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German Genealogy

Join us for a FREE virtual program on December 10 at 2:30 p.m. ET

Over 40 million Americans have German ancestors, comprising 10 to 15% of the population and forming the largest single ethnic group in the U.S. When researching your German-American family history, you will inevitably reach the point where your ancestors crossed the Atlantic. Many people stop at this stage, unsure how to continue researching in Europe. However, this is not where your journey has to end. We will show you how to continue tracing your family’s history using German sources, enabling you to track your lineage one or two centuries further back.

This presentation is designed as a starting point for researching your German ancestors and provides an overview of German genealogy. We begin with a brief history of German immigration to the US, covering routes, numbers, and timeframes. Following that, I will guide you through the various sources available in Germany—both primary and secondary—demonstrating how to access and utilize them effectively. This includes passenger lists, censuses, church records, administrative documents, personal registers, and more. One of the most challenging aspects of German-American genealogy is pinpointing the exact hometown in Germany from which your ancestor emigrated. We will share strategies to help you overcome this hurdle, even when American records lack this crucial information. 

Till Fehmer is the Co-Founder of Fehmer Genealogy, established in 2024, where he brings his background in research and public policy to the field of genealogy. Prior to this, Till served as a Research Assistant to Professor Andrew Moravcsik at Princeton University from 2021 to 2022, contributing to studies in international relations and European affairs.

He holds an MSc in European and International Public Policy from the London School of Economics (LSE), completed in 2021. Till also gained experience at the European Commission as a Trainee from 2022 to 2023, further enhancing his expertise in European governance and policy analysis.