Many of us have some German ancestry in our family backgrounds. Knowing where to search and how to tackle the difficulties posed by names and language can be tricky. In this free talk, librarian Eileen Dwane will share her wealth of experience in the area of German family history. Come along to learn some of her tips and tricks to help track down your ancestors.

1. Looking for the
German
connection in
family history
Eileen Dwane

2. This session will cover:
• an overview of the SLQ family history website
• some historical factors affecting German family
history research
• common problems associated with German
family history research for Australians
• some of the resources available at SLQ and
online to assist in tracing your German
connection

3. SLQ Family History website
http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/family-history
Online links to Info Guides
Links to:
1. Useful websites
for family
historians
2. Ancestry.com
free on site at SLQ

4. Who were the Germans?
• No unified country prior to 1800’s: numerous
small kingdoms, principalities & duchies
• 30 Years’ War, 1618-1648
• Invasion by neighbouring countries
• Napoleonic Wars
• 1815 Treaty of Vienna
Constantly changing boundaries

5. Changing boundaries 1815-1918
German Confederation
1848
North German
Confederation 1867
German Empire
1871
http://www.ieg-maps.uni-mainz.de/

6. Schleswig-Holstein
Source: Wikipedia Commons
12th Century 2 duchies Slesvig =Danish
Holstein =German
18th Century (1773) both Danish duchies
1864 Denmark loses both duchies
Nord Schleswig = Prussia
Holstein falls to Austria
1867 Schleswig-Holstein = Prussian
province
1920 Plebiscite:
North Schleswig = Danish
South Schleswig & Holstein = German

7. Changing boundaries
Implications for German family history
research:
• no central recording agency
• no consistently used language in records
• different dates for commencement of civil
registration and other records
• different details in records
• frequent place name changes

8. Critical to establish place of origin and an
approximate date of arrival in Australia:
• exhaust Australian resources first
• look for information on places of origin in:
• family papers, BDM certificates;
• church records, immigration records;
[German] emigration records,
• naturalization records, newspapers,
• old maps and online gazetteers,
Where to start?

9. German names may be:
• misspelled
• filed under any element of a multi-part name,
e.g. von der Heide
• inaccurately transcribed by non-German speakers
• deliberately anglicized, e.g Hans/John;
Heinrich/Henry; Gartner/Gardener
German language in Australian
records: names
Always search flexibly and employ
wildcard options when possible

10. German umlaut used to modify vowels sounds
ä ö ü
• can affect filing order in alphabetic indexes
• source of frequent misspellings
• usual convention: replace as ae, oe, ue
German language in Australian
records: Umlaut
Always search flexibly and employ
wildcard options when possible

11. German script and
Fraktur font
Source: FamilySearch
https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/
File:German_Gothic_Handwritin
g_Guide.pdf

12. Australian BDM indexes
Available for all Australian States:
• Variety of formats provide different search
options and results: microfiche, CD-ROM &
online
Use wildcards* whenever possible
• Date ranges and details in indexes and
certificates vary from state to state.
Check SLQ Info Guide: Births, Deaths & Marriages

13. Qld Pioneer index, 1829-1889.
Look for the surname König using wildcard*
Search term = K*ig
Qld BDM indexes: CD-ROM

14. Qld Pioneer index, 1829-1889. Look for the surname König
using wildcard* Search term = K*ig
Qld BDM indexes: CD-ROM

15. Qld Pioneer index, 1829-188. Look for the surname König
using wildcard* Search term = K*ig
Qld BDM indexes: CD-ROM

16. Australian death certificate contents
Extract from: http://www.jaunay.com/bdm.html

17. Baptist Archives, Queensland.
Contain little info relevant for family history research
Catholic Archives – arranged by region.
SLQ holds indexes on microfiche.
GSQ holds records for SE Qld on microfiche
Jewish records
SLQ holds Brisbane Hebrew Congregation registers of births
and marriages 1861-1946 on microfilm
Lutheran records - Lutheran Archives of Australia
http://www.lca.org.au/lutherans/archives.cfm
SLQ holds a few Lutheran parish records on microfilm.
Australian parish registers

