CONTACTING GERMANY BY TELEPHONE OR E-MAIL
The following is an acceptable format for an E-Mail inquiry sent to "Don" (dwats at cox . net) so that he can then telephone or E-Mail Germany, in the German language, concerning your German ancestral inquiries. I speak, read, and write German. I can call various archives and families on the telephone, or I can send E-Mail inquiries. These are usually the initial steps before an exchange of information begins. If telephoning is unsuccessful, or if there is no E-Mail address, then you can prepare your own letter at ./letters.htm. I can personalize each letter for you. There is a $3 minimum fee for each telephone call to an individual, $5 for each church or civil archive. You authorize the telephone call(s) by paying in advance. If the total cost exceeds the cost quoted, you reimburse me. If not, you don't. There is no fee for sending an E-Mail.
FORMAT:
WHO: Johann Eduard Schmidt
WHERE FROM: 64283 Darmstadt, Hessen (the zip code is
essential)
See
./zipcodes.htm
WHEN, PLUS EVENT: 04 April 1830 (birth) / 14 Dec 1850 (marriage) / 02 Mar 1853 (emigrate) / Family Members (Names/Ages) / Ship: Feldwebel / Harbor: Bremen. (Obviously, you probably won't have all of these).
FAITH: Catholic / Lutheran / Evangelical / Protestant / Huetterite / Huguenot / Jewish (Evangelical or Catholic is usually sufficient, but you can add the others as appropriate).
WHAT DO YOU NEED? Documents? Specify: Birth / Baptism or Christening / Marriage / Death / Military / Emigration Papers / Passport
WHAT INFO DO YOU ALREADY HAVE? Census? Ships List? Naturalization? Documents from Germany? Which ones?
SHALL I TELEPHONE or E-MAIL, or BOTH? (Your choice)
NO MORE THAN FOUR (4) PERSONS PER INQUIRY!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!! (The Germans make the rules, not me). One of those should be the one who emigrated. The rest should be his father-mother, grandfather-grandmother, or some other means of identifying a linkage for the persons I call. Begin with yourself and work your way back through the generations in your country until you come to the immigrant you are seaching for, or, if you don't already have this information compiled, study Research 101 at
to understand (and to get a hand-up for) German research.
If you have old letters, documents, Bible entries, that you would like to have translated into English, or if you would like to communicate in the German language with your German "cousins," please take a look at......
:-)
Don
Use your back button! Your back button is your friend!