Whats the easiest way to find information about relatives in Germany ?

Question

My funds are limited but I would like to try and find information about my great grandparents in GermanyI believe they lived in Bieklen,Germany Adolf and Angelina Spitzbart.

Answer 1

Go on-line  just using the name and see where that takes you.

Answer 2

www.Ancestry.com

Answer 3

What's the source of the town name? It's not familiar to me, so I went to a definitive source on former German towns. There's nothing with that exact spelling. Obviously, before you can look in Germany, you need the town to be right. Here are all of the similar towns:

Bächlein

Becheln

Bechlin  

Beckeln  

Becklem  

Bicheln

Bicheln

Once we know the town and the region, we can figure out where to look for the records. It's unlikely that you'll find them online back in Germany, but there are alternatives that aren't horribly expensive and can be very effective. But again, it depends on getting the region right and knowing exactly where to look.

There weren't many Spitzbarts who came to the US, so I looked at those records. This one has a hometown similar to the one you have. Any chance this could be a relative?

Name: Gustav Spitzbart

Departure Date: 6 Aug 1903

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1882  

Age Year: 21  

Gender: männlich (Male)  

Marital Status: ledig (Single)  

Family: Household members

RESIDENCE: Breklum  

Ethnicity/Nationality: Preußen (German)  

Occupation: Posthilfsbote  

Military service: Militärischer Freischein  

    

Ship Name: Blücher  

Shipping Line: Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)  

Ship Type: Dampfschiff  

Accommodation: ohne Angabe  

Ship Flag: Deutschland (Germany)  

Port of Departure: Hamburg  

Port of Arrival: Southampton; Cherbourg; New York  

    

Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 146  

Page: 2087

There was one Adolf Spitzbart who I can find in the US. He lived on Attorney St in NYC and was born in March 1877, but it was Austria not Germany. Also, his wife was Rosa and not Angelina.