Germanic Genealogy Society

Library

The GGS Library moved to the Minnesota Genealogy Center at 1385 Mendota Heights Road in Mendota Heights, MN in January 2023. Most of the collection is housed in the Ancestors Room in the back of the library. Cataloging our books will take time before they appear in their catalog. Check back occasionally or contact the MGS library at info@mngs.org.
 
This move was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
 
 
 
 
If you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, or want to browse some of our collection, you can download PDF files by topic from our Catalog for books, journals, and maps.

If you are unable to visit the library and want to request a search there, the request can be submitted by email or post as above and it will be forwarded to the Library committee.

Please search one of the PDF catalog lists first to find out about our holdings and request searches of specific resources rather than general queries. The library also offers research assistance for a fee. See the Hoffman Library Research Services page for more information.
 
Click on Selected Guides to Germanic Genealogy for some basic books for beginners.
 

 
Current Book Reviews can be found in our Monthly Newsletter. All recent newsletters are posted on this website.
 
Past Book-of-the-Month Reviews:
 
  1. May 2017 German Immigrants in American Church Records
  2. Apr 2017 The German Research Companion
  3. March 2017 Duden Familiennamen
  4. November 2016 German Census Records 1816-1916
  5. September 2016 Land & Property Research in the United States
  6. August 2016 Ortsnamenverzeichnis der Ortschaften jenseits von Oder und Neiße
  7. April 2016 Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian
  8. March 2016 Deciphering Gothic Records
  9. February 2016 The German Speaking 48ers
  10. January 2016 Historic German Newspapers Online
  11. December 2015 Venne in America
  12. July 2015 Map Guide to German Parish Registers
  13. June 2015 The Rise of Brandenburg Prussia
  14. May 2015 The Baltes Family of the Rineland
  15. April 2015 Deutsche Schreibschrift
  16. March 2015 A Social History of Hesse: Roman Times to 1900
  17. February 2015 Ancestors in German Archives: A Guide to Family History Sources
  18. January 2015 The Bohemian Flats
  19. December 2014 Bibliography and Source Materials for German-American Research
  20. November 2014 Fremde in Westfalen
  21. October 2014 - The Family Tree; German Genealogy Guide 
  22. September 2014 - Germans to America