Check out the useful information and links in the posts from WSeelentag
Very helpful for those of you doing research in these areas.
The posts are in the discussion/question thread.
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Thank you for your recommendation, Linda. I hope you don't mind if I "hijack" it to make it a "link list". But let me start with a few comments about my motivation.
I had joined the community in May 2021. Most posts I read were about help reading church records. I have posted several answers for documents in German (I won't respond to French or Italian documents due to my missing language knowledge). All are welcome, of course, to read these responses, but most will not be of general interest.
Then there was a complete page from Council Meeting Minutes. I felt that just transcribing/translating it would not be sufficient - some more explanations seemed to be desirable. In order to give it a more "interesting" title I started Council minutes Chur 1889: transcription, translation and background explanations, also explaining basic rules of Swiss citizenship, difference between "Bürgergemeinde / Bürgerort" and "politische Gemeinde", differences between "Zivilstandsregister", "Bürgerregister", "Familienbuch", "Familienregister". One should be familiar with these terms if researching in Switzerland.
Many of the requests just gave a link to the document page in question, a link to familysearch.org. Unfortunately for many cantons Swiss residents cannot access these documents: one would have to visit the nearest Family History Centre, which is not really motivating. In Church Records in Canton Bern I tried to explain the problem and describe alternatives, preferred alternative being screenshots with sufficient resolution.
Records on familysearch.org for cantons Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St.Gallen can also not be accessed from home for Swiss residents. But here we have at least very good alternatives online, described for Church Records in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Church Records and other records in Canton St.Gallen.
Right now I am not planning similar posts for other cantons - but if there is interest for other German speaking cantons, let me know.
Glossary: Occasionally other terms show up in genealogical sources, requiring a bit more explanation, not just translation. In order to avoid explaining such terms several times in the context of several transcription requests, I will occasionally start new topics on these terms, which then can just be linked to:
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Thanks so much for your interest and for sharing your expertise. Please do make a list of links.
Tomorrow I am going to join the group you mentioned to me last week. I had to do some emergency traveling, but will be able to get online and do some things for my own research tomorrow.
Your knowledge of German records is invaluable to this group.
Have a wonderful day.
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Sorry, if I possibly wasn't clear enough.
With "link list" I meant links to posts of more general interest in this group - not a list with links to all sorts of interesting web sites. There is a large number of them around (incl. my partly outdated SwissGen, started in 1997) - no point in trying to compete with them (also links are often are not valid after short whiles - making the maintenance extremly time consuming - which is why I have given up with SwissGen). Instead I prefer to help directly on forums like this community here or Geneal-Forum.
And to make sure: "documents in German" meant Swiss records from the German speaking part of Switzerland. I assume, questions on documents from other German speaking regions of Europe would be posted in other groups anyway.
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I understood you correctly. I think several members of this group have encountered German records and were confused at first because they don't understand that records in this part of the world can be written in French, German, Latin, etc. When reading old script it is sometimes difficult to tell which is being used.
If you have links of general interest I think I can find a way to add them at the top of the page, even though I am not a moderator in the group any more.
L
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Why are some church records not freely viewable from home?
The service by familysearch to provide access to digitized church records is great - unfortunately for several cantons (e.g. Bern, Thurgau, Zürich) one has to visit a Family History Centre, as they cannot be viewed from home - at least not in Switzerland - see https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/comment/269859#Comment_269859. Beat98 has asked about this - see https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/comment/457917/#Comment_457917 - and I have posted my personal answer - see https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/comment/457998/#Comment_457998.
I have read different, but inconsistent information about the situation in the USA.
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Conclusion - unless you are sure that the files at familysearch can accessed freely worldwide (e.g. cantons Basel-Stadt or Luzern) - attach images of the document you are asking to be transliterated: this will better motivate Swiss residents to help you. The link to familysearch should still be given - so readers with access can view the original.
The optimal solution is to download the entire page, cut out the relevant part (keep the resolution), but also add the entire page with reduced resolution (but still readable) to allow "practising" the handwriting by comparison.
You find the download button in the top right corner (in German labelled "Herunterladen):
The following examples are taken from https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/comment/458139/#Comment_458139:
Make sure you always give full reference, i.e. the parish and the date, unless this is obvious from the attached images.
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When are simple screenshots sufficient?
There is no simple answer to that! It will depend on the physical size of the book, the size of the handwriting, the handwriting itself, the quality of the film (digital record) - and the size (in pixels) of your monitor. I hope the following two examples give at least a feeling:
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126551/zbinden-family: this type of image quality is just readable, but cumbersome (not motivating) and often will lead to uncertainties with names.
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126531/zbinden-family: this one is clearly easily readable 😊.
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Scroll down to see the most up-to-date version of this summary.
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When transliterating documents (like church records) occasionally special terms or circumstances with consequences for the document will require explanation - otherwise mis-interpretations might occur. I have decided I would compile these explanations in three discussions. In this way the explanations can just be linked to whenever a similar situation turns up with another transliteration request.
