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German Genealogy

German Genealogy Periodicals

Der Schlüssel or "The Key" is the German equivalent to the Periodical Source Index or PERSI. Der Schlüssel is published in Göttingen which is located in the German state of Lower Saxony. It has information on more than ninety genealogical and heraldic publications for German speaking areas of Europe, including Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Der Schlüssel include three indexes: location, surname and subject. The subject index includes topics like occupations and information on German emigration. The surname index includes a listing of families covered in each article. The location index offers a means to find information on ancestral villages. Citations to articles containing many names, such as transcriptions of ship lists, are noted with an asterisk.

Literature to the second world war period is indexed in the first four volumes, and that of the Federal Republic of Germany for the period 1945-60 is indexed in the fifth volume.

The Family History Library and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. have copies of Der Schlüssel and some of the genealogical publications mentioned. Some of the publications are available in other American libraries.

Der Schlüssel; Gesamtinhaltsverzeichnisse mit Ortsquellennachweisen fur genealogische, heraldische und historische Zeitschriftenreihen. [The Key: comprehensive index, including place names, to genealogical, heraldic, and historical periodical series] Hrsg. von Heinz Reise in Verbindung mit der Genealogisch-Heraldischen Gesellschaft mit dem Sitz in Göttingen. 5 volumes. Göttingen, Heinz Reise Verlag, 1950-1965. Literature to the second world war period is indexed in the first four volumes, and the period 1945-60 is indexed in the fifth volume.

Der Schlüssel; Gesamtinhaltsverzeichnisse mit Ortsquellennachweisen fur genealogische, heraldische und historische Zeitschriftenreihen. Hrsg. von Heinz Reise in Verbindung mit der Genealogisch-Heraldischen Gesellschaft mit dem Sitz in Göttingen. Göttingen, H. Reise, <1956-1986> v. <3-9> Z5311.S34 LH&G  CONTENTS: --Bd. 3. Einsiedel, A. v. und Amburger, E. Der Deutsche Herold.--Bd. 4. Ollrog, W. Without special title.--Bd. 5. Ollrog, W. Auswertung aller in der Bundesrepublik erschienenen genealogisch-heraldischen Zeitschriften von 1945 bis 31. Dezember 1960.--Bd. 6. Jager-Sunstenau, H. Auswertung der genealogisch-heraldischen Zeitschriften in ™sterrich und der deutschsprachigen Tschechoslowakei 1871-1944.--Bd. 7. Dietrichs, H. Auswertung der in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland erschienenen genealogisch-heraldischen Zeitschriften, vom 1. Januar 1961 bis 31. Dezember 1975.--Bd. 8. Gerlach, D.H.G. Auswertung der in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in den deutschsprachigen Randstaaten erschienenen genealogisch-heraldischen Zeitschriften vom 1. Januar 1976 bis 31. Dezember 1980.--Bd. 9. Ollrog, W. und Gerlach, D.H.G. Without special title. This bibliographical guide provides researchers with a surname, place, and subject index to titles of articles published in selected German genealogical periodicals. Some volumes also index book reviews. Citations refer to articles published from as early as 1860 to as late as 1981. It has information on more than ninety genealogical and heraldic publications for German speaking areas of Europe which would include Germany, Switzerland and Austria. What makes this particular publication so useful to American genealogists are the indexes at the rear of the book. There are three -- a location index, a surname index and a subjects index. Under the subject index family historians can look for things like occupations or articles on German emigration. The surname index includes a listing of families covered in each article. The location index offers family historians an additional means of finding information on an ancestral village. The Family History Library and the Library of Congress have copies of Der Schlüssel.

Laraine K. Ferguson's article "Locating a Surname, Locality or Topic in German Genealogical Periodicals: Der Schlussel--the Key" in the German Genealogical Digest, v. 9, no. 2 (Summer 1993), pp. 38-44, is a helpful introduction to this important resource. 

  • Archiv für Sippenforschung (Archive for ancestral research) 1941-
     
  • Arndt, Karl J. R. and Olson, May E. German-American Newspapers and Periodicals, 1732-1955: History and Bibliography. Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1961.
     
  • Arndt, Karl J. R. and Olson, May E. German-American Newspapers and Periodicals, 1732-1955: History and Bibliography. 2d revised edition. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1965. This is a reprint of the 1961 edition with the addition of an appendix, pages 796-810, chiefly listing refugee and prisoner-of-war camp publications of the second world war.
     
  • Arndt, Karl J. R. and Olson, May E. The German Language Press of the Americas. Munich-Pullach: Verlag Dokumentation, 1973. This is a supplement to the above two titles.
     
  • Der Blumenbaum. Published by the Sacramento German Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 660061, Sacramento, CA 95866-0061.
     
  • Der deutsche Herold. Berlin: Verein für Siegel- und Wappenkunde, v. 1-65, 1870-1934.  Merged into Familiengeschichtliche Blätter.
     
  • Deutsches Familienarchiv (German families archives) 1952- . The "Deutsches Familienarchiv" (German Family Archive) was founded in 1952 and lists links to Ancestor lists, Family histories, very often with historical and cultural-historical relationships, with references for bibliography and sources, coat of arms and some interesting details. Since the fifties 120 volumes have been published. About 80.000 surnames are collected in articles, ancestor tables and Ahnenlisten.
     
  • Deutsches Geschlechterbuch. Gorlitz: C.A. Starke, 1911-. Collected genealogies of generally upper-class German families. Every surname indexing in each volume. Cumulative indexing of families who are subjects of articles in volumes 1-185 in Stammfolgen-Verzeichnisse: Genealogische Handbuch des Adels und Deutsches Geschlechterbuch.
     
  • Familiengeschichtliche Blätter.  Leipzig: Zentralstelle für deutsche Personen- und Familiengeschichte .. , v. 1-42, 1903-1942.
     
  • Familienkundliche Nachrichten: Mitteilungen, Rundfragen, Empfehlungen (Family history news: announcements, queries, suggestions) 1956-
     
  • FOCUS Magazin Archiv. German news weekly archive going back to 1993, with the exception of the most current issue.
     
  • Genealogie: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Familienkunde (Genealogy: German periodical for family studies) 1952-
     
  • German American Genealogy. 1988- . Published by The Immigrant Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 7369, Burbank, CA 91510-7369.
     
  • The German Connection. 1976- . Published by the German Research Association, P.O. Box 711600, San Diego, CA 92171-1600.
     
  • German Genealogical Digest. 1985- . Published by German Genealogical Digest, P.O. Box 700, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062.
     
  • Journal (American Historical Society of Germans from Russia). 1978- . Published by the AHSGR, 631 D St., Lincoln, NE 68502-1199.
     
  • The Palatine Immigrant. Published by Palatines to America, 611 E. Weber Rd., Columbus, OH 43211-1097.
     
  • Praktische Forschungshilfe (Practical research help). 1924- . This is an insert in Archiv für Sippenforschung.

Yearbooks

  • Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der adeligen Häuser. Gotha: J. Perthes. Teil A. v. 1-41, 1900-42.
     
  • Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der adeligen Häuser. Gotha: J. Perthes. Teil B. v. 7-34, 1913-1942..
     
  • Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der adeligen Häuser. Gotha: J. Perthes. v. 62-115, 1889-1942.