ROOTS & BRANCHES

Talk about “my cup runneth over.”

Last week’s “Roots & Branches” gave some of the details on Hamburg, Germany–based Andrea Bentschneider’s new “German Genealogy Collective.”

And, as promised, this week’s column will focus on another new service for those with Deutsch ancestry, this one called the “German Genealogy Headquarters: Discover the lives behind the names!”

The Headquarters brings together professional genealogists Ute Brandenburg, who resides in Iowa but was educated in Germany, and Ursula C. Krause, a German native who has founded My German Families as well as having worked as a senior genealogist for Ancestry ProGenealogists.

As with Bentschneider’s Collective, the German Genealogy Headquarters is hoping to offer researchers a deeper understanding of their ancestors, specifically by trying to answer the questions posed on its website:

“How did our ancestors experience life in their time and place? What drove them to make decisions about their future? What were their fears, their dreams? At German Genealogy Headquarters, we seek to understand the human experience. We don’t just ask who, when, and where. We want to know how and why!”

Whereas Bentschneider’s Collective bundles together various services in a membership, the Headquarters takes an “a la carte” approach to its education, mentoring and research services.

Brandenburg and Krause already have produced an all-day webinar symposium on German history and the role of the church in everyday life as part of the Headquarters, and another titled “Church Records—A Deep Dive into the Core Resource for German Genealogy” is scheduled for Nov. 9 for a registration fee of $95.

The November symposium consists of four presentations and registrants receive a link to a recording of the lectures that they can access for 12 months. Topics in November include: “Locating Church Records for Genealogical Research,” “Combining FamilySearch, Ancestry, Archion and Matricula – Make the Best of All the Databases,” “Researching in 19th Century Lutheran Church Records,” and “Researching in 19th Century Catholic Church Records.”

Five more such symposia are scheduled for 2025. Brandenburg said that she and Krause “want to offer a more cohesive program with the opportunity to explore topics with much more depth than is possible with a typical one-hour lecture.”

She said their goal when they offer a symposium with four presentations that all examine different aspects of the same general topic is to give deeper understanding to the participants.

The Headquarters principals also offer mentoring sessions to those seeking one-on-one assistance with questions about research plans, locating sources, deciphering handwriting, and other complex issues.  Such arrangements can range from a single three-hour agreement to regular meetings over an extended period.

In addition, Brandenburg and Krause are both available for individual client research and the Headquarters has links to both of their websites.

For more details on the Headquarters or to register for the November symposium, go to the German Genealogy Headquarters website at the URL, https://genealogyheadquarters.com/