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/127171/general-comments should deal with topics not describing a specific meaning of a specific word - which would be described in the glossary. At the time of writing this includes:
Privacy rules in Switzerland and their consequences on genealogical research, i.e. dealing with rules of the 21st century.
Rules about marriage announcements in the 19th century with a "complicated" situation: bride and groom from different parishes getting married in a third parish.
A short text on unusual diacritical characters like "uo" in Cuonrath (modern Konrad) - plus a "graphical description" how the umlaut ä evolved from "e over a".
An example of abbreviated word/name endings …en, …n, …us and their appearance with the genitive often seen with fathers' names.
What is a source - and how should it be referenced?
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126907/general-glossary should deal with single (or very short) terms. At the time of writing this includes:
A link to a previous post explaining the basic rules of Swiss citizenship, differences between "Bürgergemeinde / Bürgerort" and "politische Gemeinde", differences between "Zivilstandsregister", "Bürgerregister", "Familienbuch", "Familienregister".
Alt in connection with an administrative position, military grade or (less frequent) profession: this does not imply "old", but rather "retired / former". Alt Ehegaumer and Altbürgermeister are mentioned as examples.
Kirchgemeinde or Kirchhöri are synonymous terms for a parish, mainly used in reformed regions. What is kirchgenössig - and how do you pronounce Chile?
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126906/disease-names-and-causes-of-death explains Brüni / Mundfäule as cause of death.
Auszehrung, Abzehrung, Zehrung, Abnahme are synonumous for what is more a description of symptoms, rather than a diagnosis in the modern sense.
If you come across a cause of death in a death record which you cannot explain - feel free to ask here - or post the image as a separate discussion for transliteration.
Other community members are helping with transliterations / translations. If you are one, I would like to invite you to join the effort and publish explanations in the above mentioned discussions.
Any member interested in such general information is invited to follow the above discussions: "Bookmark" (small flag right top) and make sure you have "Notify me when people comment on my bookmarked discussions" activated in the "Notification Preferences" of your profile. You will then be notified by email each time a new post is added to the bookmarked discussion.
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********** UPDATE ***********
This is an update on a previous post. New topics are written in bold - old topics are written in italic.
When transliterating documents (like church records) occasionally special terms or circumstances with consequences for the document will require explanation - otherwise mis-interpretations might occur. I have decided I would compile these explanations in three discussions. In this way the explanations can just be linked to whenever a similar situation turns up with another transliteration request. In a fourth discussion sources for genealogical research in Switzerland will be the focus.
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/127171/general-comments should deal with topics not describing a specific meaning of a specific word - which would be described in the glossary. At the time of writing this includes:
How to post a request: a guideline posted on the Germany group.
What title would be best for postings? What is your opinion on this proposal?
Privacy rules in Switzerland and their consequences on genealogical research, i.e. dealing with rules of the 21st century.
Rules about marriage announcements in the 19th century with a "complicated" situation: bride and groom from different parishes getting married in a third parish.
A short text on unusual diacritical characters like "uo" in Cuonrath (modern Konrad) - plus a "graphical description" how the umlaut ä evolved from "e over a".
An example of abbreviated word/name endings …en, …n, …us and their appearance with the genitive often seen with fathers' names.
Handwriting differences, even by the same hand in a single record, on the example of T, C, and L.
What is a source - and how should it be referenced?
Link to church records in canton Appenzell-Ausserrhoden.
Link to church records in canton Bern.
Church records Walterswil (canton Bern) have been transcribed - can be downloaded free.
Chorgerichtsmanuale [Moral Court Proceedings] in canton Bern.
Bevölkerungsverzeichnis / Haushaltungsrodel are "extended census data" from early 17th to end of 18th century, sometimes giving detailed information about the day-to-day living at the time (2 examples from canton Zürich).
Link to church records and "Bürgerregister" in canton St.Gallen.
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126907/general-glossary should deal with single (or very short) terms. At the time of writing this includes:
A link to a previous post explaining the basic rules of Swiss citizenship, differences between "Bürgergemeinde / Bürgerort" and "politische Gemeinde", differences between "Zivilstandsregister", "Bürgerregister", "Familienbuch", "Familienregister".
Alt in connection with an administrative position, military grade or (less frequent) profession: this does not imply "old", but rather "retired / former". Alt Ehegaumer and Altbürgermeister are mentioned as examples.
The Obmann is (amongst other explanations) an arbitrator, e.g. presiding communal meetings - somewhat similar to an Ammann (official, bailiff).
Kirchgemeinde or Kirchhöri are synonymous terms for a parish, mainly used in reformed regions. What is kirchgenössig - and how do you pronounce Chile?
The Kirchmeier / Chilchmeier is involved in the administration of church property.
The profession of Schiffmann / Schiffsmann is (for someone living in Switzerland) best translated as boat pilot or helmsman.
When a husband dies, the wife becomes a widow. But what is a "zweiteWitwe" (second widow)?
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126906/disease-names-and-causes-of-death explains at the time of writing:
Brüni / Mundfäule as cause of death.
Auszehrung, Abzehrung, Zehrung, Abnahme are synonymous for what is more a description of symptoms, rather than a diagnosis in the modern sense.
