How to Spot the Dot
What language belongs to those accents?
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Stefan Israel
- Apr 2, 2021
- 3 min
Brahms’ Lullaby, the Wiegenlied
Genealogy is family, and family is parent and child, and what binds parent and child like a Wiegenlied? A Wiege is a cradle, a lied is a...
1,109 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Mar 5, 2021
- 4 min
When France Came to Germany
Beethoven and Goethe, the German Shakespeare, were glad to see liberator Napoleon come, and glad to see occupier Napoleon go. Napoleonic la
572 views1 comment
Stefan Israel
- Jan 28, 2021
- 4 min
Why Couldn’t My Ancestor Spell Their Name the Same?
You’re tracing your family back, and the spellings sometimes just go crazy.
543 views3 comments
Stefan Israel
- Jan 14, 2021
- 6 min
A Plea to Save Letters!
Save letters! I have a treasure trove of memories downstairs.
So began the email from my mother earlier this week.
79 views0 comments
Dean Meservy
- Dec 24, 2020
- 3 min
Why do Americans say ‘Merry Christmas’?
We have kept the old word “merry” from a day when Christmas was anything but a Silent Night
1,177 views1 comment
Stefan Israel
- Dec 17, 2020
- 3 min
Baptizing Beethoven - 250th Year Anniversary
Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized the 17th of December, 1770, in Bonn, a small city on the Rhine River.
154 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Nov 21, 2020
- 3 min
20 YEARS OF FRENCH GERMANY
French Germany? France is French and Germany is German, as a general rule, so how could you have French Germany?
Well, borders can be flu
445 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Nov 9, 2020
- 2 min
"Somewhere in France" 1918
Arch returned to Europe as a Captain in World War I. He sent Robert at least one letter from "somewhere in France" in December of 1918.
59 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Oct 30, 2020
- 1 min
Our Dutch (Speaking) President Martin Van Buren
The first U.S. president born in the United States (so after the country’s founding) didn’t even speak English as his first language.
769 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Oct 6, 2020
- 2 min
German-Americans Celebrated in October
The whole month of October is German American month. But wait! October 6 in particular is German-American Day. So many have contributed.
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Stefan Israel
- Sep 22, 2020
- 4 min
Three Hansa Cities, Two Emigration Ports, and a History: Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck
The largest emigration ports from Germany to the New World were the Hanseatic cities Bremen and Hamburg, Germany’s leading ports even today.
637 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Jul 29, 2020
- 3 min
Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire
At various times, there were dozens of imperial cities, from towns of a few thousand people to some of the largest cities.
1,512 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Jun 24, 2020
- 2 min
Kaffeeklatsch
Kaffeeklatsch, a very gemütlich, cozy gathering. It translates as ‘coffee chit-chat’
388 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- May 25, 2020
- 3 min
German-Born, Civil War Vet - Newspaper Help
I love scouring old newspapers. I hit the jackpot with Joseph Billman from Erie - German-born and Civil War veteran.
212 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- May 12, 2020
- 2 min
An Old Time Comfort Food- Slaw
We all know sauerkraut’s a German food, and frankfurters, wieners and hamburgers are named for German and Austrian cities, but what about...
100 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Apr 13, 2020
- 3 min
DUTCH, not DEUTSCH: English, Dutch and German
English, Dutch and German are all related languages - the languages diverged - you can see it in how the same original words now differ.-
1,185 views0 comments
Pamela Israel
- Mar 30, 2020
- 2 min
ä ë ï ö ü - Umlaut on the Keyboard
I’m typing away and I’d like to add a letter with an umlaut (two dots sometimes above a vowel)….agh
120,176 views0 comments
Stefan Israel
- Mar 17, 2020
- 4 min
Celtic father-names: Donaldson, McDonald, O’Donnell
The main Celtic traditions for genealogy are the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh. Complicating matters, Irish settlers brought Gaelic from
519 views0 comments
Pamela Israel
- Mar 8, 2020
- 3 min
Like Daughter, Like Mother: Transatlantic Journey
Christine makes the journey across the Atlantic in 1950. Her daughter in Germany worries that her frail mother might not be strong enough.
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