Research Center

Researching German Documents

There are many exciting challenges when researching your family history in German documents. At Ancestry.com, key data such as names and gender is often indexed and therefore easily accessible through our search pages for each German language database. However, the records are in German, and you will naturally get the best results if you search keywords, occupations, and place names in German. There is often a wealth of information available in the images of the original documents that can help you pinpoint your ancestors or learn about their lives and families. We have provided some basic tools on these pages that can help you as you work in German records.