If you come across a cause of death in a death record which you cannot explain - feel free to ask here - or post the image as a separate discussion for transliteration.
Other community members are helping with transliterations / translations. If you are one, I would like to invite you to join the effort and publish explanations in the above mentioned discussions.
Any member interested in such general information is invited to follow the above discussions: "Bookmark" (small flag right top) and make sure you have "Notify me when people comment on my bookmarked discussions" activated in the "Notification Preferences" of your profile. You will then be notified by email each time a new post is added to the bookmarked discussion.
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********** UPDATE ***********
This is an update on a previous post. New topics are written in bold - old topics are written in italic.
When transliterating documents (like church records) occasionally special terms or circumstances with consequences for the document will require explanation - otherwise mis-interpretations might occur. I have decided I would compile these explanations in three discussions. In this way the explanations can just be linked to whenever a similar situation turns up with another transliteration request. In a fourth discussion sources for genealogical research in Switzerland will be the focus.
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/127171/general-comments should deal with topics not describing a specific meaning of a specific word - which would be described in the glossary. At the time of writing this includes:
How to post a request: a guideline posted on the Germany group.
What title would be best for postings? What is your opinion on this proposal?
Privacy rules in Switzerland and their consequences on genealogical research, i.e. dealing with rules of the 21st century.
Rules about marriage announcements in the 19th century with a "complicated" situation: bride and groom from different parishes getting married in a third parish.
A short text on unusual diacritical characters like "uo" in Cuonrath (modern Konrad) - plus a "graphical description" how the umlaut ä evolved from "e over a".
The development from sz to ß to ss (and the reading error hs) … including the "Pastoral S".
How to type special characters (ä, ß, …) - using "extended ASCII codes.
An example of abbreviated word/name endings …en, …n, …us and their appearance with the genitive often seen with fathers' names.
Handwriting differences, even by the same hand in a single record, on the example of T, C, and L.
What is a source - and how should it be referenced?
Link to church records in canton Appenzell-Ausserrhoden.
Link to church records and "Bürgerregister" in canton St.Gallen.
Link to church records in canton Bern.
Church records Walterswil (canton Bern) have been transcribed - can be downloaded free.
Sources for genealogical research in canton Zürich.
Chorgerichtsmanuale [Moral Court Proceedings] in canton Bern.
Bevölkerungsverzeichnis / Haushaltungsrodel are "extended census data" from early 17th to end of 18th century, sometimes giving detailed information about the day-to-day living at the time (2 examples from canton Zürich).
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126907/general-glossary should deal with single (or very short) terms. At the time of writing this includes:
A link to a previous post explaining the basic rules of Swiss citizenship, differences between "Bürgergemeinde / Bürgerort" and "politische Gemeinde", differences between "Zivilstandsregister", "Bürgerregister", "Familienbuch", "Familienregister".
Alt in connection with an administrative position, military grade or (less frequent) profession: this does not imply "old", but rather "retired / former". Alt Ehegaumer and Altbürgermeister are mentioned as examples.
The Obmann is (amongst other explanations) an arbitrator, e.g. presiding communal meetings - somewhat similar to an Ammann (official, bailiff).
Read about the Ammann in Schweizerisches Idiotikon - and how to translate a summary of the Idiotikon text.
Kirchgemeinde or Kirchhöri are synonymous terms for a parish, mainly used in reformed regions. What is kirchgenössig - and how do you pronounce Chile?
The Kirchmeier / Chilchmeier is involved in the administration of church property.
The profession of Schiffmann / Schiffsmann is (for someone living in Switzerland) best translated as boat pilot or helmsman.
When a husband dies, the wife becomes a widow. But what is a "zweite Witwe" (second widow)?
https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/126906/disease-names-and-causes-of-death explains at the time of writing:
Brüni / Mundfäule as cause of death.
Auszehrung, Abzehrung, Zehrung, Abnahme are synonymous for what is more a description of symptoms, rather than a diagnosis in the modern sense.
Sitenstich /Seitenstich / Seitenstechen in todays usage indicates a stabbing pain in the side. In earlier times it could also include pleurisy or appendicitis, potentially fatal conditions.
If you come across a cause of death in a death record which you cannot explain - feel free to ask here - or post the image as a separate discussion for transliteration.
Other community members are helping with transliterations / translations. If you are one, I would like to invite you to join the effort and publish explanations in the above mentioned discussions.
Any member interested in such general information is invited to follow the above discussions: "Bookmark" (small flag right top) and make sure you have "Notify me when people comment on my bookmarked discussions" activated in the "Notification Preferences" of your profile. You will then be notified by email each time a new post is added to the bookmarked discussion.
Finally: do you want to read a "mystery story"? If yes - have a look at https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/131511/a-hidden-date.
Another interesting post by Albin Dittli on resesarch in canton Uri: https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/134866/canton-uri-research-is-wonderful.
He also started the discussion on: https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/135264/what-are-the-rules-for-hyphenated-names
Several definitions of sources are briefly described in an answer to https://community.familysearch.org/de/discussion/139716/family-registers-and-family-books.
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