18. Parish registers: Jewish
Brisbane Hebrew Congregation.
Register of Marriages 1861-1946
Available on microfilm at SLQ
now: Gniezno, Poland

19. Parish registers: Lutheran
Lutheran Church of Australia. Beenleigh Parish.
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Todesregister
Date of birth
Birthplace
Year of arrival in
Brisbane
Wife’s maiden name

20. 1. Australian immigration lists
2. German emigration lists:
• departures from German ports
• not all records have survived
• details vary
3. Other resources:
• naturalization records
• alien registration/internment documents
• newspapers
Immigration: how did they get here?

21. Australian immigration records
Assisted passengers
• received government assistance of some kind
• detailed records but amount varies from state to state
Unassisted passengers
• paid their own passage
• little detail in records
20th Century immigration
• records from circa 1923 held at National Archives of
Australia http://www.naa.gov.au
Check SLQ Info guide: Immigration and shipping

22. Assisted immigrant: Queensland
Beausite to
Cape Moreton,
20 August, 1866
Records ‘ex- flood’

23. Unassisted immigrants: Queensland
1. Occasionally listed on ships bringing assisted
immigrants
2. Customs House records for individual Qld ports
• held at National Archives of Australia
• most not yet indexed ; not all have survived
3. Port of Brisbane arrivals:
• QFHS Queensland Customs House shipping
1852-1885: passengers and crew (CD-ROM)
• Original records digitised on NAA website
Minimal details recorded of passengers

24. Assisted Immigrants to Sydney and Newcastle
1839-1896:
• Include early records for Moreton Bay and Port Phillip
• shipping lists (passenger manifests) and Immigration
Board records
• Online indexes at State Records NSW
• Ancestry.com – online index with links to digitized
records
Immigration : New South Wales
SLQ holds the records on microfilm

25. Assisted immigrant: New South Wales
Triton to Sydney Newcastle 1853:
Immigration Board list

26. Unassisted immigrant: NSW

27. National Archives of Australia
Immigration records Australia wide from early 1920’s
WW1 and WW2:
• Alien registration
• Alien internment
Search by name in RecordSearch www.naa.gov.au
to locate details of these files
20th Century records

28. Alien registration file at NAA
Carl Gustav Noack
Born 1881 at
Dresden, Saxony
Father: Carl Noack

29. 19th century emigration of ‘Old Lutherans’ from Eastern Germany
• not based on shipping lists
• entries arranged by date, then by place of origin in Prussia
• details include name, age, occupation, maiden names of
married women
German emigration applications
• locality specific, e.g. Wuerttemberg emigration index
• no details of ship or departure date
Departure lists from German ports
Lists survive for Bremen, 1920-1939 and Hamburg 1850-1934
German emigration records: sources

30. Most early records destroyed
Lists for 1920-1939 survive:
• not indexed
• held at Handelskammer Archiv, Bremen
• lists transcribed and searchable online at
Die Maus
“Namenskartei aus den “Bremen Schiffslisten,
1904-1914”
• held on microfilm at FamilySearch Library
Bremen emigration records

31. Hamburg emigration records, 1850-1934
Access:
1. via Ancestry.com free on site at SLQ
• OCR search of digitized handwritten lists
• “Direkt” and “Indirekt records
2. Original German lists available on microfilm
through LDS Family History centres
3. Emigrants from Hamburg to Australia,1850-1879
(Eric & Rosemary Kopittke)

32. Kopittke indexes to emigrants from
Hamburg to Australia, 1850-1879
Migrant details include: passenger number ; name
town of origin and state
occupation ; age ; sex
SLQ holds print and CD-ROM formats
Special features
• records transcribed from German script
• helpful notes on place names & locations
• glossaries of German terms for occupation, etc.
• extracts from local shipping intelligence news

