Hi Guys,
Robert is correct, Ancestry.com does not have the Hamburg Departure Lists, but only
the Arrival Lists to U.S. Ports. The Arrival lists usually do not have the town, while the
Hamburg lists almost always do! This is probably the greatest resource one can have
for find your ancestors town! Many people do not realize that these 2 lists are completely
different and separate lists.
So Robert is correct if you ancestor came from the Hamburg Port it is simply a matter of
getting this Hamburg Departure Manifest for the correct date of departure to find your
ancestors town.
2 ways of getting the appropriate Hamburg list (Actual Departure Manifest):
1- Use the Genealogy.net "Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934" at:
http://www.genealogienetz.de/misc/emig/ham_pass.html
They normally come in directly, so if for example, you know your Ancestor arrived on
the ship Frisia on 12 Dec 1969, the go to the Direct List and order microfilm number
0472900 for Bd. (Band) 23 for the year 1869 from your local Family History Center.
If you know it was a Steam Ship then it takes aprox 7 to 14 days to make the journey. Once your microfilm arrives, look for the ship Frisia which departed abt late Nov or
early Dec 1869. Or if you know it was a Sail Ship then it can take about a month or
so for the Atlantic journey.
I have used this method and have nearly 100 percent success in finding the town,
and have done this for over 20 families in the last 5 years.
For any questions on how to use the "Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934" use the
Resource Guide at:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/rg/guide/Hamburg_Pass_List.asp
Note: The Staatsarchive Hamburg forbids lending microfilms to FHC's within Germany.
2- If you have exhausted these lists or if the dates are not in these microfilms, or if
you can't find the arrival list, etc. the alternative is to use Link To Your Roots at:
http://ltyr.hamburg.de
They will do the work for you, and charge you a fee based on how much research
they need to do. I believe this is the only resource that can access all of the Hamburg
Passenger Lists.
So, the Hamburg Departure Lists (the actual list manifest made as passengers
boarded the ship) are a veritable Gold Mine to find your ancestors town and is easy
to look up and order for yourself!
Robert Albert Jr. wrote in part:
<>>I do not believe the Ancestry.com has the Hamburg lists. In fact if they
>did, the organization that is doing the transcription of these lists for
>several years now and has as its website:
Please email me directly if you still are having any problems.
Fritz Kruse