German Resource - Ortssippenbücher

Have you heard of Ortssippenbücher? A recent guest post on the SK Translations blog (link below) from Scott Holl, manager of History & Genealogy at St. Louis County Library in St. Louis, Missouri, explains these books. These German community based family books include genealogical information about residents of a specific village or parish, generally from surviving local church records. Some begin as early as the mid-1500s and run through about 1900. If you find one for your ancestor’s village, they can be a great resource.

Another great resource is the SK Translations website. Katharine Schober, a professional translator, offers a newsletter with translation tips and German research sources I have found useful. You can read the Ortssippenbücher article and find out more about SK Translations newsletter at Katharine’s website https://sktranslations.com/. Find out what these books are, where you can find them, and how to use them in your research!

Here's an example from Archive.org of the Ortsippenbuch Schmieheim (Baden).

(Note: Neither the author or HCGS has any relationship with Katherine Schober or SK Translations. As an avid researcher with multiple (7 at last count) German family lines, she passes along useful resources from time to time.)