Getting Started

This section consists of resources to begin researching your German ancestry. Also included are general emigrant lists and resources from Germany that cover no specific locality. You will also find emigrant letters back to their homelands and biographical sketches of emigrant arrivals.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Ancestors in German Archives by Raymond S. Wright
Call Number: CS614 .A53 2004
ISBN: 0806317477
Published/Created: 2004-
The Antwerp emigration index by Charles M. Hall
Call Number: CS403 .H35 1986
Published/Created: 1986?
Lists emigrants from the port of Antwerp for the year 1855 only.
Auswandererbriefe by Dortmund, Germany
Call Number: Microfilm 21,732
Published/Created: 1997
Extensive collection of German emigrant letters from the United States, written between 1820 and 1930.
Bibliography & source materials for German-American research by Arta F. Johnson
Call Number: Z1361.G37 J64 1982 E184.G3
Published/Created: 1982
Consolidated Index to German Immigrants in American Church Records, Volumes 1 Through 14 by Roger P. Minert
Call Number: E184.G3 G355 2005 Index
ISBN: 0897259440
Published/Created: 2015
Eighteenth century emigrants from German-speaking lands to North America by Annette K. Burgert
Call Number: GR110.P4 A372 vol. 16, etc.
ISBN: 091112246X
Published/Created: 1985
Volume 1 lists emigrants from the Northern Kraichgau; volume 2, emigrants from the Western Palatinate. Both volumes include considerable genealogical information as well as indexes of ships, European place names, and surnames.
Eighteenth century register of emigrants from southwest Germany (to America and other countries) by Werner Hacker
Call Number: CS614 .H33 1994
ISBN: 155856165X
Published/Created: 1994
A list of approximately 65,000 emigrants
Family Tree Historical Maps Book by Allison Dolan
Call Number: G1796.E6225 D65 2015
ISBN: 1440342040
Published/Created: 2015
German Census Records 1816-1916 by Roger Minert
Call Number: E184.G3 M644 2016
ISBN: 9781628590784
Published/Created: 2015
Germanic emigrants register by Germanic Emigrants Register
Call Number: Microfiche 93/45 (E)
Published/Created: 1992
An alphabetic listing of names, 1820 through 1918.
Immigrants from the German-speaking countries of Europe : a selective bibliography of reference works by Margrit B. Krewson
Call Number: Z663 .I46 1990
Published/Created: 1991
International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigres by Research Foundation of Jewish Emigration, Inc.
Call Number: DD68 .B52 1980
ISBN: 3598100876
Published/Created: 2008
Master index to the emigrants documented in the published works of Annette K. Burgert by AKB Publications
Call Number: F160.G3 B86 1993
Published/Created: 1993?
An alphabetical index to the names of German emigrants published in thirteen volumes compiled by Annette K. Burgert.
Namensliste der Pioniere des Nord-Amerik. Turnerbundes der Jahre 1848-1862 : im Anftrag des Bundesvororts zusammengestellt by Hugo Gollmer
Call Number: E184.G3 G57 1992
Published/Created: 1992
Membership lists of the North American Gymnastics Federation, supplemented by an alphabetical index. Includes place of birth and year of immigration.
Naturalizations of foreign Protestants in the American and West Indian colonies (pursuant to Statute 13 George II, c.7) by Spencer Montague
Call Number: E184.A1 G52 1964
Published/Created: 1964
A list of approximately 6,500 foreign Protestants--mostly Germans--who were naturalized in accordance with an act of 1740.

German Origins in the United States: A Guide to Local History and Genealogy Sources

Local History & Genealogy: Ask a Librarian

Getting Started