Occupations

Link to site for occupations: https://www.der-familienstammbaum.de/ahnenforschung/alte-berufe-a

Source. Heimatkalender für den Kreis Niederbarnim. 

Jakob Ebner: Wörterbuch historischer Berufsbezeichnungen. Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter 2015 

"Wörterbuch historischer Berufsbezeichnungen" is a comprehensive reference work by Austrian linguist Jakob Ebner, published by de Gruyter in 2015. Spanning over 1,000 pages, the dictionary serves as an essential tool for understanding old German-language occupational titles from various industries and regions. [1, 2, 3]

The work does not merely list obsolete job titles; it places them within their broader social, cultural, and linguistic contexts. It tracks a wide variety of historic livelihoods, ranging from port workers and miners to royal court staff and farmers. It is heavily utilized by:

• Genealogists and family researchers tracing ancestral occupations.

• Linguists and onomasticists studying the origins of family names derived from professions (e.g., Müller, Schmidt).

• Historians, archivists, and curators translating or contextualizing old scripts, civil registers, and guild records. [1]

• Linguistic Context: Outlines variations in regional meanings and how terminology evolved within specific professional branches over time.

• Etymology & Surnames: Explains the word origins and traces how specific occupational titles eventually transformed into modern family surnames.

• Synonyms & Translations: Group word families together and includes cross-referenced Latin equivalents frequently found in historical sources and church registries.

• Comprehensive Indexes: Detailed indexes are included at the back to help readers look up obsolete, phonetic, or highly localized variations of words.

AI generated content about this source.

Search for occupation found in documents on this site: http://www.historische-berufe.de/

Occupations on German wiki site: http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/w/index.php?title=Kategorie:Berufsbezeichnung&from=Brigadier

Gerholz, Heinrich. Gerholz-Kartei: eine Sammlung alter Berufsbezeichnungen. Lubeck, 2005. [FHL 943 U26g] High density. [Extensive 30-year work includes about 6,000 terms].

Portraits of artisan depictions can be found at this link: Nuernberger-Hausbuecher.  Click on "Subject Terms" for the occupation of interest.

Schutzverwandter - inhabitant of a municipality especially a city that had only lower citizenship rights.  Mainly those who had no land hence the poorer people.

List of old professions (French site): https://www.vieuxmetiers.org/

Pictures of professions and trades with detailed descriptions in English: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40101/40101-h/40101-h.htm

Current classifications (2001) of German and Italian occupations: https://astat.provincia.bz.it/downloads/berufe_2002(1).pdf

The Schuhmacher by Hodler

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Fauve-Chamoux, A. (1998). Servants in preindustrial Europe: gender differences. Historical Social Research, 23(1/2), 112-129. https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.23.1998.1/2.112-129 

List of occupations from Jewish Gen: https://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/germanoccs.htm

List of occupations from Roots Web: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~romban/misc/germanjobs.html

Occupations found in German church books: http://baseportal.de/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/JGorsler/Berufs/Beruf&localparams=1&range=270,30

Lessner site for pdf of old occupations: http://www.lessner-ahnenforschung.com/7c3b98951054da99149c17dcbb279db8_Alte%20Berufsbezeichnungen.pdf

List from Bielski Latin and German: http://www.bielski.de/html/berufe.html#buch_P

Daniel Stieger site: https://www.daniel-stieger.ch/berufe.htm#n

Occupations from Familia Austria: https://www.familia-austria.at/index.php/forschung-und-service/kronlaender-seiten/78-oesterreichische-laender/niederoesterreich/463-wiener-berufe-lexikon?showall=1&limitstart=

Idaho Gen Web list of occupations: https://idaho.idgenweb.org/Genealogy/german_occupations.htm

Source of above 8 lists from Katherina Schrober: https://germanologyunlocked.com/9-amazing-websites-for-occupations-in-german-genealogy/

See blog about occupations: https://germanologyunlocked.com/occupational-endings/