Dear Mark
Thank you for posting # 3. I would like to comment on your statement: In small communities Menonnites and Jews were often listed in Lutheran Churches, less often in Catholic. Regarding Jews, this would be true before 1800 or so, after which time Jews were required to start keeping records in Prussia. Please note that on 11 March 1812 Jews were allowed to become Prussian citizens (if they could afford it) . The West Prussia 1812 Citizenship Database, covering 50 localities, is a wonderful source of information, and is available on Jewishgen.org and Ancestry.com. My Weinbergs and Goldsteins from Elbing are on it. It gives you the name before 1812, and the surname adopted with the citizenship. On this list I was able to find many ancestors, including my ggg-grandmother, Taeubchen Wulff of Spandau, who, on 24 March 1812, adopted the surname NATHAN, presumably after her late husband, Nathan Meyer. NATHAN is my maiden name! http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Germany/westprussia.htm Another wonderful source of information has enabled me to trace my Elbing and Dirschau ancestors back to the late 1700s. This is the Mormon films, which can be viewed at any Family History Center. I am fortunate to have one here on Maui where I live. The films are ordered from SLC and take about one month to arrive, longer if they are backordered. But there are centers in 80 foreign countries too. The Mormons have thousands of records on microfilm, including a vast selection of Jewish records. They also have books. I found my gggg-grandfather, Israel Samuel Weinberg, who died in 1836, on the Elbing film - # 742026, which has BMD 1812-1871. There are 2 films covering Dirschau. One is # 743206, Item 17, with BMD 1828 1848. The other is # 1456921, Items 9 11, with BMD 1847 1874. There are several films covering Danzig. Yet another earlier source for Jewish genealogists are the Judentabellen or Judenlisten, dating from the 1700s, depending on the location. These are residents lists, like census lists, and give the head of households name, his wife, children, ages, date of concession, ie the date the person was given permission to settle in that location, etc., etc. They cover the period before Jews had surnames. In the attachment you will see the West Prussian lists available from the Prussian archives located in Berlin-Dahlem, Germany. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. I am in the process of obtaining the 1809 Soldin list from them, a process which will end up costing about 40 euros. I would love to obtain the Dirschau lists. If anyone would like to join in with me, please let me know. I imagine the cost will be a fraction more, as the Jewish population in Dirschau was larger, and there will be more pages to copy. Maybe we could order the Elbing ones while we are at it! Mark any interest? Herr Guido Behnke is very efficient at locating records at the archives. Then there is Die Judenbürgerbücher der Stadt Berlin 1809-1851 (Jewish citizens in Berlin) By Jacob Jacobson. An incomplete version of this book is available online. http://books.google.com/books?id=wQNJDbRcn4gC <http://books.google.com/books?id=wQNJDbRcn4gC&pg=PA228&lpg=PA228&dq=taeubch en+wulff+-+spandau&source=bl&ots=4qb8XtJJNr&sig=HOZKdAtlclGtOr9JOpxIWjh0aCc& hl=en&ei=cBuaTdKVJ5K-sQOx8oyDAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0 CDsQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false> &pg=PA228&lpg=PA228&dq=taeubchen+wulff+-+spandau&source=bl&ots=4qb8XtJJNr&si g=HOZKdAtlclGtOr9JOpxIWjh0aCc&hl=en&ei=cBuaTdKVJ5K-sQOx8oyDAw&sa=X&oi=book_r esult&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false or from the Mormons. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?dis play=topicdetails <http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?di splay=topicdetails&subject=481051&subject_disp=Germany%2C+Preu%26%23xdf%3Ben %2C+Brandenburg%2C+Berlin+-+Jewish+records&columns=*,0,0> &subject=481051&subject_disp=Germany%2C+Preu%26%23xdf%3Ben%2C+Brandenburg%2C +Berlin+-+Jewish+records&columns=*,0,0 This has detailed information on the lineage of Jewish citizens who ended up in Berlin, but whose ancestors originated from all kinds of places, including Elbing. My gggg-uncle Abraham Weinberg from Elbing is listed in it. There is also Jacobsons Juedische Trauungen Jewish Weddings in Berlin, 1759 1813: With additions for the years 1723 1759. (See above link). A lot of Prussian Jews ended up in Berlin. If you are lucky, you may end up tracing your line back hundreds of years between these 2 sources alone. Such was the case with my Nathan line. There are also the online Berlin address books, starting from 1799. http://adressbuch.zlb.de/. My Weinbergs from Dirschau/Elbing are listed. I also found my entire line (going back to the 1600s) of HAHNs & JAPHAs (from Fraustadt) starting with these Berlin address books and then using the Mormon films. Regarding Mennonites from Elbing the Mormons have the following books available http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?dis play=titledetails <http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?di splay=titledetails&titleno=765406&disp=Mennonici+w+Gda%26%23x144%3Bsku%2C+El bl%25%20%20&columns=*,0,0> &titleno=765406&disp=Mennonici+w+Gda%26%23x144%3Bsku%2C+Elbl%%20%20&columns= *,0,0 Sincerely, Judith Elam From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of mark_f_rabideau Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 5:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elbing-L] More German Genealogy Tips Hello all, For those interested in such things, here is my third in a series of German Genealogy Tips. I hope someone finds the tips helpful. http://www.many-roads.com/2011/04/04/german-genealogy-tips-3/ My earlier posts are to be found at: http://www.many-roads.com/2011/03/15/german-genealogy-tips/ http://www.many-roads.com/2011/03/18/german-genealogy-tips-2/ Feel free to send me any questions you might have on German Genealogy and I'll include them in a future post on this subject. ...mark
