German Genealogy

St. Louis, MO is considered one of three points of the German triangle - a geographical region of the United States - to which a mass immigration of Germans occurred from 1840-1880.  The Mississippi and Ohio rivers connected St. Louis with Cincinnati, Ohio and Minneapolis, MN to form a sort of triangle.  The river connection was of significant importance to this migration - as they allowed a large number of immigrants to quickly move and settle the Midwestern United States via the Port of New Orleans. Because of St. Louis' close genealogical ties to this migration, we have expended significant resources to developing and supporting German research in the United States.
 

Historical Germany 

Before delving into German genealogy, its important to understand that over-the-centuries, Germany has experienced dramatic changes to its borders and its internal regions.  Prior to 1871, Germany consisted of numerous independent kingdoms, duchies, principalities, and states. In 1871, all German-speaking states except the Austrian states were consolidated into the German Empire.  The German Empire consisted of 26 states, ruled by royal families. This included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. 

Meyers Orts- und Verkehrslexikon des deutschen Reichs - often referred to as "Meyers Orts" - is a gazetteer which details the historical place names of villages, towns. counties (kreise), and higher jurisdictions.  These are the place names which are commonly used in organizing German Resources and have been adapted by the FamilySearch, Archion, and Matricula databases. Note that administrative boundaries changed after each of the World Wars and provinces of East Prussia are no longer in Germany including (Ostpreussen), Posen, Pomerania (Pommern), Silesia (Schlesien), parts of Brandenburg, and West Prussia (Westpreussen).
 

Village of Origin

In order to conduct research in Germany, you must identify your ancestor's village of origin.  We have produced a couple of classes to aid you in locating this vital information.  Without a village of origin, the area of scope to cover is to vast to locate records in Germany.