The German Research Companion, 3rd Edition

The book has always been one of the best places to look for sources of German research information. The page count is 706 pages, making it the huge value, and a go-to book for those of us researching our German ancestors. When compiling the volume, Shirley enlisted the help of two other well-known Germanic genealogists, Roger Minert, and Jennifer Anderson, who spent hundreds of hours in adding additional material, editing, and layout of the book, making a good volume even better.

The German Research Companion is often referred to as “the Bible of German family history.” It provides a wide range of helpful information on virtually hundreds of topics related to German research, most indexed for easy reference. It is published in a handy 5.5 x 8.5 inch format, making it an ideal book to accompany the German family historian on research trips to libraries, archives, seminars, and even the “old country.”

Although not intended as a “how to do German research” volume, genealogists will find it the most complete book on German research produced. Concentrating on German research sources, it is in fact the only book in print that deals with the wide range of material needed by those who are searching their German lines. Written in English, the genealogist needs no knowledge of the German language to use the volume. Any German words and phrases found in The German Research Companion are either translated or clarified in English.

The German Research Companion contains useful details on hundreds of German genealogical topics. The following is directly from the Table of Contents:

Section 1: German land, past and present

• Germany’s political and jurisdictional organization
• The three empires
• Populations, capitals, and geography
• The courts and the constitution
• The rulers, the flag and the colonies
• The major turning points and markers of German history

Section 2: The Tools, Contacts, and Resources

• Resources for utilizing the Family History Library and its branches
• Uses of the Family History Library Catalog for German Research
• Credentialed researchers, societies, home-area sources
• The search for the German immigrant’s place of origin
• Communicating with Germany
• Sending euro abroad
• Village photographs and conference audiotapes
• Choosing between Du and Sie
• German organizations and institutes
• Frequently used resources

Section 3: Emigration and Immigration

• Immigration laws in the United States
• Emigration laws in Germany
• Naturalization records
• The immigration process and Ellis Island
• The Statue of Liberty
• Immigration laws
• Passport applications
• German immigrant aid societies
• Pennsylvania societies, archives, and libraries
• Basic resources for researching Germans from Russia
• Basic resources for researching the Danube Swabians
• Basic resources for researching the Wends (Sorbs)
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Pennsylvania
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Alsace-Lorraine
• Basic resources for researching Germans in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Sudetenland
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Bukovina
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Canada
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Czechoslovakia
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Galatia
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Liechtenstein
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Lithuania
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Netherlands
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Poland
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Silesia
• Basic resources for researching Germans in Switzerland

Section 4: United States Resources

• U.S. Cemeteries and burial records
• National Archives and Records Administration
• Social Security history and research
• U.S. Railroad and Retirement Board
• U.S. vital records
• The WPA
• The U.S. Census
• Land and property records
• The Homestead Act
• U.S. Libraries and publishers
• American military records
• Germans who fought in the American Civil War
• Hessian soldier research
• The Turnverein in America
• Fraternal organizations

Section 5: Language and Vocabularies

• History and characteristics of the German alphabet and language
• German dialectics and high, middle, and low German
• The old German script
• Abbreviations in German and Latin
• German genealogy vocabulary
• Occupations, trades and titles in German and Latin
• Medical terms, illnesses, and causes of death, in German
• German family relationships vocabulary
• Christenings, marriages, and deaths vocabularies
• Latin genealogy vocabulary
• Roman numerals
• Latin vocabularies for calendar dates, tombstone expressions, and old cities of Europe
• French genealogy vocabulary
• Fraktur
• Yiddish

Section 6: German Resources

• German church and civil registration records
• Church inventories
• Citizen books
• The German privacy law
• City registers
• German cemeteries
• Abbreviations keys to Meyers Orts- und Verkehrslexikon & Müllers grosses deutsches Ortsbuvh
• Reverse alphabetical place name indexes
• Maps
• German phonetics
• Indexes of German surnames
• Periodicals
• Place names
• Researchers
• Queries in German publications
• Village lineage books
• Postal code directories
• The Ahnenpass
• Telephone directories
• Dictionaries

Section 7: Archives

• German archive terminologies
• German federal and state archives
• County archives
• Ecclesiastical archives and organizations
• Central office for genealogy in Leipzig
• The Berlin Document Center
• The “Gauck” files
• Specialized archives
• Recommendations for working in a German archive
• Genealogy related organizations in Germany
• Historical societies in Germany

Section 8: Life in Our Ancestor’s Times

• Names and naming patterns
• Patronymic names
• Given names of Germanic and foreign origin
• “Name days”
• Old measurements
• Monetary units
• Records of guilds and tradesmen
• Calendars through the ages
• The perpetual calendar
• Feast days
• Holidays and observances
• History and customs of Christmas
• The church in modern Germany
• Religions: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and pietist, with resources
• German Universities and academic degrees
• Heraldry
• German nobility
• Military church-books, cemeteries, archives & records
• German expellees following World War II
• German prisoners of war in Americas

Section 9: Newspapers, Libraries, Museums and other Information

• City directories and manuscript collections
• German and German-American newspapers
• Special interest publications
• Emigration records in newspapers
• Sister City arrangements
• German museums, libraries, and publishers
• American universities in Germany
• U.S. Embassy offices in Germany
• Academic and cultural organizations
• Cooking measurements and ingredients
• Folk dress (Trachten)
• Greetings in German
• Formalities of letter-writing
• Telephone cards

The Appendix

• The appendix includes maps, tables, charts, and pictures that help to illustrate Germanic research.

In Conclusion
Simply said, if you’re an English-speaking person doing German research, you will profit by a copy of this Third Edition of The German Research Companion. The volume is immediately available by purchase from Family Roots Publishing Company, the primary sponsor of GenealogyBlog.com.

The German Research Companion, Third Edition, by Shirley J. Riemer, Roger P. Minert & Jennifer A. Anderson. 706 pp; softbound; ISBN 0-9656761-6-1; Item #M0025.