German Census Records 1816-1916 – A Groundbreaking New Genealogy Resource

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I need to first make a sincere apology. For years I have been telling people that there were very few German censuses taken – with a small number of exceptions. I didn’t know what I was talking about. I guess I could make the excuse that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, but I learned years ago that excuses aren’t worth anything. Actually, many German censuses were taken, some as early as the 1700s, but with most starting in 1816. And yes – many are accessible to researchers today.

After wondering for several years why American researchers know very little about German census records, my good friend, Dr. Roger Minert, found an opportunity to live in Europe for six months to investigate them. He was sure that many existed, but he could find very little information about them. While in Europe, he learned that even German researchers know very little about their census records! How could such a potentially important resource be lost to obscurity? In a new book, researchers can now learn where and when German census records were compiled, as well as why and how. The author also describes state by state the content of the census records and explains how surviving census documents can be located. This is groundbreaking information, of enormous value to anyone researching their German roots.

Would you like additional information about your family in old country? The information found in the parish registers is key to your research, but there’s often even more family information to be found in the German census records.

German Census Records, 1816-1916: The When, Where, and How of a Valuable Genealogical Resource is available and now shipping.

Note – this book is also available in a hardbound edition. Click on this link to be directed to that page at the FPRC website.

The following Table of Contents is found in the volume:

  • Acknowledgements
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: A History of Census Records in the German States
  • Chapter 2: The Census of 1867: The Great Transition
  • Chapter 3: Census Records during the German Empire 1871-1918
  • Chapter 4: Census Records in the German States from 1816 to 1864
  • Chapter 5: Anhalt
  • Chapter 6: Baden
  • Chapter 7: Bayern [Bavaria]
  • Chapter 8: Brandenburg
  • Chapter 9: Braunschweig [Brunswick]
  • Chapter 10: Bremen (Hansestadt Bremen)
  • Chapter 11: Elsaß-Lothringen {Alsace-Lorraine]
  • Chapter 12: Hamburg (Hansestadt Hamburg)
  • Chapter 13: Hannover [Hanover]
  • Chapter 14: Hessen [Hesse]
  • Chapter 15: Hessen-Nassau [Hesse-Nassau]
  • Chapter 16: Hohenzollern
  • Chapter 17: Lippe
  • Chapter 18: Lübeck (Hansestadt Lübeck) [Luebeck]
  • Chapter 19: Mecklenburg-Schwerin
  • Chapter 20: Mecklenburg-Strelitz
  • Chapter 21: Oldenburg
  • Chapter 22: Ostpreußen [East Prussia]
  • Chapter 23: Pommern [Pomerania]
  • Chapter 24: Posen
  • Chapter 25: Reuß älterer Linie [Reuss Elder Line]
  • Chapter 26: Reuß jüngere Linie [Reuss Younger Line]
  • Chapter 27: Rheinprovinz [Rhineland Province]
  • Chapter 28: Sachsen-Altenburg [Saxe-Altenburg]
  • Chapter 29: Sachsen-Meiningen [Saxe-Meiningen]
  • Chapter 30: Königreich Sachsen [Kingdom of Saxony]
  • Chapter 31: Sachsen-Meiningen [Saxe-Meiningen]
  • Chapter 32: Provinz Sachsen [Province of Saxony]
  • Chapter 33: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach [Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]
  • Chapter 34: Schaumburg-Lippe
  • Chapter 35: Schlesian [Silesia]
  • Chapter 36: Schleswig-Holstein
  • Chapter 37: Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
  • Chapter 38: Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
  • Chapter 39: Waldeck
  • Chapter 40: Westfalen [Westphalia]
  • Chapter 41: Westpreußen [West Prussia]
  • Chapter 42: Württemberg [Wuerttemberg]
  • Chapter 43: German Census Records from 1816-1916: What Do We Know Now?
  • Chapter 44: Conclusions
  • Appendix A: Writing to Archives in Germany, France, and Poland
  • Appendix B: Conducting Census Research in Archives in Germany, France and Poland
  • Appendix C: Interesting Documents Relating to German Census Campaigns
  • Appendix D: The States of Germany in 1871
  • Bibliography
  • Index

German Census Records, 1816-1916: The When, Where, and How of a Valuable Genealogical Resource; by Roger P Minert, Ph.D., A.G.; 2016; 260 pp; 8.5×11; Softbound; ISBN: 9781628590777; Item #: FR0650

About Leland Meitzler

Leland K. Meitzler founded Heritage Quest in 1985, and has worked as Managing Editor of both Heritage Quest Magazine and The Genealogical Helper. He currently operates Family Roots Publishing Company (www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com), writes daily at GenealogyBlog.com, writes the weekly Genealogy Newsline, conducts the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour to the Family History Library, and speaks nationally, having given over 2000 lectures since 1983.

5 Replies to “German Census Records 1816-1916 – A Groundbreaking New Genealogy Resource”

  1. When I looked to purchase the price was $59.46 plus shipping and it is April 25th… Is that an error? I would love the book for the pre order price. Please let me know. Thank you.

  2. The book is written in English and published in Orting, Washington. A German language edition is planned – to be published in Germany at a later date.

  3. I am so grateful that I found Dr. Minert to do research for me in Germany. He opened doors that I had been struggling with for 30 years.

    I always felt confident with his results and appreciated the personal interest he took in his work for me.

    I am so glad to see that he has authored this book. Once again, I am sure it will be the very best information available and I thank him for the extra effort he puts in to help us all.

    He is a valued researcher and a great instructor. He was one of my granddaughter’s favorites at Brigham Young University.

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