Family research - meaning and implementation

Excerpt from an interview with the family researcher and course leader Rolf T. Hallauer

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What exactly does it mean to search for one's family, why do genealogists make this effort?

The majority of genealogists have the urge to find out who their ancestors were, where and under what social circumstances they lived. Often they also want to know whether there have been outstanding personalities or "black sheep" in the family. One would like to learn something about history and about the development of society. This is the real aspiration of every genealogist. There is also the endeavor to find the earliest ancestor mentioned in documents and to record this person in the family tree.

In the Middle Ages, people wanted to use the family tree to substantiate their claim to power. What is the use of the family tree today?

Today one does not have any more the goal with a family tree a claim to rule to make valid. Today we have a social structure in which this is no longer necessary. Today one wants to find out above all who the ancestors and forefathers were. Of course, there are people who want to know if they belong to a noble family. For the first time in modern history, on the instruction of Emperor Maximilian I[1], a scholar was commissioned to draw up a family tree of the houses of Habsburg and Bamberg.

Is there a general motivation for genealogy?

Not all genealogists have the same motives. It can be that one acts out of inheritance motives, i.e. a large inheritance is pending and a genealogist is commissioned to do research on who is entitled to inherit. An upcoming family reunion can also be an incentive.

There are many reasons why one might do genealogical research.

If one decides to do so, one should be well advised and one should be prepared that a great deal of effort will be required.

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Are there different approaches to genealogy and if so, what are they?

A good preparation is very important and one should set a goal:

• - Does one want to trace the patriarchal tribe starting from the proband?

• - Does one want to research the male tribe with the married-in wives?

• - Do you want to do a more extensive genealogical research with the research on all ancestors?

The amount of work varies depending on the goal. To record all relatives requires a lot of time and patience. One can also limit oneself and decide to concentrate on the patriarchal line. That means, if your name is Kübler, you can set the goal to find out all ancestors with the name Kübler from the church books of the hometown. In addition, for example, the married wife and all children of this family. In the patriarchal family tree, the children of the daughters are not listed because they took the names of the spouses until a few years ago.

The most important thing in genealogy, however, is to first consult the living. You have to go to them and ask them about individuals and possible dates and records. It is best to go to the oldest relatives still living. These should be interviewed. Care should be taken to find out something about the person himself as well. Collecting photos is also important. These should be labeled. It is of no use to anyone if they do not know who is pictured. Furthermore, it is recommended to scan these pictures. These are preparations before you really start your genealogical research.

Before you go to an archive, you should prepare yourself and think about what your goals are. Last but not least, it is important to become familiar with the old German Kurrent script. Reading this script is not possible at first go. The best thing to do is to attend a script reading course at a genealogical society.

The computer age offers new possibilities. How does the search via the Internet work and can one search for one's ancestors more efficiently with it or is it just another source?

I think one must use the means of the today's time and combine with the earlier sources. The be-all and end-all is still research in the archives. One can explore through the Internet and find out who is researching in the same field and what results are available so far. The Internet is a good tool to support each other. State archives are offering more and more so-called digital copies via the Internet. These are archival records that are arranged and listed as image data. These digitized data of archival documents, very old documents and book pages, can be viewed comfortably on your own computer and downloaded. This means that you can do certain work from home and you don't have to go to the archives. All you need is an Internet connection and an e-mail address. You have to log in and create an account (access by registering via the Internet). This in turn means that you have to meet certain requirements. Internet is a good tool, but it is far from being the main tool for a genealogist. Those who believe they can compile a family tree with the Internet believe in the Easter Bunny. In the June issue (2013) of the publication "Regio-Familienforscher" is described step by step how to get these digital data. On the Internet, you can only find what has once been published and put on the Internet. Researchers should therefore publish their research work.

You have to publish, write articles and allow publications. In this way, researcher contacts can be established. If one enters on the Internet for example on Google the terms ``Hallau genealogy``, one finds a multiplicity of researches and publications. Of course one finds also much ``Chabis/rubish`` like a link, which has nothing at all to do with genealogy. Of course there is also a lot of abuse. There are companies and enterprises, which offer family researches in the Internet, in order to earn money with it. This can go depending upon offerer into the money. In addition, one does not know beforehand what information one really receives.

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