death Index
Lists the names of persons who were given death benefits. If a person did not apply for the benefit, they are not recorded.
1972 – Nobility
In 1972 C.A. Starke Verlag commenced publishing the Adelslexikon (lexicon of nobility). Arranged in alphabetical order, it covers all families of the nobility who qualify for acceptance into print, except those lineages which became extinct prior to 1800. Special emphasis is given to ennoblements or elevations to noble status since 1850. Data include religion, native area, first documented appearance of the family, oldest ancestor, awards of patent of nobility, family organization, description and illustration of the family coat of arms, and bibliography of family histories. These volumes have been integrated into the overall series of the Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels. Thus far ten volumes have appeared in print, from 1972 to 2000. The volumes, their Verlagsnummer the part of the alphabetical order they cover, and the year of publication are as follows:
Vol. I (753) A-Bon, 1972.
Vol. II (758) Doo-Don, 1974.
Vol. III (761) Dor-Fx. 1975.
Vol. IV (767) Ga-Har, 1978.
Vol. V (784) Has-I, 1984.
Vol. VI (791) J-Kra, 1987.
Vol. VII (797) Kre-Lod, 1989.
Vol. VIII (813) Loe-Mes
Vol. IX (816) Met-Oe.
Vol. X (819) Of-Pra
Vol. XI (822)
Anthes, Guenther F. Pfälzische Untertanen-, Huldigungs- und Musterungslisten aus den Jahren 1587 – 1609 – 1612 – 1624 –1731 –1776. [FHL 943.43 B4sb no. 9].
Brandt, Edward R. and Adalbert Goertz. Genealogical Guide to East and West Prussia (Ost- und Westpreussen) Records, Sources, Publications & Events.
Kilian, Rolf, Franz Neumer, Oskar Poller. Untertanenverzeichnisse des Kürpfälzischen Oberamtes Alzey. 1494, 1576, 1698. [FHL 943.43 B4sb v. 1, 1995].
Magill, Frank N. Great Events from History, Modern European Series. Salem Press, Englewood, New Jersey.
NOTES:
[1] This series was founded by Erich Kayser and continued by Heinz Stoob. Some volumes of the earlier edition of this work can be found in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. A revision of this monumental work on the history of German cities is in process. The new edition is produced at the Institut für Vergleichende Städtegeschichte an der Universität Münster. Stuttgart [et al]: Kohlhammer.To date these volumes have been published:
Volume 1: Schlesisches Städtebuch [Silesian Cities] published in 1995. (Contains over 120 articles on 116 cities in Brandenburg and Berlin plus seven incorporated boroughs of Berlin).
Volume 2: Städtebuch Brandenburg und Berlin [Cities of Brandenburg and Berlin], Ed. Evamaria Engel. 2000. ISBN 3-17-0153889.
Volume 3: Eastern Pomerania (upcoming volume).
(Refer to article on Bayerisches Städtebuch in "City Histories of Bavaria. A Reference Guide" in German Genealogical Digest 15:4).
[2] The Family History Library collection can be accessed on the Internet at FamilySearch. FHL is the former abbreviation used for records housed in the Family History Library Collection. This library is now known as the FamilySearch Library. FHL is no longer used.
[3] In the 1500s Europe consisted overwhelmingly of thinly and patchily inhabited countryside, largely self-contained environments of villages and small market towns and their inter-connecting paths and lanes. In some places forests and marshes and wild hilly zones cut off even one sub-region from another. The 1524-5 Peasants' War in southern Germany failed at least in part because men from different localities with similar anti-landlord grievances could not agree on a common strategy. Even if individuals were aware of being part of great noble estates or extensive Episcopal sees through agents who would, from time to time, remind them of what they owed in dues or tithes, the familiar life of tasks, kinship and acquaintances remained narrow, resisting further intrusion and disliking change. And this sense of a community's being locked in on itself was heightened by the restrictive tolls imposed by landlords on the transport of goods across the territories traditionally within their jurisdiction or along the rivers over which they had claims to riparian rights [one who owns lands on the bank of a natural watercourse or body of water]. Only the most prosperous peasant farmer could push his produce to market beyond these check-points. The great majority of men and women seldom traveled more than fifteen miles from their homes and lived in an isolation that inhibited any sentiment that can even be called patriotic save in the narrowest and most occasional of terms. [Source: The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance by John Hale].
