Genealogy

Finding places in old Germany: ShtetlSeeker : http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm Meyers Geographical and Commercial Gazetteer of the German Empire ( Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs in German) now FREE at Ancestry: http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/meyers-ort-online-and-free.html GEOserv (email process): http://www.genealogienetz.de/misc/geoserv.html German Place Database : http://www.saxonyroots.com/place/index.php?lang=en Topography Keyword list with links to sources: http://www.digitalis.uni-koeln.de/digitaletexte_keywords.html    in German German Maps : http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/german-maps.html Genealogy.net (German & English): http://www.genealogy.net Germany GenWeb : http://www.rootsweb.com/~wggerman/ Links for German Genealogy on the Internet : http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/germanlinks.html Ahnenforschung.net (in German; IRC chat as well as information): http://ahnenforschung.net/ and http://alsachat....

The Rheinland-Pfalz : http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/RHE-PFA/rhein-p.html Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate) Genealogy Links : http://www.genealogylinks.net/europe/germany/rp.htm Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany WorldGenWeb Project: http://www.rootsweb.com/~deurhepf/ Hessen GenWeb : http://members.cox.net/hessen/index2.htm Cemeteries of Rheinland Pfalz , Germany: http://www.interment.net/ger/rheinland.htm Pfäzisch-Rheinische Familienkunde : http://www.prfk.de/literatur/index.html Electorate Prince-archbishopric of Trier : http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/HIST/trier.html Trier Familienbücher index : http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/wgff/trier/ (Click on "ABC-Listen") Westdeutsche Gesellschaft für Familienkunde : http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/wgff/index.htm Institut fuer pfaelzische Geschichte und Volkskunde : http://www.bv-pfalz.de/kultur/institut-fuer-pfaelzische-geschichte-und-volkskunde/ . A museum of Palatine history and culture including emigration; has a ca...

Alsace (Ger. Elsass) is now two French departéments, Bas-Rhin [67] (Lower Rhine) & Haut-Rhin [68] (Upper Rhine). The Territory of Belfort [90] is sometimes also included. The Territory of Belfort was formerly part of Haut-Rhin. From 1789 (French Revolution) to 1871, the Departément of the Territory of Belfort didn't exist, because it was included in the department of Haut-Rhin. After the war in 1870-1871, all of Alsace was annexed by Germany except the region of Belfort, which became the "Territory of Belfort" (departément n° 90) in France. After World War I (1918), Alsace became part of France, but the Territory of Belfort remained a separate departément. So, if you have an ancestor who lived 1789-1871 in Haut-Rhin, check for records in the Territory of Belfort. In general, the Alsace was French 1648-1871, German 1871-1918, French 1918-1940, German 1940-1945, French since 1945. A short timeline-table, called Alsace-Lorraine — an Enclave of Ethnic Germans ...

For all European research, you must have a village name, or at least a small region with a few villages, because that is where all the records are kept! There are few to no departement, county or region-wide censuses or other general surveys such as our US Census records. The exception is the UK, which has searchable census for 1841-1901, and where records have been kept by the counties in England since 1837, in Scotland since 1851. So, you must do your American or Canadian research, before trying to "jump the pond" back to Europe. Recently, the 1836 Census of the Alsace has started to become available. To see if your surnames are found therein, search at: http://www.census1836.com/ Have you found the naturalization applications ? Often the first and second application contain much more detail than the final certificate. How about obituaries, in particular those published in small local newspapers, church publications, or German or French newspapers? Many of the old newspape...