Finding family records from Germany/Prussia
Hi everyone! I hope your family trees are coming along nicely!
I got a bit stuck with my family tree because it turns out that one or more of my forefathers was born outside of the Netherlands. According to the death certificate of " Paulus Rademakers" he was originally from a place called "Helinsberg" (probably misspelled and should be Hillensberg or if I am not mistaken Heinsberg these days). When I try to look up information about him from that area I always come up empty handed. This kind of makes me believe I am looking in the wrong place or maybe the name of my familymember was written differently at the time.
Is there anyone out there that can help me with this, or point me in the right direction? All help will be greatly appreciated!
Bonus question: One of my distant relatives had illegitimate children. Therefor the name of the father was not mentioned anywhere in state records and there are no church records from the births of those children. Is there any way at all to find out the name of the father?
Information regarding these persons:
Paulus Rademakers (could be spelled as Ramekers, Ramakers, Ramachers, Raedemackers, Raedemakers etc.)
Born: unknown probably around 1704 since he was 75 when he passed away in 1779
Death: 22-10-1779 in Merkelbeek (Netherlands)
Wife: Maria Engelen (also cannot find any information about her birth..)
Lived in: Merkelbeek most of his life
Bonus question:
Name: Gertrudis Rademakers
Born: 24-01-1774 Merkelbeek
Death: 26-12-1853 Merkelbeek
Children: Jean Michiel Rademakers (29-12-1802), Maria Elisabeth Rademakers (21-02-1808) and Marie Agnes Rademakers (23-11-1812). All born in Merkelbeek.
Answers
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I would suggest trying this search in the Germany Research group. They have many experts and people who assist in translations.
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