Navigating German family history requires a clear understanding of how, when, and where vital events were recorded. Whether your ancestors lived during the era of parish registers or the transition to state-mandated civil registration, this guide details the essential historical contexts, archive systems, and search strategies you need to break through your German "brick walls." Kirchberg, Wipfeld, Germany What is the difference between a German civil registry record and a church … [Read more...]
How To Understand German Handwriting and Gothic Scripts
Image courtesy of Penn State University Libraries Digital Collections Free Resources for Old German Handwriting and Fraktur If you have German-speaking ancestors, chances are you have encountered old German handwriting (alternate names include Gothic, Kurrent, or Sütterlin) or Fraktur (blackletter) in your research—whether in records from German enclaves in the United States, such as Pennsylvania, or records in Central or Eastern Europe. A full page of script can look like proverbial … [Read more...]