Discovering German Church Records

Nearly 20% of all Americans claim German ancestry. It is one of the largest ethnicities across the Midwest, Plains, and Pacific Northwest states. For these people, German records are an important part of researching their family history. Many of these records are available online making them easily accessible. This presentation will cover the different online repositories for German church records including site such as Matricula, Archion, various archives, and the major genealogy websites. The most used records include baptism, marriage, and burial records but there are additional records available. Some of these records provide much more information than you would expect. For example, baptism records may also include marriage and death dates, indicate the number of the child in order of the family, and provide immigration details. Examples of various records from the 18th and 19th centuries will be discussed along with the importance of knowing certain German words.