Gone are the days when a genealogical research was available to only a few people who could afford it. Nowadays, thanks to the introduction of the internet, anyone can trace their roots for a number of generations. The fact that governments all over the globe do register vital records (births, deaths, marriages and divorces) makes it a walk in the park. Let’s take a look at how to find birth records from Germany on this article.
Found in western Europe, Germany is a European country characterized by a landscape of rivers, forests and mountain ranges. Its population stands at about 84 million people with more than 76 % living in urban areas. Germany’s median age is 45 years.
Internet usage in Germany is at around 91 % and steadily increasing. A study conducted proved Germany as the number one internet user in Europe. This means that searching for birth records online in the country is possible. This also increase the chances of finding a birth information source from the web.
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Searching for Birth Information on Search Engines in Germany
One way to lookup date of birth on someone online would be to try using search engines. If the person you want to lookup is someone famous, chances that you might get a hit are high. There are a number of search engines that you can go for. One of the prominent is Google. Just enter the name of the person on Google’s search bar and search.
You might need to include other search term if the person you are looking up has a common name. This can be middle name, occupation, college or university or any important event in the person’s life. This will help you filter unwanted results from your lookup making it more precise.
Other search engines that are worth consideration include Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo. You can try looking up from them too as they might have data that is not available from Google’s database. Name searches are ideal for people who are famous on search engines.
Searching for Date of Birth on Social Media in Germany
Social media usage is widespread across the world. There are more than 72 million people in Germany who use the internet. The widely used social media platform in the country is WhatsApp at 87 %. The next prominent social media in Germany is You Tube with 69 %, then Facebook, 63 %, Instagram 41 %, Pinterest 26 % then Twitter with 21 %.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn are good sources of birth information on someone. This is because they let users create profiles where they include their date of birth details. They also allow users to search for profiles using a search bar. Searches can be conducted using a number of choices like a name, username, nickname, email address among them.
However, it is not compulsory for social media users to include their date of birth information on their profiles. So if you are lucky, you might find it there.
Many social media users celebrate their birthdays and post photos of the event on social media. Some of them even get messages from friends, family and colleagues wishing them well on their special day. Going over the posts from the previous year might help you find this information.
Date of Birth Searches in Germany from Genealogy Records
For those who are looking to track their ancestors in Germany, there are a number of sources you can use. Below are some of them that you can try out.
- Germany Births and Baptism (1500 – 1858)
- Netherlands Bibliotheque Wallone, Card Indexes (1500 – 1858)
- Germany Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages and Burials (1500 – 1971)
- Germany Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages and Burials (1518 – 1921)
- Germany, Prussia, East Prussia, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records (1551 – 992)
- Germany Births and Baptism (1558 – 1898)
- Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1567 – 1945)
- British Armed Forces Overseas Births and Baptism
- Archives of the Lutheran Church
How to Germany
For those Americans who have German blood in them and are looking for information on their ancestors or German roots, How to Germany is the solution. The site discusses ways to go about finding the information on your ancestors. It covers on how you can start you search, the sites to consider as you search and links to them.
For information on how to obtain a birth and death certificates in Germany, you can try the suggestions from here.
The Federal Archives in Germany
There is a significant amount of archival data that is available from the Federal Archives in Germany. The data can be used for genealogical researches. There is numerous person related documents which can be used to clarify nationalities and services periods from the archives.
More sources of birth records in Germany are discussed from here. The site offers links to numerous German genealogy records and databases that are online.
With these options on how to find birth records from Germany, you have a chance. There is quite a number of them so as to give you enough choices to use for your lookup.