German Immigrant Arrivals: Resources in the Library of Congress Compiled and Annotated by Barbara B. Walsh Contents Introduction. .1 Historical Background and Bibliographical Guides. .2 General Resources: No Specific Locality. .3 Regions of Germany. 10 Regions of Settlement Within the United States. 31 Introduction Organized German immigration to America began on October 6, 1683, with the arrival of thirteen Mennonite and Quaker families from Krefeld, Germany. They settled in "Deutschstadt" near Philadelphia, incorporated in 1689 as Germantown. Since that time, more than eight million Germans have emigrated to Amerca, more than any other nationality. For genealogists researching their German immigrant ancestors, finding those ancestors on ship passenger lists can be a difficult, time-consuming process. Finding their hometowns in Germany, the vital next step in German genealogical research, can be even more problematic. Unfortunately, there is no central source for German genealogical records. Therefore, unless one knows the specific place of origin, it is almost impossible to locate the German religious and civil records that are so necessary to tracing a family in Germany. The purpose of this bibliography is to identify lists of German immigrants in the Library of Congress (published, manuscript, and electronic). One published list, Germans to America, consists of abstracts from ship pasenger manifests (lists). The surviving passenger manifests are available on microfilm at the National Archives, its regional facilities, and at some libraries throughout the United States (http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/). Many lists of Germans immigrants do not include their German hometown. Others, published in both Germany and the United States, include emigrants from a particular locality in Germany or those who settled in specific areas of the United States. This guide is comprised of four major sections. The first, "Historical Background and Bibliographical Guides," includes publications that provide historical, political, and economic perspective on German immigration to the United States. The second section is titled "General Resources: No Specific Locality." The third section, "Regions of Germany," consists of emigrant 1 lists from various localities in Germany. The fourth section, "Regions of Settlement Within the United States," contains lists of German immigrants who settled in specific areas of the United States. Historical Background and Bibliographical Guides Emigration and settlement patterns of German communities in North America / edited by Eberhard Reichmann, La Vern J. Rippley, Jörg Nagler. Indianapolis, Ind. : Max Kade German- American Center, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis ; Nashville, IN : Produced and distributed by NCSA LITERATUR, c1995. xxxii, 380 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm. (Max Kade German-American Center, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis ; v. 8) Includes bibliographical references. (DLC) 96124531 lccopycat ISBN 1-880788-04-7 E184.G3E46 1995 96124531 A collection of essays on German emigration to North America. Fogleman, Aaron Spencer. Hopeful journeys : German immigration, settlement, and political culture in colonial America, 1717-1775 / Aaron Spencer Fogleman. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. xii, 257 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm. (Early American studies) Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Michigan, 1991. Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-235) and indexes. ISBN 0-8122-3309-3 (cloth : alk. paper). – ISBN 0-8122-1548-6 (paper : alk. paper) E184.G3F724 1996 95043562 A discussion of Germans in colonial America. German and American Sources for German Emigration to America, by Michael P. Palmer < http://www.genealogienetz.de/misc/emig/emigrati.html > An extensive online bibliography of published and unpublished resources for German emigration to America. Haller, Charles R. The ABCs of German-American migration : annotated guide to German-American migration records / by Charles R. Haller. Asheville, N.C. : Money Tree Imprints, c2000. v, 100 p. ; 23 cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-9703748-0-1 Z1361.G37H35 2000 LH&G 2001335108 A useful guide to sources for German-American immigration. 2 Haller, Charles R. Across the Atlantic and beyond : the migration of German and Swiss immigrants to America / Charles R. Haller. Bowie, Md. : Heritage Books, 1993. xi, 324 p. : maps ; 22 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. (OCoLC)28244487 lccopycat ISBN 1-55613-697-8 E184.G3H23 1993 94114263 A history of German and Swiss immigration to America. Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide to Published Resources, compiled by Virginia Steele Wood. < http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/bib_guid/immigrant/ > An online guide to resources in the Library of Congress; includes sections on general works, passenger lists, ships, the immigration experience, immigrants as new arrivals, personal narratives & correspondence, internet resources, and LC subject headings. Krewson, Margrit B. (Margrit Beran) Immigrants from the German-speaking countries of Europe : a selective bibliography / Margrit B. Krewson. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1991. 76 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. Rev. ed. of: Germanic people in the United States, 1983. Includes index. Supt. of Docs. no.: LC1.12/2:G31/6 LC Copy/Issue: Z663.I46 1990 copy 3 Z1361.G37K74 1990 MRR Alc 90020309 Includes a useful introduction to German immigration to America. Wellauer, Maralyn A. German immigration to America in the nineteenth century : a genealogist's guide / by Maralyn A. Wellauer. Milwaukee, Wis. : Roots International, c1985. 87 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. Includes bibliographies. ISBN 0-932019-06-4 (pbk.) E184.G3W42 1985 LH&G 85179085 A handbook on German immigration to America during the nineteenth century. General Resources: No Specific Locality Ancestry Library Edition: U. S. Immigration Collection < http://www.ancestrylibrary.com/ > Available only at subscribing libraries. A searchable database of more than10 million names from passenger lists and naturalization records from the 1500's to the 1900's; includes New York passenger arrivals from 1851 to1891. 3 Auswandererbriefe [microform]. [Dortmund, Germany] : MC, 1997. 40 microfilm reels : ill. ; 35 mm. German and English. Summary: Reproduces about 6700 German emigrant letters from the United States written between 1820 and 1930, collected by Wolfgang Helbich. About 85% are in the form of Xerox copies of the originals, 10% are in transcription form only (the originals have been lost), and 5% are the original letters. Biographical research and background studies on the letter writers is reproduced along with the letters, including parish registers, emigration lists, judicial records, passenger lists, manuscript census, city directories, county histories, platbooks, etc. Filmed from the originals in the Ruhr-Universit#t Bochum Includes indexes. Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room. MSS84133 Title on finding aid: Bochumer Auswandererbriefsammlung (BABS) Parallel title on finding aid: Bochum emigrant letter collection Microfilm 21,732 Manuscript Reading Room 97207808 Extensive collection of German emigrant letters from the United States, written between 1820 and 1930. More than 350 of these letters were published in 1988 as Briefe aus Amerika : deutsche Auswanderer schreiben aus der neuen Welt 1830-1930 (LC call number: E184.G3 B75 1988). In 1991, Cornell University Press published an English translation, News from the Land of Freedom: German Immigrants Write Home (LC call number: E184.G3 B7513 1991). Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933 / Leitung und Bearbeitung, Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss, unter Mitwirkung von Dieter Marc Schneider, Louise Forsyth ; Autoren, Jan Foitzik ... [et al.] ; Redaktion, Sybille Claus und Beatrix Schmidt. München ; New York : K.G. Saur ; Detroit, Mich. : Distributed by Gale Research Company, 1980­ 1983. 3 v. in 4 ; 30-31 cm. Vol. 2 in English. Half title of v. 1, title of v. 2, and parallel title of v. 3: International biographical dictionary of central European emigrés, 1933-1945. Vol. 3: Unter der Leitung von Werner Röder zusammengestellt von Sybille Claus, Daniel Niederland und Beatrix Schmidt. "Herausgegeben vom Institut für Zeitgeschichte München und von der Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration, Inc., New York, unter Gesamtleitung von Werner Röder und Herbert A. Strauss"–V. 3, half title. "Decknamen, Pseudonyme und Namensänderungen": v. 1, p. [853]-861. "List of pseudonyms": v. 2, p. 1312-1316. Includes bibliographies and indexes. Contents: Bd. 1. Politik, Wirtschaft, Öffentliches Leben – Vol. 2. The arts, sciences, and literature. 2 v. – Bd. 3. Gesamtregister. ISBN 3-598-10087-6 (set). – ISBN 0-89664-101-5 (U.S. : Bd. 1). – ISBN 3-598-10089-2 (Bd. 2) DD68.B52 1980 MRR Biog 82162038 Contains approximately 8,700 biographical sketches of persons who emigrated from Central Europe during the period of the Third Reich. Indexes in volume 3. Bremen Passenger Lists 1920 - 1939 < http://www.schiffslisten.de/index_en.html > A searchable database of the names on 2,953 Bremen passenger lists from 1920 to 1939. The information for each passenger includes name, age, marital status, previous place of residence, 4 nationality, profession, and destination. Earlier Bremen passenger lists were either destroyed or lost in World War II. Burgert, Annette K. Eighteenth century emigrants from German-speaking lands to North America / by Annette Kunselman Burgert.