Adalbert Goertz (goertz@cyberspace.org)
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Contents:
Q1: Where is Elsass-Lothringen?
Q2: What were the administrative areas of Elsass-Lothringen?
Q3: What were the court districts in Elsass-Lothringen before 1900?
Q4: How do I find locations and maps for Elsas-Lothringen before 1920?
Q5: Is there a listserv for Elsass-Lothringen family researchers?
Q6: Any websites of interest to Elsass-Lothringen researchers?
Q7: Where are the Mennonite congregations in the Elsass (Alsace)?
Q8: Are there emigration records available?
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Q1: Where is Elsass-Lothringen?
A1: Elsass was a German province before 1697,
Elsass-Lothringen a German Reichsland after the Franco-German
war of 1870-1871 until 1918 when it reverted to France.
Its main city is Strassburg-Strasbourg in North-Eastern France today.
Its population in 1890 was 77% Catholic, 21% Protestant, 2% Jewish.
Q2: What were the administrative areas of Elsass-Lothringen?
A2: In 1900 Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) had 3 districts:
Bezirk (district) of Ober-Elsass with capital Kolmar and (6) Kreise
(counties):
Altkirch,Gebweiler,Kolmar,Muehlhausen,Rappoltsweiler,Thann.
Bezirk (district) of Unter-Elsass with capital Strassburg and (8) Kreise
(counties):
Erstein,Hagenau,Molsheim,Schlettstadt,Strassburg-Stadt,Strassburg-Land,
Weissenburg,Zabern.
Bezirk (district) of Lothringen with capital Metz and (8) Kreise
(counties):
Bolchen,Chateau-Salins,Diedenhofen,Forbach,Metz-Stadt,Metz-Land,
Saarburg,Saargemuend.
Q3: What were the court districts in Elsass-Lothringen in 1900?
A3: The highest court was the Oberlandesgericht in Kolmar.
The lower courts (Landgerichte) and lowest courts (Amtsgerichte) were
Landgericht Kolmar with (15) Amtsgerichte:
Barr,Ensisheim,Gebweiler,Kaisersberg,Kolmar,Markirch,Markolsheim,
Muenster,Neubreisach,Rappoltsweiler,Rufach,Schlettstadt,
Schnierlach,Sulz,Weiler.
Landgericht Metz with (12) Amtsgerichte:
Ars,Bolchen,Busendorf,Chateau-Salins,Delme,Diedenhofen,Dienze,Metz,
Remilly,Rombach,Sierck,Vic.
Landgericht Muelhausen with (11) Amtsgerichte:
Altkirch,Dammerskirch,Hirsingen,Hueningen,Masmuenster,Muelhausen,
Pfirt,St.Amarin,Sennheim,Sierenz,Thann.
Landgericht Saargemuend with (11) Amtsgerichte:
Albesdorf,Bitsch,Drulingen,Falkenberg,Forbach,Grosstaenchen,Rohrbach,
Saaralben,Saargemuend,Saar-Union,St.Avold.
Landgericht Strassburg with (15) Amtsgerichte:
Benfeld,Bischweiler,Brumath,Erstein,Hagenau,Hochfelden,Illkirch,
Lauterburg,Niederbronn,Schiltigheim,Strassburg,Sulz,Truchtersheim,
Weissenburg,Woerth.
Landgericht Zabern with (12) Amtsgerichte:
Buchsweiler,Finstingen,Loerchingen,Luetzelstein,Molsheim,Oberehnheim,
Pfalzburg,Rosheim,Saarburg,Schirmeck,Wasselnheim,Zabern.
Q4: How do I find locations and maps for Elsas-Lothringen before 1920?
A4: The best German gazetteer is
Meyers Orts- and Verkehrslexikon des Deutschen Reiches,1912 edition,
which is available on microfiche in the LDS Family History Centers.
There is LDS microfilm #068814 available of
Karte des Deutschen Reiches, scale 1:100000, 1km = 1cm
which may be loaned thru the LDS Family History Centers.
It covers Germany for 1914-1917.
Regional gazetteer mit MAPS (Kt.-Beil. = maps added)
* Historisches Ortschaftsverzeichnis : Reihe historischer
Ortschaftsverzeichnisse fuer ehemals zu Deutschland gehoerige
Gebiete - Zeitraum 1914 - 1945 / bearb. u. hrsg. vom Institut fuer
Angewandte Geoddsie. - Frankfurt am Main : Verl. des Instituts fuer
Angewandte Geodaesie Anzahl Baende : 9
* Elsass-Lothringen. - 1997. - 9, 206 S. + 3 Kt.-Beil.
ISBN 3-88648-017-8, DM 65
Q5: Is there a listserv for Elsass-Lothringen family researchers?
A5: There is a mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest
in Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine).
Mailing address for postings is
ALSACE-LORRAINE-L@rootsweb.com
To subscribe send the word "subscribe" (without the
quotes) as the only text in the body of a message to
ALSACE-LORRAINE-L-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or
ALSACE-LORRAINE-D-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode).
Another list is genealor@genealogy.net
To subscribe send email to : genealor-request@genealogy.net
- write in the body of the mail : subscribe genealor your_e.mail
- do not use signature or other text in the body of the mail
Q6: Any websites of interest to Elsass-Lothringen researchers?
A6: http://www.genealogy.net/gene/reg/rindex.htm
http://www.genealogy.net/gene/reg/ELS-LOT/alsace.html
http://www.qrz.com/gene/reg/ELS-LOT/lorraine.html
Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe.
Archivbestand des ehemaligen Auswanderungsamtes.
http://www.bawue.de/~hanacek/info/karlsr01.htm
http://www.lad-bw.de/gla.htm
Surviving records of the Auswanderungsamt, including
extensive indexes, are deposited here.(1866-1911)
Microfilm copies of the indexes, but not the records themselves,
are in the Family History Library (FHL), in Salt Lake City.
If you have no access to the Web (www), you can direct web files to
your email box by sending a request to
getweb@usa.healthnet.org
or to
www4mail@unganisha.idrc.ca
with the message HELP or
get http://.....
Consult also
Germanic Genealogy (by Edward R.Brandt et alii), 2nd edition.
1997, St.Paul MN, 517 pp.,1st edition, 1995.
Q7: Where are the Mennonite congregations in the Elsass (Alsace)?
A7: Strassburg was a main center of the early Anabaptist movement.
Between 1671-1711 Anabaptist refugees came from Switzerland, notably
from Bern.
In 1890 there were 678 Mennonites in Unterelsass, 1012 in Oberelsass.
In 1898 Mennonite congregations were in
Birkenhof bei Altkirch (130 souls), Colmar-Wolfganzen (151),
Markirch-Weilertal (32), Pfastatt (250), Pulversheim (35),
Hang (139), An dem Salm (60).
Q8: Are there emigration records available?
A8: The state archives have many emigration records.
For details see:
Learned, Marion Dexter, 1857-1917:
Guide to the manuscript materials relating to American history
in the German state archives, Washington, D.C.,
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Publication no. 150 , 1912, 352 p.:
-also Kraus reprints NY 1965-
p.223-227 (Colmar-Metz-Strassburg).
(there are a number of updates done by the LOC Manuscript Division,
call no.L173.L4 Suppl. 1929-1932, vol.2 p.69).
Suggestions for improvements are appreciated.
Adalbert Goertz (goertz@cyberspace.org)
Sponsored by the VU German Study Group Page
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