33. • Conferred same rights as British citizens
had to vote and to own land
• State responsibility pre 1904. Information
in records varies from state to state
• Federal responsibility from 1904. Records
held at National Archives of Australia
See SLQ Info Guide: Naturalisation records
Naturalisation records

34. Online and microfilm indexes refer to:
• notices in Qld Government Votes &
Proceedings, or
• Supreme Court files (Oaths of Allegiance)
Women not generally found in naturalisation
records
Records contain no information on arrival
and rarely any detailed place of origin
Queensland naturalisation records

35. Queensland. Votes & Proceedings
Qld Votes &
Proceedings,
1885, v.2, p. 232
Return of aliens
naturalized

36. NSW naturalisation records, 1849-1904
Include Moreton Bay naturalisations pre 1859*
Original records at State Records NSW with
online index
Digitised records via Ancestry.com
Available on microfilm at SLQ
Detailed records

37. NSW naturalisation record
Lothar Neunsling
• naturalised 24 March 1857
• native place “Deidesheim,
Germany”
• age 37 years
• arrived in Sydney per
Commodore Perry 1855
Moreton Bay resident pre1859

38. 20th Century naturalization records:
National Archives of Australia (NAA)
Simple name search in NAA RecordSearch catalogue
recordsearch.naa.gov.au
• Many index records include birth place and year
• Some records digitised online
• Naturalisation files usually contain details of arrival,
exact date of birth and names of parent/s

39. Newspapers
Very rich resource for tracing additional details on
ancestors
1. Trove digitised newspapers
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/
2. SLQ hold an extensive collection of (mainly
Queensland) historical newspapers on microfilm and in
hard copy - not all have been digitized
Check the OneSearch catalogue for specific titles or
check printed guides to newspapers on microfilm held at
the Micrographics Desk on level 3

40. Types of information to be found in
obituaries:
• date and place of birth and
marriage
• date of arrival and name of ship
• detailed description of occupations
• where the deceased lived
• names of other living or deceased
relatives
• social activities of the deceased
Newspapers: obituaries
Details not always reliable. Always verify in other sources

41. Newspapers: significant anniversaries
and birthdays
Golden wedding notice gives
information on:
• year of arrival : 1886
• shipmates on the same ship
• married in Queensland 1901
• religious denomination

42. Case study: Making the German
connection for Mrs Caroline Murphy
Known facts:
• married John Murphy in Qld 1872
• Caroline died Qld 10 January 1924
(father: Laurence Miller; mother: Juliana Mohr)
• Juliana Miller nee Mohr died Qld 1872
(father: Amrose Mohr; mother: Margaretta Lowhs)
BUT
1. No record of birth in Australia for Caroline or either parent
2. No record of parents’ marriage in Australia
3. No record of family arrival in Australia
4. No identifiable death record for father
……?

43. Case study: Mrs Caroline Murphy

44. Case study: Mrs Caroline Murphy
QFHS ‘Emigrants from Hamburg
to Australasia’ (CD-ROM)
i.e. Kopittke indexes
Search using wildcard for ‘M*ller’
to Moreton Bay 1854 and 1855
Note:
Aurora departed Hamburg in 1854
Arrived Sydney 1855

45. Case study: Mrs Caroline Murphy
NSW Assisted Immigration
[Immigration Board] lists
State Records NSW reel 2468
Aurora to Moreton Bay 1855
Note: parents’ names match those on mother’s death index entry

46. ANCES-TREE: Journal of the Burwood &
District Family History Group
Series of articles on German migrants
researched by Jenny Paterson

47. Locating records in Germany
After Identifying ancestor’s native place:
1. Check old maps and gazetteers for location
at relevant time period
2. Check location in modern maps for possible
change/s of name
3. Identify relevant civil and ecclesiastical
jurisdictions where records may now be held

