Hallo
I was wondering if there is a place in Germany that would have films for Gumbinnen,East Prussia.Family history only goes back to 1733.
I am looking for brith of Christian Schmidt.Family History shows about 1721.His mariage to Ann Doretha about 1741.
Does this mean he was born some where else?
Thank You David P. Manthei
Hello David,
in Gumbinnen many people came in 1732 from the area around Salzburg to this region. They were forced to move, because they were protestants.
Schmidt (= Smith) is a common name in Germany, so if there are no more hints, it will be quite impossible to find "somewhere in Germany" this family. If you have information of the birth place from the marriage or death records, you may be successful to find much more generations back.
Older churchbooks exist for the Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Neustadt Gumbinnen (these start in 1711).
But there are many other records still existing for the region in the "Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preu�ischer Kulturbesitz" in Berlin. There are some professional genealogist who offer researches in this archive.
You should first have a look to the following records:
1) Einwohner Tabellen, 1736: Tabulary index of inhabitants of Gumbinnen district, East Prussia, Germany; now Gusev, Kaliningrad, Russia. Includes the Salzburg, Austria immigrants.
2) Rats- und B�rgerbuch (1728-1852) und Seelenregister (1780-1788) der Stadt Gumbinnen
3) Generalhufenscho�, 1719
Best regards,
Marc Plessa