[4] Began in Black Forest in southwestern Germany when peasants were required to work on a holy day. A revolt primarily as a reaction to growing power of great princes who were enriching themselves at the expense not only of the peasants but also of the towns and lowly knights. The peasants sought a return to medieval or feudal law, which offered more freedom than rigid Roman law. Religion also played a role in the revolt – the Reformation had recently been introduced and the peasants received some justification for their demands. Peasants at arms estimated at about 300,000 and about one hundred thousand were either killed in battle or executed.
Twelve articles of Memmingen were the classic statement of the peasants demands. Some of these were:
1 Election of pastors
2 Refusal to be serfs
3 Mitigation of church tithes.
4 Free access to woods and water for game and fish.
5 Abolition of excessive feudal dues.
6 Protection against arbitrary punishment.
Demands in Elsass were stronger and suggested abolishment of all princely power.
Gaismaier of the Tyrolean revolt advocated a return to simple community living for everyone with the Emperor as only authority. All towns and castles were to be destroyed, men were to live in villages on basis of equality, trade to be abolished.
The peasant armies were gradually subdued and many of the leaders of the uprising were killed.
Source: Magill, Frank N. Great Events from History, Modern European Series. Salem Press, Englewood, New Jersey.
[5] The Augsburg Confession, a statement of Lutheran theology in twenty-eight articles, was presented to the emperor Charles V at the Diet in Augsburg by seven Lutheran princes and two imperial free cities in June 1530. Philipp Melanchthon was the principal author.
[6] Peace of Augsburg often summarized by cuius regio, eius religio [whose rule, his the religion]. The Peace of Augsburg is believed by many scholars to be an agreement based not on mutual respect or belief in the ideal of toleration but as a matter of expediency to keep Germany from becoming constantly engaged in endless civil wars. Because of the exclusion of the Calvinists, the peace was doomed to failure; however, peace did follow for more than 60 years.
Principal Provisions:
1. Catholic and Lutheran parties were to maintain perpetual peace.
2. Lutheran princes, knights, and cities were to enjoy security equal to that of the Catholics.
3. Each principality was to have the right to choose either Catholicism or Lutheranism as its official religion, but practice of all other faiths was prohibited.
4. Church lands seized by Protestants after Peace of Passau were to be returned.
5. Ecclesiastical reservation would be in effect and all clerical princes who became Protestant in future would forfeit their land.
6. All persons would have the right to emigrate from territory espousing a religion different from their own.
7. Towns were required to maintain equality between the two major faiths.
Source: Magill, Frank N. Great Events from History, Modern European Series. Salem Press, Englewood, New Jersey.
[7] Under the terms of the edict Huguenots were granted among other things:
1. The right to dwell anywhere in France without harassment and without being required to answer for their beliefs.
2. High nobility were permitted to hold services on any of their domains for benefit of any Protestants.
3. Lesser nobility permitted to have services only for themselves, families and servants.
4. Cities were permitted Protestant services and 1 town in each district was designated a place of free worship.
5. Universities and charitable institutions open to all French men without regard to religion.
6. Protestants permitted to open schools in all towns where free worship was allowed.
7. Protestants were allowed to have their own cemeteries.
8. Civil offices open to Protestants
[8] In 1638 a tiny settlement called Fort Christina was established on the Delaware by the Swedish West India Company on the site of present-day Wilmington. The Dutch from New Amsterdam had established a trading post in the region two years earlier – called Fort Nassau. [Daniels, Roger. Coming to America, p. 97]. New Sweden was established and developed by Germans. Over fifty families were brought from the area of Pomerania. Later it was incorporated into New Amsterdam.
[8] Under certain circumstances the Bishop could disregard certain conditions from church rules, such as an exemption or release from the three proclamations in the parish churches of the bridal couple prior to the marriage. An application was submitted from the parish priest and within a short time a dispensation could be granted and the marriage performed. [This was sometimes due to the pregnancy of the bride or perhaps the bridal Ncouple were closely related to each other]. These dispensations have been published in ten volumes for Köln Bistum. They include individuals from Rheinland, as well as Westfalen, Lippe, and other areas. The place of origin and birthplace is often given. This source can often bridge gaps in parish registers.
[9] Due to religious and political insecurity in Southwest Germany during and shortly after the reign of Louis XIV of France (1643-1715), this region might well have been the worst place to live in Europe. Beginning with the famous 1709 emigrants, this region provided many thousands of emigrants to the British colonies in North America before 1770 (or more precisely, before 1756 when the Seven Years' War-or French and Indian War-began). The regions from which the German-speaking emigrant came were Baden, Alsace and Lorraine [regions of France], The Palatinate (Bavaria west of the Rhine), Switzerland, Württemberg, Hessen-Nassau, Hessen-Darmstadt, and the Rhineland. ["Ask the Experts" by Roger P. Minert in German Genealogical Digest [12:3:92] & [12:4:126].