48. Maps and German historical gazetteers
SLQ collection of sheet maps, atlases and gazetteers
Online resources:
• Myers Ort- und Verkehrs- Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs
(1912-13) In digital format at Family History Library and via
Ancestry.com
• Gemeindelexikon fuer das Koenigreich Preussen, via
Ancestry.com
• Kartenmeister www.kartenmeister.com
for locations East of the Oder and Neisse rivers
• Atlas des Deutschen Reichs /Ludwig Ravenstein (1883)
uwdc.library.wisc.library.edu/collections/german/ravenstein

49. No single repository for civil registration records
Records may be located in:
• civil registration offices of local towns
• city archives
• state archives
FamilySearch Library holds civil registration records
of many towns in Germany on microfilm
Privacy embargo on later records
German civil registration

50. Commencement dates
1792 Baden; Elsass; Rheinland; Pfalz; Lotharingen
1803 Hessen; Hesse-Nassau; Nassau
1808 Westfalen
1809 Hannover
1811 Oldenburg
1850 Anhalt
1874 Brandenberg; Posen; parts of Sachsen; Pommern,
Westpreussen; Ostpreussen; Schlesien; Schleswig-
Holstein; Lübeck (free City State); Prov.
1876 Württemberg; Bayern, Lippe; parts of Sachsen;
Mecklenburg; Thüringen
German civil registration

51. Most significant source of family history
information in Germany prior to 1876
Up to late 1930’s usually written in
Latin or German Gothic script
Amount of information recorded varies greatly -
later records generally more detailed
Church book duplicates may substitute for
missing or incomplete registers
German church records
Source: EZA
http://www.ezab.de/english/parish_registers.html

52. Locating German records: online
FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/
1. Name search of IGI and other indexed German records, e.g.
2. Place name search of LDS catalog for microfilmed parish
and civil registration records
3. Extensive help - interpretation of documents, German letter
writing, etc.

53. Locating German records: online
1. Ancestry.com Free access on site at SLQ
Selected directories, parish records, citizenship
registers and resident rolls, emigration indexes
and lists, digitised historical German gazetteers,
dictionaries & almanacs
2. Cyndi’s List https://www.cyndislist.com/
Includes links to websites on all aspects of
German genealogy

54. Points to where in Germany archives may be held for:
• BDM records (parish and civil registration)
• emigration records
• Censuses ; military records
• civil registers of residents
Explains the differences between national, state,
local and non-government archives
Lists archives by town providing addresses and
other contact details
Describes the individual strengths of each archive
by listing their major holdings
Locating German records at SLQ: print
Ancestors in German Archives
Published
2008

55. Map Guides to German parish registers
For each region the volumes provide
• historical background
• genealogical resources unique to the
region and where they are held
• contact details for regional, state, district
and church archives
• maps showing administrative districts
• a town key to Lutheran and Catholic
parishes, parish maps, and which records
are available on microfilm through
FamilySearch

56. Map Guide to German parish
registers

57. • Easy to read overview of German
family history resources
• Provides help with understanding
German script using some common
terms found in parish and civil
records
• Sample letters in German to use
when requesting records
• Useful bibliography of websites and
other resources
• American bias
The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide

58. German Census Records, 1816-1916
ON ORDER FOR SLQ COLLECTION
NOT YET RECEIVED
Describes census records to be
found in German archives:
• when censuses were taken in
different regions
• types of information collected
• where the records are located

59. Writing overseas for information
Write in German- templates are available in
both online and print formats
Keep letters simple – be precise about what
you want
You may need to employ a professional
researcher – be clear about what you want
and any financial arrangements involved

60. Making the German connection: summary
1. Establish place of origin from sources accessible
in Australia
2. Use historical maps and gazetteers to locate
place of origin, any change/s of name, and the
relevant ecclesiastical and civil jurisdictions for
the period
3. Use both online and printed sources to locate
relevant archival repositories
4. Write in German and be prepared to employ a
professional German genealogist if necessary

61. Any questions?
State Library of Queensland
Ask Us
07 3840 7810
www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/ask-us