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Thursday, January 22
Gail Blankenau - Mountain Peaks and Trails: Your Swiss Ancestral Journey (Webinars)
8:00 pm to 9:15 pm Central time online (English)
We are pleased to welcome Gail Blankenau of Lincoln, Nebraska who will present this webinar.
Tracing Swiss ancestors requires a different mindset—and the right tools. In this webinar, you’ll be introduced to the distinctive features of Swiss genealogy, including church records and their tie to religious tradition, research challenges created by Switzerland’s official languages, and the uniquely Swiss concept of citizenship.
Using three real-life case studies, this program demonstrates how U.S. records can point the way to Swiss sources and how Swiss records, in turn, can unlock generations of family history. You’ll learn where to find digitized Swiss church records, helpful maps, how to make the most of key online portals, and why the Register of Swiss Surnames is such a useful research tool. Whether you’re new to Swiss research or looking to break through a stubborn brick wall, this session will equip you with proven strategies and practical examples.
Handouts will be provided on the GGS Website www.ggsmn.org for GGS Members in the Member's Only section prior to the Webinar. This webinar will be recorded and available in the same location on the website. If you have forgotten your log in information, instructions of how to retrieve it are on the website.
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Thursday, February 26
Barbara Pieh - Archion: How to Use It and Why (Webinars)
1:00 pm to 2:15 pm Central time online (English)
The website Archion is a source well-worth getting to know. Archion provides access primarily to the records created by the pastors of the German Protestant Churches [Evangelische Kirchen]. They recorded the births/baptisms, marriages, and death/burials starting in the mid-1600s. Archion constantly adds new records as they are released by the local churches. The first part of this webinar will show you how to find your way around Archion step-by-step using screen shots.
Even with a good grasp of how to use the website, however, the old German handwriting [die deutsche Schrift] remains a challenge. Even Germans say, I can’t read that! The second part of how to use Archion aims to decrease that intimidation by a closer look at the handwriting itself. It is known by historical types, such as Kurrent, Offenbacher, and Sütterlin.
How to read the handwriting will be introduced through a Kurrent alphabet chart and the key genealogical terms that appear in that handwriting in the records. Other strategies will be pointed out, such as attention to the column headings of the records, and the determination of the particular record pattern of the particular parish pastor, etc.
In a third part of the webinar, the why of all this work is considered. The bottom line is - you will get to know your immigrant(s) better.
The time of this webinar is due to the speaker’s residency in Trier, Germany, though she is a native American. Barbara is a past GGS President. Join us to add Archion, and the old German handwriting to your toolbox, or, join us in order to sharpen up those tools, if they are already in your toolbox. These tools can lead to a new understanding of your immigrant's lives.
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Thursday, March 26
Dr. Klaus Kohrt - Family Research in Schleswig-Holstein: the Challenges and How to Overcome Them (Webinars)
1:00 pm to 2:15 pm Central time online (English)
Webinar Description: This webinar will summarize the history of Schleswig-Holstein to provide a basic understanding of how to find records in various archives. How and where to find records on the internet and/or how to contact organizations holding the original records will also be discussed.
The focus of the presentation will be on Protestant church books, civil registers and Danish census records. The organizational structures of the Protestant church and the civil administration in Schleswig-Holstein will be explained.
Bio - Dr. Kohrt was born and raised in Flensburg, Germany. He received his high school diploma in Great Britain and was a temporary soldier in the German Navy. After studying mathematics and computer science in Kiel, Germany, he worked at Siemens for 25 years in Munich. An avid traveler, he worked abroad both in the U.S. and the U.K.
Residing in Eckernförde, Germany since 2009, he has been an active family researcher for 16 years. He is a member of the following organizations:
- Schleswig-Holsteinische Familienforschung e.V. – chairman
- Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Genealogischer Verbände e. V. (DAGV) – deputy chairman
- Pommerscher Greif e.V. – past chairman and current contact person for the district of Greifenberg
- Association for Computer Genealogy - active member
- Heimatgemeinschaft Eckernförde - initiator/organizer of the family research working group - "IGeFF”
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