[10] A good overview with bibliography of German immigration in Canada appears in "German Immigration to Canada in the Nineteenth Century" by Hartmut Froeschle in Nineteenth-Century Germany, a symposium. [DD204 .N56]. See also articles regarding immigration in German-Canadian Yearbook, ed. Hartmut Froeschle, (Toronto, 1973).
[11] When a new ruler of the Margravite of Baden-Durlach took over control of the country, all of his subjects were required to appear by town and swear allegiance to the new ruler. The list for 1709 was published under the title Einwohnerbuch der Markgrafschaftr Baden-Durlach im Jahre 1709 (Book of the inhabitants of the Margravite Baden-Durlach in the year 1709. [FHL 1183617]. Another ruler was installed in 1738 but the list of those swearing allegiance for this year has not been published (the original record is located in the Karlsruhe archives). ["They Can be Found! 18th Century Palatine Research" by Gary T. Horlacher. German Genealogical Digest 12:4:109].
[12] Napoleon required every male citizen age 20 and under 70 to declare under oath that he would serve his country in the cause of liberty and equality. Upon signing, the Swiss man's name was added to the civil register of his canton. Because most Swiss men didn't want to lose their citizenship rights, these records constitute a valuable census-type record of the male population of Switzerland. Most entries include the men's ages, occupations, place of hereditary heimat, and place of physical residence. ["Book Reviews" in German Genealogical Digest 21:1:4].
[13] Europeans leaving the port of Hamburg for the new world had at least two alternatives: Direct or Indirect passage. Most emigrants chose the "Direct" route; they would board a ship and go "directly" to their port of destination, such as New York, New Orleans, Quebec, Brazil, etc. Those choosing the less expensive indirect passage departed Hamburg for another European port such as Hull, London, Southampton, or Liverpool, England; Glasgow, Scotland; or Antwerp, Belgium. They would then book passage from that country, probably on another ship, before sailing to their new home. The Hamburg passenger lists identify the ancestral home of millions of German emigrants.
Source: "Hamburg Germany - Gateway to the Ancestral Home" and "Hamburg Passenger Lists - An Update, New Passenger Lists and Indexes" in German Genealogical Digest 2:1 and 13:2. Note: the Hamburg Passengers are now fully indexed and available online at Ancestry.com.
[14] National law throughout the newly established German Empire stipulated that only those marriages conducted under the hand of the civil registrar would be legally recognized. It also stipulated that all pending marriages be publicized and that "there would be no interference with the churches concerning the recording of birth and marriage events." [The best way to determine the location of the Standesamt (civil registry) in which the residents of a given town reported vital events is to consult the German gazetteer Meyers Orts= und Verkehrslexikon des Deutschen Reiches. This gazetteer is now fully searchable at Meyersgaz.org . Community boundary reform efforts of the 1970s closed or consolidated some of the civil registry offices. Check websites for locations and services of civil registries. The records of civil registry offices in the Federal Republic of Germany are subject to strict privacy regulations. Paragraph 61 of the law of the civil registry states that these restrictions apply to all entries made after 1 January 1876, as well as to the family books kept in civil registry offices in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The text is as follows:
"Access to the vital records of the civil registry, examination of those records, and release of certificates based thereon can only be requested by government agencies within their official functions, as well as by persons named in the records in questions, or by their spouses, ancestors, and descendants. Government offices must state the reasons for their request. Other persons may only claim the right to gain access to those records, to examine those records, and to be issued certificates based thereon, if they can provide a legitimate justification". [To family history researchers this restriction means that the civil registry may only release information on persons who appear on the applicant's personal pedigree chart. Information regarding siblings of the direct ancestors may not be released. Note: These restrictions have recently been relaxed and many civil registration records are online on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. The 110 year for births; 80 years for marriages; and 30 years for deaths apply].
[Minert, Roger P. "Privacy Laws and the German Civil Registry" in German Genealogical Digest 21:1].
Battle Conflict Dates Birth Year Range
Indian Wars 1817-1898 1767-1885
Mexican War 1846-1848 1796-1835
Civil War 1861-1865 1810-1852
Spanish American 1898-1899 1848-1887
Philippine Insurrections 1899-1902 1849-1889
World War I 1917-1918 1871-1899
World War II 1940-1947 1890-1930
Korean War 1950-1955 1900-1938
Vietnam 1964-1975 1914-1956