My great-grandmother Erika was German. She was adamant about the fact that she was German. After her arrival in the United States, when she was asked to fill out information about her place of birth, she indicated that she was born in Germany. Erika was born in 1921 in Waschulken. Today, this small town is located in northeastern Poland, however at the time it was part of Germany. Although borders have since been moved, she never stopped claiming she was German.
In the United States, many German immigrants were listed on various federal censuses and other documents generically as being from Germany. Instructions given to census takers for the 1870 census notes that the country of birth for individuals who were born outside the United States was to be listed “as specifically as possible.” In the case of those from Germany, census takers were to “specify the State, as Prussia, Baden, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Hesse Darmstadt, &c.” This makes sense as the unification of Germany had not yet occurred. Instructions for the 1900 census however indicate that census takers should “not write Prussia or Saxony, but Germany.” Also, in the case of Poland, they were to “inquire whether the birthplace was what is now known as German Poland or Austrian Poland.” Thus, at least in theory, earlier census enumerations should indicate a more specific area or region rather than the generic “Germany.” In practice, some census takers still used “Germany” in lieu of a more specific place.
Take for instance this 1870 census for the Henry Blaser household. Henry is listed as being from “Wuertemberg” and his wife Christina is listed as being from “Hesse Darmstadt”.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6Q39-34K?i=33&cc=1438024
Later, the 1900 census for the Henry Blaeser household lists both husband and wife as being from Germany.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DTB3-8ZN?i=23&cc=1325221
For more information on researching your German ancestors in census records, see our previous blog post, A New Development for German Census Records.
Historical boundaries of Germany
The unification of territories in January 1871 created the German Empire which lasted until 1918. Prior to the merger the area consisted of a multitude of separate kingdoms, duchies, and provinces. When an individual claims to have German ancestry they often mean that their ancestors lived within German Empire borders, although not necessarily only during the empire period. These borders were much larger than that of modern Germany with the most striking inclusion being a large portion of northern Poland. Even after the fall of the empire in 1918, it took many years for the borders to shrink to their current position.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany#/media/File:Deutsches_Reich_1871-1918.png
The concept of who is “German” and what areas are considered “Germany” have changed frequently over time, so it is vital to keep shifting historical boundaries in mind if you have ancestors who claim to be German as they may not be from the area of modern Germany.
How to begin tracing German ancestry
However, even knowing the province your immigrant ancestor came from is usually not enough information to begin researching in German record collections. You need to know the name of the town your ancestor came from. Although in some rare cases you may be able to identify your immigrant’s foreign hometown through indexes created from German collections, more often than not, traditional research will necessitate using church records, civil vital records, passenger lists, naturalization records, newspapers, and other such records in the country to which your ancestor immigrated in order to identify their place of origin. We also discuss additional resources available in our previous article, 3 Essential Website for Germany Family History Research.
German church records
Church records, which can include baptisms, marriages, burials, confirmations, and in some areas family books, are some of the most commonly used resources for German genealogical research.
Church records can be especially useful if the immigrant attended a church associated with their native language as these records often list foreign hometowns in marriage and death entries. For those with German ancestors of the Protestant Evangelical faith, accessing church records from many areas of Germany has gotten easier over the last several years. The book series German Immigrants in American Church Records is a helpful resource for those with German ancestors in Midwest region of the United States, offering a quick source to see if your immigrant’s name appears in the extracted records.
Using newspapers for German genealogy research
Newspaper articles including obituaries can also provide the name of the immigrant’s hometown. Where available, foreign language newspapers should not be overlooked as obituaries in such papers often provide additional details not listed in their English language counterparts. Check with local libraries or historical societies to see if they have copies of foreign language newspapers.
Other records for tracing German ancestors
Although early passenger lists and naturalization records usually only list a province or “Germany” as an individual’s place of origin, naturalization records post 1906 as well as more modern passenger manifests often do list exact towns of birth.
Less obvious records such as wills on occasion list the town of birth so it is important to check all record types in search of the immigrant’s town of origin.
Once the town has been identified, church records and civil registration records (mandatory for the whole German Empire as of 1876), will be the most widely used sources for researching your German ancestors in Europe. As many of these records will be written in the antiquated German script, one will not only need to learn basic German genealogy vocabulary, but also learn to recognize those words written in the old script.
Understanding the language in these old records can also be a challenge. If you need to develop your German language skills, try the German for Genealogists online course by Germanology Unlocked.
At Legacy Tree Genealogists, we have genealogists who specialize in German genealogy research and are skilled not only in identifying German hometowns of immigrants, but also in reading and analyzing old German church and civil records. We would love to help you trace your German immigrant ancestors back to their hometowns and extend their lines there. Contact us today for a quote!
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I’ve encountered the same kind of data — Surname MILLER and supposedly from in 1832 in France. It took considerable research but he was born in Bavaria. Which depending on the time period was part of Germany. Then would be part of France. Now the surname MILLER, and I assume it has been “modified”, makes sense.
Hey folks
I just received this email link to your web page titled “What does “German” really mean?”. I’ve thought about this for years. This I really would like to know, as I’m proud in being German, but how do I calculate my Germanness quotient? How much of German blood can I honestly proclaim? I know that an ancestor born in Germany isn’t necessarily German, because it is a blood thing, and some born someplace else like Russia may have German blood. How do I know if an ancestor is German? Can it be proven?
I love being German my last DNA test said I was a little over sixteen percent close to a quarter so im sure its at least a quarter the way DNA matches things up a little shorter. The universe is connected to us Germans. It seems Aliens always visit us Germans. Its pretty common to see ancient UFOs over Germany and Switzerland in the 1500s where at St Nicholas church in switzerland formorly Germany, a spaceship was recorded sitting above the church an entire day. Out of all my DNA test combined I count eleven races but I think I like German best even over my dominate British Isles.
But with history there is also disturbing thing no history book records. Begining at the early 1800s they had the orphan trains. The children were not orphans they were force out of homes and taken from women in hospitals from all over Europe, Austraulia, and the Uniteed States for child labor. It lasted until the late 1800s. They say today there are 40 million living decendants of the orphan trains.
Hi Sonny,
Thank you for sharing. If you would like a detailed, personalized research in millions of family history records, spanning hundreds of years to tell you who your ancestors were, where they lived, and much more, our researchers can help you. We can provide the next steps to help you learn more about your family. If interested, you may request a free quote here.
Good Work, i did never how hot to track my ancestors. Incredible information here
Thank you for your comment!
I’ve recently joined Family Search where I entered my grandmother’s information and an entire tree automatically emerged with several branches dating back as far as 500 AD (German and Scottish decent.) Is that really possible and should I assume the information is correct? It would take more than a lifetime to verify it all.
Hi Nadine, this is not an easy question to answer without a bit of research. If digging into these records on your own seems daunting, our expert researchers would be honored to help you through the process. Please contact our Client Solutions Specialists through the form on our Get in Touch page. They can point you in the right direction and provide a free estimate if research is needed.