Researching German Records

When searching for your ancestors, information like names, birth details, and where they lived is helpful. If they lived in Germany, you’ll likely need to look for German records. These records were mainly created in Germany, so for best results, use keywords, occupations, and place names in German. The tools and resources in this article may help.

Searching for German records

Limiting search results to a specific location

  1. From any page on Ancestry, click Search and choose All Collections.
  2. On the Search page, enter a name and location where your ancestor might have lived.
  3. Under the Place your ancestor might have lived field, select Exact (if you entered only a country) or Exact to… and choose a setting:
  4. In the Collection Focus dropdown menu, select Germany for German records. If you don't see this menu, click Show more options next to the search button. Choosing a collection focus prioritizes records from that specific region.
  5. Add any other search details and click Search.
  6. Look through the search results and select one to see more details. 
    If most results are from a different region, check the Collection Focus setting (step 3) and try again.

Finding all records for Germany

  1. From any Ancestry page, click Search and select Card Catalog. 
  2. Scroll down to Filter by Location on the left and choose a region.
  3. Keep filtering by location until you find the specific area you want.
  4. Under Filter by Category, choose a category.
  5. On the search page, enter information and click Search.
  6. Look through the search results and select one to see more details.


Tip: View original images if they’re available. Typed results give some information, but original images may show more.

 

Tools for reading German records

German wordlists

The glossaries below contain words commonly found in German genealogical records. Records in German may also include Latin words.

German writing

Learn how German letters may appear in print and script and what other common symbols in records mean.

German names

When reading German records, referring to a list of common German names may help you recognize and decipher them. 

Maps

View a map of Germany from 1912 to understand the geographical locations mentioned in the records

 

Additional resources

  • Immigration & Travel Collection: Discover when your ancestor arrived and the details reported to obtain citizenship. Note: depending on the laws at the time, women and children may have been naturalized through a parent or spouse and might not have naturalization records of their own.
  • Hamburg Passenger Lists: Find records of departures from Germany. Hamburg was a major port of departure for German and Eastern European immigrants to America and elsewhere. (These records are in German. For best results, search using German words and location spellings.)
  • German phone directories, military records, and censuses: Search these collections to learn more about your relative’s life and other family members in Germany.
  • Jewish Family History Collection: Access over 20 million Jewish historical records, created in partnership with JewishGen, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the American Jewish Historical Society, the Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation, Inc., the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the USC Shoah Foundation, and Arolsen Archives.
  • Message boards: Connect with other Ancestry members who have experience researching German records.
  • Family trees: Explore family trees created by other Ancestry members who may be researching the same family lines. While most records are in English, some are in German. For the best results, start with English keywords and locations, but if you don’t find what you're looking for, try German.
  • Hire an expert: If you hit a brick wall, consider hiring professional researchers.

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