I do not speak any German but maybe someone on this list who knows english can help me.
My grandmother was born in Germany in 1881.
This is what the latest LDS IGI has for her.
Birthplace: Seehausen Altmark, Mageburg Stadt, Sachesen, Preussen Germany. I believe most of this is wrong.
There is and never was a Mageburg Stadt (State?) in Germany. Seehausen Altmark is not was not in Sachsen (Saxony). Maybe it was in Prussia?
The following I believe is correct as to where Seehausen in 2002 is:
Seehausen Altmark, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany zip 39615. Is this correct?
If so, what was the above as of 1870-1885?
what might be the status of birth records for Seehausen Altmark?
There were the events of the Nazi period as well as WW 1 (records might have gotten destroyed).
Last guess from family researcher was that my grandmother and her ancestors might have been Jewish. This I doubt though.
Anything anyone can furnish this dumb Yank will be appreciated.
Yours,
Erv Jensen eajensen@earthlink.net
Hi Ervin:
I think your "Mageburg" is probably Magdeburg", located between Berlin and
Braunschweig, now in Sachsen-Anhalt. The word "Stadt" means "City", so
"Magdeburg Stadt" would refer to the city of Magdeburg.
Now, there is indeed a city of Seehausen, located in the Altmark (which is a
region). See http://stadt-seehausen.de/ for information, in German. The
following will lead you to a map of where Seehausen/Altmark is located:
http://stadt-seehausen.de/seehausen/lage.htm.
The following possibility exists: Your grandmother was born in
Seehausen/Altmark. Whoever placed her birth record in the IGI obtained
their information from records found in the archive of the former German
Democratic Republic (East Germany, which just happened to have been located
in Magdeburg! That would explain the confused entry in the IGI. I really
think you should focus on Seehausen/Altmark.
Most of the birth records from that time survived in some form or another.
You should write to the registry offices in Seehausen, to see if they have a
record of the birth. (Civil records started about 1874).
You can write to the city's town hall at the following address:
Stadt Seehausen (Altmark)
c/o VGem Seehausen/Altmark
Große Brüderstr. 1
39615 Seehausen (Altmark)
Tel: (039386) 982-0
Fax: (039386) 98299
I have done this sort of thing by fax in the past, with good results. But,
the letter will have to be in German. Contact me off the list if you need
help with that.
There also appears to be a Herr Bodenstein (lux@hapebo.de) who will respond
to e-mail inquiries about Seehausen and who may speak English. He is listed
as the contact person on the town's website and at least one e-mail
regarding ancestors was sent to him in english and is now posted on the
town's website:
http://www.stadt-seehausen.de/geschichten/index.php3?id=seehausen&index=56555&actrubrik=Postalisches
I think contacting this gentleman might be a good first step. You might
just ask him for the correct address of the "Standesamt" (the civil
registration office) to write to for your Grandmother's birth record.
Best of luck in your research.
Thilo
Ervin Jensen wrote: