Passport or Emigration Applications pre WW1 (early 1914)
Hello,
I am trying to find more information to help prove my great grandfather Bernhard Kaiping was a German citizen. I have records of his entrance into the United States in March 1914. On the passenger list, it appears that he listed his previous residence city as Schwerte, although on his Intent to Declare Naturalization he listed his previous residence city as “Dortmund”.
His ship, Rheine, left Bremen on February 26, 1914. Unfortunately the originating passenger list was destroyed in 1941 (confirmed this by talking with the local researchers in Bremen) and he does not appear on the limited index they have of the period. I know at some point he spent 2 years in the German/Prussian infantry but those records burned down in Potsdam in 1945.
At that time, pre-WW1, do you know if he would have had to apply for a passport/permission to emigrate to the United States? Do you know where he would have had to apply, such as the city he was living in or his home town (Mastholte)?
Thank you for any thoughts on this.
Réponses
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I believe Bernhard would have had to apply for permission to emigrate, yes.
You mention his declaration of intent papers. Do you have any other naturalization documents for him? If he was attempting to become a US citizen, would that have meant he was originally a German citizen? There should be something in his naturalization papers about renouncing loyalty to a prior national government/leader, which means he was formerly a citizen under that government's rule, and that should be able to be taken as proof of citizenship of whatever nation he was renouncing loyalty to.
It may also interest you to know that in Germany, you are only a "native" German citizen if you were born to at least one parent who was a German citizen at the time of your birth. For people born between 1914 and 1975, it is mandatory that the father was a German citizen, and the mother's citizenship does not matter.
A German citizen who voluntarily applies for and accepts a foreign nationality automatically loses their German citizenship. The exceptions are Germans who automatically receive another citizenship by the laws of a nation in which they reside, or who became citizens of a member state of the European Union or Switzerland after 2007.
That being said, I got this information from the website for the German Federal Foreign Office, so it represents the most current policy on citizenship, not necessarily what was in effect in 1914. However, the fact that this page mentions dates of effect going back to 1914 leads me to believe that the core "German citizenship through German parents" law is an old one.
So if Bernhard was born in Germany to parents who were also born in Germany, he was most likely a German citizen. Of course, if you're trying to prove his citizenship for official purposes, you'll need those naturalization documents.
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Okay, I did some sleuthing for you and I found Bernhard's declaration of intention. It says he is intending to renounce all allegiance to "William II, German Emperor, of whom I am now a subject". That's very solid evidence that Bernhard was a German citizen.
But it was a fun rabbit trail to explore German citizenship requirements!
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Thank you I appreciate it. We were able to find a copy of it as well and I was able to find a copy of his certificate of naturalization in 1943. They talk about the 1914 date because that’s when the citizenship law was changed (original 1913 text here: http://www.documentarchiv.de/ksr/1913/reichs-staatsangehoerigkeitsgesetz.html).
Do you know where one would have had to apply for permission to emigrate so I can start tracking down those documents, if they exist?
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Oh, nice! Good research!
Here's what the FamilySearch Wiki has to say about German application for permission to emigrate:
"Germans had to apply for permission to emigrate from most areas. The Family History Library has these application records for several states and cities, including Baden, Rheinland, the Pfalz, and Zwickau. For example, the library has microfilmed the emigration application records of Württemberg. They list the emigrant's birthplace, residence, assets, and indebtedness. Most Württemberg records consist of applications and accompanying documents that were collected by district offices. These records begin in the mid-1700s, with most from the 1800s. Most districts also have handwritten indexes for the mid-1800s. Six published volumes of indexes are available, which so far cover 35 of the 64 districts:
Schenk, Trudy, and Ruth Froelke. The Wuerttemberg Emigration Index. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Ancestry, 1986-. (FHL book Ref 943.47 W22st.) Available on: http://www.germanroots.com/emigration.html."
Ancestry.com has some information on the Württemberg Emigration Index that is in their record collection that gives some nice details about the application process. As to location, it says:
"The original Württemberg emigration records were compiled according to the Oberamt to which the applicant belonged. An Oberamt is roughly equivalent to a district town (or county seat in America)."
So it sounds like applications were organized into collections at the district level. Schwerte is in the district of Unna, while Dortmund is a sizeable city that looks like it is its own district (or rather municipality). I would check the emigration records for both locations.
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Thank you, really trying
That sounds like a good idea. I can write them and see what records can be located! Thanks for your help!
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You're welcome! Good luck!
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An update for anyone who might be interested. I reached out to the County/District of Unna and they referred me to the City Archives. Providing the full emails so that they may be of help to others in the future.
Here's the email I sent and the response from the District of Unna archives:
Guten Tag,
Ich erforsche meine Vorfahren und benötige dazu Angaben aus Ihren Archiven. Ich suche nach Informationen, die Sie möglicherweise über einen Reisepass oder eine Auswanderungserlaubnis haben
Die nachstehend aufgeführte Person ist mein Vorfahr. Ich habe alle mir bekannten genealogischen Angaben über diese Person aufgeführt:
Vor- und Familienname: Bernhard Kaiping
Geburtsdatum: 23 Nov 1887
Geburtsort: Mastholte
Auswanderungsdatum: 26 Feb 1914 aus Bremen
Ich glaube, daß Bernhard Kaiping ungefähr 1912-1914 in Schwerte wohnte vor der Auswanderung durch Bremen in die Vereinigten Staaten.
A few hours later I got this response:
vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage.
In den Beständen des Kreisarchivs Unna sind keine Dokumente über einen Bernhard Kaiping vorhanden.
Melderegister werden in den Städten und Gemeinden geführt. Für die Archivierung sind die dort ansässigen Kommunalarchive zuständig. In Ihrem Falle wenden Sie sich bitte an das Stadtarchiv Schwerte, Kontakt: stadtarchiv@stadt-schwerte.de | Tel. +492304104823
Ich wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg bei der weiteren Recherche über Ihren Vorfahr.
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Thank you so much for sharing your correspondence! I think this will help a lot of people.
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Final update on this in the hopes that it helps someone in the future. The local city archive (Stadtarchiv Schwerte) did not have any records of a passport or permission to emigrate. Before WW1 I am not sure how strictly this was enforced or what records survived the wars. However, they helpfully referred me to the local City Hall "Citizen Service" (Bürgerservice) and they were able to help me with my request.
Here is the email to the citizens service, in the hopes that it will be helpful to those in the future (there are probably grammar errors here but it was effective in getting the registration card). The search was a nominal fee which I paid with TransferWise:
Sehr geehrter Herr oder geehrte Dame,
Ich suche nach Informationen, die Sie möglicherweise über Bernhard Kaiping in der alten Meldekartei der Stadt Schwerte.
Die nachstehend aufgeführte Person ist mein Vorfahr. Ich habe mir bekannten genealogischen Angaben über diese Person, aufgeführt:
Vor- und Familienname: Bernhard Kaiping
Geburtsdatum: 23 Nov 1887
Geburtsort: Mastholte
Auswanderungsdatum: 26 Feb 1914 aus Bremen
Beruf: Bäcker
Militärdienst: 2 Jahre in der Infanterie (unbekannte Daten)
Ich glaube, daß Bernhard Kaiping zwischen 1892-1914 in Schwerte wohnte vor der Auswanderung durch Bremen in die Vereinigten Staaten.
Ich danke Ihnen im Voraus für Ihre Hilfe.
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Thank you for the update! I'm sorry they didn't have the records you were looking for, but thank you for providing the information to help others!
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