Germany Periodicals

Information in Periodicals
A periodical is a regularly published magazine, newsletter, or journal. Several valuable periodicals concerning German genealogical research exist. Most genealogical and historical societies in North America and in Germany publish magazines and newsletters. The articles in these periodicals often include the following:


 * Family genealogies and pedigrees
 * Helpful articles on research methodology
 * Transcripts of church records, migration lists, and cemetery records
 * Indexes to genealogical sources
 * Information about records, archives, and services
 * Interesting articles about social life and customs
 * Book advertisements and book reviews
 * Advertisements of professional researchers
 * 'Queries or requests for information about specific ancestors that can help you contact other interested researchers

North American Periodicals
Some historical and genealogical societies publish periodicals focusing on German immigrants to North America. These periodicals are often published quarterly and may focus on the immigrants to a particular region or state. Some examples are listed below:


 * German American Genealogy. 1988-. Published by The Immigrant Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 7369, Burbank, California, USA 91510-7369, USA. (FHL book 973 F25ga.)


 * The German Connection. 1976-. Published by the German Research Association, P.O. Box 711600, San Diego, California, USA 92171-1600, USA. (FHL book 943 D25gc.)


 * German Genealogical Digest. 1985-2004. (FHL book 943 B2g.)


 * Journal (American Historical Society of Germans from Russia). 1978-. Published by the AHSGR, 631 D St., Lincoln, Nebraska, USA 68502-1199, USA. (FHL book 973 B2aht.)


 * Palatine Patter: The Newsletter of Palatines to America. 1975-. Published by Palatines to America, Capital University Box 101, Columbus, Ohio, USA 432092394, USA. (FHL book 973 D25pa.)


 * Der Blumenbaum quarterly journal

Nationwide
Many societies and organizations in Germany publish genealogical periodicals. These are in German. Much of their content is devoted to compiled genealogies of native families. They are also an excellent place to publish queries or advertisements for a lost ancestor from Germany. Below are listed two major examples published by C.A. Starke Verlag (mailing address:


 * Postfach 1310, 65533 Limburg/Lahn, GERMANY): Archiv für Sippenforschung (Archive for ancestral research). 1941-. (FHL book 943 B2as.)


 * Praktische Forschungshilfe (Practical research help). 1924-. (FHL book 943 B2pf.) This is an insert in Archiv für Sippenforschung.

Three nationwide family history periodicals published by Verlag Degener (mailing address: Postfach 1340, 91403 Neustadt/Aisch, GERMANY) are listed below:


 * Deutsches Familienarchiv (German families archive). 1952-. (FHL book 943 D2df.)
 * Familienkundliche Nachrichten, Germany: Mitteilungen, Rundfragen, Empfehlungen (Family history news: announcements, queries, suggestions). 1956-. (FHL book 943 B2f.)
 * Genealogie: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Familienkunde (Genealogy: German periodical for family studies). 1952-. (FHL book 943 B2gf.)

Regional
In addition to the national periodicals, excellent regional publications are also available.

Most articles in these periodicals are about families from the area covered by the periodicals. Examples of regional periodicals are listed below:


 * Badische Familienkunde (Baden family studies)
 * Blätter des Bayerischen Landesvereins für Familienkunde (Pages of the Bavarian State Association for Family Studies)
 * Hessische Familienkunde (Hessian family studies)
 * Norddeutsche Familienkunde (North German family studies)
 * Oldenburgische Familienkunde (Oldenburg family studies)
 * Pfälzisch-Rheinische Familienkunde (Palatinate-Rhine family studies)
 * Altpreußische Familienkunde (Old Prussian family studies)
 * Mitteilungen der Westdeutschen Gesellschaftfür Familienkunde (Notices of the West German Society for Family Studies, specializing in Rheinland)
 * Beiträge zur westfälischen Familienforschung (Contributions to Westphalian family research)

Indexes
Most magazines have annual or cumulative indexes. A major composite index to over 175 German periodicals is listed below:


 * Der Schlüssel, Germany: Gesamtinhaltsverzeichnisse für genealogische, heraldische und historische Zeitschriftenreihen mit Orts-, Sach-, und Namenregistern (The key: comprehensive index of genealogical, heraldic, and historical serials with place, subject, and name indexes). Nine Volumes.


 * Göttingen, Germany: Heinz Reise Verlag, 1950-1986. (FHL book 943 D25sc.) This source indexes 68,660 article and book titles. About half of each volume is a numbered bibliography of periodical articles and genealogical books. Each bibliography entry gives the issue and page number of the article. The second half of each Schlüssel volume contains a place, subject, and surname index of that volume's bibliography. It is easy to quickly browse each volume's surname index for the surname you seek. Volumes 7, 8, and 9 each summarize the years and major periodicals covered in previous volumes.

The following is another major composite index:


 * Familiengeschichtliche Quellen: Zeitschrift familiengeschichtlicher Quellennachweise (Family history sources: periodical of family history source references). 17 Volumes. Neustadt/Aisch, Germany: Degener, 1926-. (FHL book 943B2fq; films 496,680-82; fiche 6,000,817.)

This index totals over 6,400 pages, citing over 2,300 sources and listing over 2.5 million surname citations. The first few pages of each volume are a numbered bibliography of genealogy periodicals and books. Most of each volume is a separate index of surnames cited in the sources at the beginning. You will need to check each volume's surname index for the surname you seek.

Obtaining Periodicals
Copies of periodicals are available from the individuals or societies that publish them. Major archives and libraries with genealogical collections often have copies of many periodicals, particularly those that represent the area they serve. Some libraries collect certain periodicals as part of a special collection about an area or topic.

The Family History Library subscribes to numerous periodicals. These publications are listed in the catalog in several ways. If you know the title of a periodical, look in the Author/Title Search of the catalog. To find periodicals in the Place Search of the catalog, look under the following:

GERMANY - GENEALOGY - PERIODICALS

GERMANY - HISTORY - PERIODICALS

GERMANY - PERIODICALS

GERMANY - SOCIETIES - PERIODICALS

GERMANY, [STATE] - (same topics as above)

GERMANY [STATE], [TOWN] - (same topics as above)