German: Compiled Sources

Optional Print Course Material: German: Compiled Sources

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

German genealogical research should include a careful and detailed review of “compiled sources.” Compiled sources are simply defined as the findings of previous researchers. Today they exist as personal websites, online family trees, genealogical articles in periodicals, book-length family histories, genealogical compendia, and even as manuscript collections. What is surprising to most researchers is that these types of records exist for German families. What is perhaps even more unexpected is that there are millions of Germans and their families named in such records. Moreover, many are reasonably well-indexed, and not all that difficult to access, even for researchers who don’t read German well. 

In this course we will explore various compiled sources including Collections and Databases, Family Histories and Bibliographies, Lineage Books, Periodicals, Biographical and Local Sources. 

Course Length: 7 weeks