[With Meinert and Riemer in the regional church archive office.] A typical regional church archive office often has about six work stations that are centered about microfiche readers. Perhaps you might want to check the availability of reference works such as maps, dictionaries, gazetteers, etc., which might not be in sight. Some archives have a collection of histories of local parishes, towns, or families. Perhaps there will be indices.
Depending on the rules in each archive, you may have unrestricted access to all of the books or microfiche, or you may have to fill out a request form for a specific item which you will have to return before another one can be issued. Occasionally records can be issued only at specific times during the day.
Do not expect any help from the staff in your research. Usually you can get an answer to a specific simple question such as, “Are the records for Langenbrücken parish kept here?” Sometimes photocopiers are available, but the prices and type of service vary widely. Occasionally you must surrender a book, perhaps for hours, while the staff does the photocopying.
Before leaving, make sure all material has been returned. Retrieve your belongings and thank the archivist personally for his/her assistance whether or not you got any from him/her.
If you think the cemetery might be a good place to conduct research, forget it. Everything there will be very modern history; however, it is very enjoyable to visit a “Friedhof”, where it is a pleasant place to relax. There are two ways of gaining some insight into who is still living in a town, besides the telephone book, and that is the Friedhof and the War Memorials.
There are civil offices also and they are often helpful for getting questions answered. One must be aware that many small villages no longer have a city hall or administrative building. In the interest of efficiency, many smaller villages have been combined administratively with other smaller villages, or with larger communities. Still, the mayor visits every town on a regular basis and his hours will be posted in a public place. (The combination of smaller villages also applies to postal service.)
The civil registry for a particular village may no longer be in that village but might be located in some nearby village. In Germany, these offices may have several names but we can call them civil registry offices. In general, you should have an appointment to visit one. After finding the building, tell the person at the door what you wish and you will be given further instructions. The civil registry does not usually have general reference works. Typically, the civil-record volumes have indexes, perhaps an annual one at the end of each year, and perhaps a longer one in a separate volume.
(28 Jan 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.