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Beginning Research in Central Europe

© Christine Sievers

In the last article, I discussed general resources to help you begin research on your immigrant ancestor. As we move into research across continents, we need to learn the geography and history of the nation. Changing bounderies need to be put into an historical perspective. And most importantly, we need to learn what types of records and archives are available overseas.

Since the world is a big place, this will cover a series of articles. This week, I will cover central European countries. The link listed for each country is a good starting point for your research. Some of these countries are small and have little genealogical information. However, lack of genealogical information will not hinder you from finding historical and geographic information on your country. Links for those sites will be at the end of the article.

AUSTRIA: German Genealogy: Austria

BELGIUM: BELGIUM-ROOTS Project - Home Page

DENMARK: Royal Danish Embassy - Tracing Your Danish Ancestors and Relatives

GERMANY: German Genealogy: Tips for Researchers

LATVIA: LatviaGenWeb

LITHUANIA: Genealogy Help for those of Lithuanian descent

LIECHENSTEIN: Welcome to LeichGen (A WorldGenWeb Site)

LUXEMBOURG: Luxembourg Genealogy and Heraldry

NETHERLANDS: On the Trail of Our Ancestors/Dutch Research Corner

NORWAY: ANCESTORS FROM NORWAY - Norwegian genealogy and immigration history

POLAND: Genealogy & Poland - a guide

SWEDEN: Have You found a Swedish ancestor?

SWITZERLAND: Schorey's pages in Swiss Genealogy on the Internet

Of course, there are many more sites that could be helpful in your research. These are good starting places.

Further genealogical sites on Central European countries:

WorldGenWeb site for Central European countries:CenEuroGenWeb

RootsWeb Guide: Lesson 23 - Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish

RootsWeb Guide: Lesson 26 - Germanic, Austrians, Dutch, Belgians, Liechtensteiners, Luxembourgers, Swiss

History is an important part of our genealogical research. Here are two good worldwide sites:

Horus' History Links

Yahoo! History by Countries

Historical maps are a necessity, particularly for the changing borders of Eastern Europe. Here are two good general map sites:

FEEHS MAP ROOM

Historical Map Web Sites

Final tip: By going to Cyndi's List and clicking on your country you can find more genealogical information, including history and maps of your country.

NEXT WEEK: Western Europe