German Genealogy Study Group

2. Maps, History, German Regions and Heraldry

Updated 1 June 2001

Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS)

Where to find old/historical maps of Germany

Historical map of Germany in the year 1000

Maps for other years are 1190, 1378, 1547, 1648, 1789, 1815 These are reached by changing the end of the URL from 1000.html to any year listed above.

Prussia Boundries for 5 centuries, Map

Simple, but helps orient the "beginner" to Prussian history. Scanned by Charles Gohlke.

Perry-Castaneda Library at University of Texas at Austin

This is the opening page for a site filled with resources. There is a FAQ available. Also the information is kept on 2 mirror sites in Germany and Italy. Maps of countries around the world, as well as some cities are linked to this page. (The United States link has over 300 maps available.) One of the best points of this site is that it has wonderful links to maps that are available from other Universities. All are well documented and clearly cited. These cross links are also available for the historical maps also.

Historical International Maps

Again the Perry-Castaneda Library Univ of Texas. This link has historical maps from various countries around the world that you can select. When you click on the map you want, it also gives you the source books that the map was found in. Some cities and various time periods are available. Links are available to maps found at other Universities.

Map Odds and Ends, Univ of Texas

This page is a great resource for odds and ends that are useful in reading maps from the Perry-Castaneda Library, Univ of Texas. There are links to a distance calculator, a time zone interpreter, Sun/Moon rise/set calculator, map scale information, map symbols, different types of map projections, and Census Bureau various country gazetteers. This is a very informative site.

German-Polish Place Names

Contains over 54000 present and previous locations in Germany, Poland, and Russia, some with two or three name changes. All locations are EAST of the Oder and Neisse rivers and are based on the borders of the eastern provinces in Spring 1918.

German/Polish/Russian Place names

Gold Bug Map Publishers

JOG-History of German States

Excellent article on the History of German States from the Journal of Online Genealogy

German History Links

Some links are to History Resources, searchable database of German nobility, Medieval Germany, Resource guide to World history, Holocaust Studies, Eastern Germany Studies, Bohemia 1757, and German History Archive.

Rheinland-Pfalz

(Rhineland-Palatinate) A very good description is given of the history of this area and the reasons behind the emigration from this area to the US and other parts of the world.

Emigration History

Causes for Emigration From the German Counties of Wittgenstein

Prussia Online

(### Unavailable) A resource dedicated to Prussia including links to:

     Hall of Prussian Heroes 
     Die Pommerschen Leute 
     The Pomeranian Page--History and Map
     Prussian Genealogical Resources 
     Archive fuer Preussenforschung 
     Brandenburg - Preußen: Markgrafen, Kurfürsten, Könige 
     Berlin Information 

Pomerania

This site gives a short history of the area of Poland along the coast of the Baltic Sea. A map of the area and other links are available.

PA German Naming Patterns

(With music!) This site has an article that helps to explain the custom of First/Second naming practices that might throw a researcher off if they are not familiar with them. Also explained is the Jr/Sr designations and how a family name would be passed on to the next generation. This article was written for Pennsylvania German Naming customs but also may refer back to customs in Germany. Additional references are given to find more information.

German nicknames 18th century

(in English)

History about the Germans from Russia (### Unavailable)

A short article about why this group of people went to Russia, and why they came to the US or Canada.

Adalbert Goertz's Regional German FAQs

Very interesting site with excellent history and genealogy answers about the areas of Baden, Böhmen, Brandenburg, Deutschland (Germany), Elsass-Lothringen, Mähren, Ost Preußen, Pommern, Posen, Preußen, Rheinhessen, Rheinpfalz, Schlesien, Westfalen, West Preußen. (In English)

German WWW Servers

Maps of the different states in Germany and the cities that have WWW sites is listed in mostly German. Various businesses and information sites are listed by state or by a link that will give a city list.

German geographic regions

links to very helpful geographic information

Index to States, Provinces, and Regions

of Germany

Heraldry Sites
Links to Heraldry sites
German Civic Arms
Heraldry Dictionary
The Heraldry Society
American College of Heraldry homepage
The College of Arms
Heraldry and Vexillology Page

E-mail Lynn (lynnd@adnc.com) with corrections or comments.

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