From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Sat Jun 17 13:39:49 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k5HJdnjb029815; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:39:49 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k5HJdkRe009324 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:39:46 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k5HH3aFI029277 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:03:36 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k5HH3abY029276 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:03:36 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k5HGAcFI029115 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 12:10:38 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k5HIkbWt032063 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 12:46:37 -0600 X-Envelope-From: hornbeck@s-hornbeck.com Sat Jun 17 12:46:37 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k5HIkbjb032054 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 12:46:37 -0600 Received: from smtp106.plus.mail.re2.yahoo.com (smtp106.plus.mail.re2.yahoo.com [206.190.53.31]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with SMTP id k5HIkOwk000971 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2006 12:46:29 -0600 Received: (qmail 21062 invoked from network); 17 Jun 2006 18:46:20 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO ShirleyNew.s-hornbeck.com) (shirleyhornbeck@sbcglobal.net@66.122.4.187 with login) by smtp106.plus.mail.re2.yahoo.com with SMTP; 17 Jun 2006 18:46:19 -0000 Message-Id: <6.2.3.4.2.20060617114221.02921ab0@pop.mail.yahoo.com> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.3.4 Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 11:42:38 -0700 To: ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com From: Shirley Hornbeck Cc: hornbeck@s-hornbeck.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Spam-Score: 1.31 (*) BAYES_00,FORGED_RCVD_HELO X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] This and That German Research UMLAUT: A "double dot over a letter". The double-dot (called a diuresis; the letter-symbol combination is called an umlaut) is the correct, German way of writing the word; the ue, oe or ae letter combinations are a way of representing the umlaut in non-germanic alphabets which lack the umlauts. DOUBLE "S": The English equivalent of the character that looks like "B" embedded in names is actually a separate character in German that stands for a double s as "ss". GERMAN SURNAME SUFFIXES FOR FEMALES- From Carla Heller- carlah@earthlink.net A special suffix comprised of the letters "-in" is often seen in old German records, added to the surnames of females, and is simply a German language grammatical practice which feminizes the name in question. When you see the "-in" suffix added to a German surname, it is intended to demonstrate that the surname was borne by a female. When the "-in" suffix is added in this way, it DOES NOT MATERIALLY CHANGE the existing surname itself. If you see your female ancestor denoted as "Katharina SCHNEIDERIN," for example, Katharina's actual surname would still be SCHNEIDER for all intents and purposes in your research. It is also important to note that the use of the feminine suffix on a surname in German DOES NOT INDICATE whether the female was unmarried or married. It was used for BOTH single and married females, identically. This is a standard, centuries-old German grammar practice, more common to old records than current ones. Since, unlike English, every noun has a GENDER in German, the use of the feminizing suffix for surnames of females was in keeping with the structure of that language. Even today, German grammar still adds the letters "-in" to the end of feminine NOUNS, such as "Freundin," meaning "female friend" ("Freund" being "male friend"), and "Lehrerin," meaning "female teacher" ("Lehrer" being "male teacher.") Note that while this suffix commonly occurred in earlier centuries, it was NOT used UNIVERSALLY throughout Germany---you may find German records which completely OMIT the use of the suffix for feminine surnames. Some researchers will never encounter this form. The use in German of the feminizing "-in" suffix on surnames of females has greatly diminished in modern times. EVANGELISCHE in Germany means virtually the same as "Lutheran" (followers of Martin Luther), but in Switzerland "Evangelische" means virtually the same as "Reformed" (followers of Zwingly and Calvin). Historically, in both of these areas "Evangelische" was a term adopted by by the Reformers to distinguish their "Protestant" positions from that of the Roman Catholic Church which they were opposing. LANDKREIS/KREIS: Landkreis, short just "Kreis" is the administrative body one notch above "village" or "town". From the top to the bottom: (a) Country, like "Kingdom of Prussia" (b) State or Province, like "Provinz Posen" or older "Departement Posen" . (c) Gubernatorial (or: Administrative) District (This has no equivalent in the USA administrative organization), like "Regie-rungsbezirk Bromberg" (d) County, like "Landkreis Meseritz" or just "Kreis Meseritz" (e) Town, Township or Village, like "Stadt Betsche" A 'Kreis' is, in essence, a county. It literally is a 'circle or ring' and refers to 'sphere' of influence. It is usually translated very generically as 'district', but with Prussian 'administrative districts' being comprised of several Kreise, it gets confusing to refer to them as districts. More German Research Tips at my This and That Genealogy page under Germany. Shirley Hornbeck http://www.s-hornbeck.com THIS & THAT GENEALOGY TIPS: Order THIS AND THAT GENEALOGY TIPS from: