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Appointment At Gau-Algesheim, Germany
From: DENZILKLIP@aol.com
DearMYRTLE,
I have been given an appointment July 4th, 2000 between 13:30 and 15:00 at the Gau-Algesheim Archives in Germany. Can you give me some advice on how to prepare myself? They have not allotted me much time and I want to make the most of it.
-- Thanks for all of your encouragement and advice over the years.
DearDENZIL,
Although you don't have much time to prepare, I've followed your research somewhat over the years and anticipate that you'll make some interesting finds. By sending a message to the computers maintained in Germany by Arthur.Teschler@uni-giessen.de I located the following information about Gau-Algesheim
Prefix: Gau-Algesheim
Gau-Algesheim
GKZ : 07 3 39 019
County : | | +---- Mainz-Bingen (Mainz) {MZ}
RegBez : | +------- Rheinhessen-Pfalz
Land : +--------- Rheinland-Pfalz
ZIP : 55435
Popul : 5728
Locat : 49d58m N 8d01m E
Maps : TK25 6014 Ingelheim
TK50 L6114 Mainz
Euro Ia49
From this I located Gau-Algesheim, in my Shell Atlas, and see that you will be close to the areas I also researched in the western side of Germany. It appears that the facility you plan to visit is a town archives, since the population is listted as 5,728. By consulting the Germany Research Outline located at:
http://www.familysearch.org/sg/Germany.html
we read: "Civil Registration Offices and Town Archives -- In most areas, local governments began recording births, marriages, and deaths between 1792 and 1876. Although most records are kept in local offices, a few have been turned over to the state archives.
People who lived in small communities or villages usually registered in the nearest town, city, or municipality. Large cities and metropolitan areas are divided into civil registration districts.
Civil registration records are not open for public inspection, but abstracts or photocopies are issued to direct descendants. If a particular archive does not have the records you seek, it will usually refer you to the correct archive. For more information about civil records, see the “Civil Registration” section of this outline."
When requesting marriage records, for instance, you'll need to know about proclamations, supplements, contracts, registers and the like. The outline provides concise explanations of each.
1. Obviously, you'll need to print out this Germany Research Outline. Be sure to look for an explanation of the double dating (calendar) system and about why probate records
aren't generally as useful with German research as in the US. Also print out, highlight & study:
-- German Letter Writing Guide
http://www.familysearch.org/sg/LGGerman.html
-- German Genealogical Word List
http://www.familysearch.org/sg/WLGerman.html
Review essentails of what to expect when looking at records of:
Births - Geburten
Marriages - Heiraten or Ehen, or Trauungen
Deaths - Sterben or Tote
-- Modern Germany Map
http://www.familysearch.org/sg/MModernGermany.html
-- Europe & Scandinavia Family History Centers
http://www.familysearch.org/sg/Europe_and_Scandinavia_FHC.html
(Here you'll also find the addresses of 2 American Servicemen Centers, which might be useful from a non-genealogy point of view in an emergency.)
2. PRINT OUT AN AHNENTAFEL CHART. While we in the US are accustomed to pedigree charts, the Germans I worked with while visiting in 1995 related better to the Ahnentafel arrangement of direct line ancestors. I also took my pedigree chart, because it made better sense to me.
3. If you plan to take your laptop, be sure to get several adapters, as some of the zimmerhofs have the older style wiring.
4. DETERMINE WHAT TYPES OF RECORDS ARE MAINTAINED IN THE ARCHIVES TODAY. While I have not been to this archives, I would counsel you to be aware that church records are sometimes also available at state archives, as apparently there is not the same separation of church and state in Germany.
Perhaps the same source that provided the address and phone number for you to make the appointment has a report of the archive's collection.
I tried in vain to locate a web site describing the facility, but this is probably due to the fact that it is a small town.
5. REMEMBER THE RECORDS WEREN'T DESIGNED WITH GENEALOGISTS IN MIND. A common mistake made by researchers throughout the world is to assume that the archivists are there just to cater to a genealogist's needs. Knowing you, I am assured that you'll have no problem with dressing appropriately, and demonstrating respect for the facility and the employees who are taking the time to work with you.
6. PROVIDE A LIST OF ANCESTORS & their family members and the dates they lived in the area -- family group sheets might do the trick. Plan to check for:
- Civil registration of birth, marriage and death
- Bürgerbücher or Bürgerlisten (citizenship books for middle &
upper class, as well as merchants & craftsmen)
- famillenbuch (family book)
- Leichenpredigten (published funeral sermon)
- Ortssippenbuch or Dorfsippenbuch (village lineage books)
- Zünfte, Innungen or Gilden (guilds or trade organizations)
7. CONSIDER THAT THE LDS FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CATALOG lists only one item for the Gau-Algesheim area, namely Catholic church records from the Diocese, covering the time period 1640-1896. I couldn't pull up the microfilm notes due to an "internal server error" but the entry read " Kirchenbuch, 1640-1896 Katholische Kirche Gau-Algesheim (Kr. Bingen) ."
8. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
-- FEEFHS
http://www.feefhs.org/
-- Lisa Peterson's Description of Geman onsite research - Stuttgart
http://www.kinquest.com/genealogy/resources/stuttgart.html
-- Lisa Peterson's Description of Geman onsite research - Baden-Wuerttemberg
http://www.kinquest.com/genealogy/resources/badwue.html
-- DearMYRTLE's "Germany: One Researcher's Trip"
http://members.aol.com/dearmyrtle/germantrip.htm
-- German Genealogical Societies, found in the Germany Research Outline (IBID)
Pfalz and Rheinland:
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Pfälzisch-Rheinische Familienkunde
Rottstr. 17 (Stadtarchiv)
67061 Ludwigshafen/Rhein
GERMANY
Rheinland:
Westdeutsche Gesellschaft für Familienkunde
Postfach 10 08 22
51608 Gummersbach
GERMANY
-- Cyndi's List - Germany
http://www.cyndislist.com/germany.htm
-- Germany Rheinland-Pfalz WorldGenWeb
http://www.rootsweb.com/~deurhepf
Have a GREAT trip! Please let me know how it goes. I'd love to share your insights with my readers! Better yet, stop by our Monday night chat when you get back!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Daily Genealogy Columnist
AOL Keyword: gf, roots or myrtle
www.DearMYRTLE.com
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