Germanic Genealogy:

ONE OF TWO MAJOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE GUIDES on list of "Twenty-five of the most useful books for German genealogical research" by Horst Reschke, German-born columnist for Heritage Quest (Sept.-Oct. 1998). Twelve of the 25 are in English. The other English-language books, except for one very short introductory guide, are of a more specialized nature.

ONLY GENERAL GUIDE among the four books for GERMAN GENEALOGY recommended by Thomas Jay Kemp, "The Roots of Genealogy Collections," in the Library Journal (April 1, 1999), for development of a library collection on genealogy (including 26 on ethnic genealogy) and among those he has starred for a core collection (2 for German; 9 for all ethnic groups). His list also includes 24 other books, 7 periodicals, 3 e-newsletters and 2 general websites.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Worldwide coverage: Only guide which helps you trace German-speaking ancestors in every country from which they came and to which they went
• Country-by-country description of resources in about 60 countries
• Churches: Genealogical resources for more than 30 denominations which had German-speaking immigrant congregations in the United States or Canada
• Bibliographies: 20-page annotated bibliography of English- and German-language books and numerous periodicals, as well as bibliographies for most of the 22 chapters, to help you find more specialized information on any subject
• Political and physical geography of all European areas of emigration, including the 1871-1918 sub-units of the German Empire (which the Family History Library uses for its catalog and which is especially helpful for inexperienced researchers trying to find ancestors from the Palatinate, the Rhineland, Thuringia, Hesse, Saxony, northwestern Germany, or "Prussia," which extended to westernmost Germany), a geographic outline (and map) of Germanic settlements throughout Europe (identifying countries in which they are now located), boundary changes, and more than 80 historic or uncommon names for various areas, including those known by their geographic features (mountains, forests, etc.)
• History of German-speaking people in all Germanic countries and all four large nineteenth-century empires in continental Europe, plus dateline of historic events
• Thoroughly indexed: detailed triple-column index of nearly 30 pages to make it easy for you to find exactly what you want

ALSO INCLUDES

• Family History Library: Thorough coverage of Family History Library holdings for people of Germanic descent in the United States, Canada and 12 other countries, plus various other resources and many publications
• Anglicization of German names: How German names changed in English-speaking countries
• Jewish genealogy: Resources in the United States, Europe and Israel, plus various projects for gathering and disseminating information (expansion of information provided by Dr. George Arnstein for first edition), emphasizing, but not limited, to Jews from Germany, since the criteria for inclusion emphasized language and the kinds of Jewish records found almost universally
• Computers: More than 50 mailing lists, newsgroups, library catalogs, websites and search engines, plus genealogy software and CD-ROMs (prepared by Paula Goblirsch and Ray Kleinow)
• Germanic migration to the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, former German colonies and protectorates, and miscellaneous other countries
• Passenger departure lists: information on all pertinent European ports
• Passenger arrival lists: information on all Atlantic ports in the U.S. and Canada, Gulf of Mexico ports, ports in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Latin America
• Addresses: 15-page list of useful addresses (plus dozens of others in the text), including 41 German-American genealogical or related societies; and many multi-ethnic or non-Germanic societies in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Russia, Poland, and other countries which publish or provide information relating to Germanic genealogy; also book publishers, booksellers, map sources, library and information centers, resource centers in or near Minnesota
• Misspellings, indicating which letters were most often used interchangeably in old records (dealt with in greater detail in my published lecture on "Learning and Deciphering the Gothic Script," which also deals with printed and written letters which look similar or may look similar in poor handwriting)
• Vocabulary of German terms relevant for genealogy
  
• Date and calendar problems: Roman, Julian and French revolutionary calendars, various names for months used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands now or historically, sources about feast days
• List of more than 65 gazetteers, atlases, etc., for Europe, including some devoted to place name changes, some in Polish and Hungarian, and others which are multi-national, for other countries, or Jewish-oriented, but in English or German
• 26 maps, 24 of various European countries, including historic maps
• American records for beginning your research
• Canadian genealogical resources
• 18 tables of data
• international transmission of funds
• American-style family and ancestor forms in German, Polish and French
• place names, including coping with misspelled names
• sample letters in German
• notes on the German language and the Gothic script

Compared to first edition, second edition includes

• Three times as much on JEWISH HISTORY AND GENEALOGY
• More than twice as much for ALL CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS which had German-speaking immigrants congregations (completely rewritten)
• New chapter on COMPUTERS AND GENEALOGY
• Greatly expanded material on European resources
       Almost twice as much on GERMANY
       More than twice as much on AUSTRIA
       Twice as much on LUXEMBOURG
       50% more on Germans in many non-Germanic European countries
  
• 50% more on WORLDWIDE MIGRATIONS of German-speakers
• Many additional and updated ADDRESSES and BIBLIOGRAPHIC ENTRIES

COUNTRIES FOR WHICH SPECIFIC GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED INCLUDE